Valencia 8-0 Leeds United U21s: Youngsters beaten in hushed-up friendly against strong Spaniards - YEP 2/12/22
Leeds’ Under-21 side were defeated by a strong Valencia outfit at the LaLiga side’s Ciudad Deportiva de Paterna training ground on Friday afternoon
Joe Donnohue
A youthful Leeds Under-21 side were beaten handsomely by
Spanish top flight outfit Valencia in a quietly-arranged mid-season friendly at
the club’s training base on Friday lunchtime. The Whites’ youngsters have
travelled to Spain ahead of the senior squad, who will contest a friendly
against director of football Victor Orta’s former employers Elche on December
8.
Minus the likes of Sonny Perkins, Mateo Joseph, Leo Hjelde,
Darko Gyabi and several other blue-chip youngsters, the Under-21s were a goal
down to Valencia’s superior starting XI inside five minutes. Making a return to
the field after a horror injury over the summer, Dutch goalkeeper Dani van den
Heuvel conceded to 26-year-old striker Marcos André after four minutes, as the
Brazilian netted twice more before the break to complete his hat-trick.
Former AC Milan and Villarreal attacker Samu Castillejo
added a fourth before half-time versus a Leeds side captained by teenage
defender Kris Moore, and it was much of the same after the break as Fran Perez
added a fifth for the hosts on 50 minutes. The 20-year-old Valencia winger then
added a second on the hour mark to make the scoreline 6-0 to the home side.
Teenage forward Martín Tejón scored Valencia’s seventh of the game shortly
after, before first-teamer Hugo Duro added an eighth with ten minutes to play.
A number of Leeds’ Under-18s featured for the visitors, as
well as Max Dean, Sean McGurk, Jeremiah Mullen, James Debayo and Charlie Allen
in what was undoubtedly a learning experience for Michael Skubala’s side.
The comparative strength of Valencia’s line-up meant
Friday’s fixture was a foregone conclusion before proceedings even began, as
the Spaniards started several first-team players including ex-Arsenal defender
Gabriel Paulista, Justin Kluivert – son of former Barcelona striker Patrick –
and €15m ex-Nou Camp midfielder Ilaix Moriba. The vast majority of Valencia’s
squad on the day had already featured for the first-team in some capacity this
season, meanwhile Leeds' XI included just one player to have made their Whites
debut in Alfie McCalmont.
Leeds’ first-team arrive in Spain this weekend ahead of
their Elche friendly and a warm weather training camp during the World Cup
break.
