Valencia 8-0 Leeds United U21s: Youngsters beaten in hushed-up friendly against strong Spaniards - YEP 2/12/22

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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.

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