Editors' note: This article was lightly edited for accuracy in grammar and sentence construction.

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As many of you are aware, this season José María Gutiérrez was promoted to Juvenil A (U19 side) as a coach. And many were truly excited by this, because Guti has managed to create a steamrolling machine of last year's Juvenil B, who strolled to a Championship with 5 games to go (they were the first Real Madrid team, either first team or any youth team, to win a title that year). And Guti hasn't disappointed, as this Juvenil A side is arguably the most fun team of all Real Madrid's youth teams. So let's have a look at their most recent game against Alcorcón.

Juvenil A lineup. @mink_98 gets a starts. Fran, D.Ramos, Fidalgo still injured. pic.twitter.com/FChqt0xG6i — Ondra Paul (@OndraPaul) January 7, 2017

The starting lineup was advertised as their classic lineup 4-3-3 with a singe pivot, which they have used all season, but with a major change -> Mink Peeters, a bit of a forgotten young talent bought by Real Madrid for a sizeable amount of money from Ajax. He had fitness issues since last summer and was only able to step on the pitch in the last game of 2016 as a sub. This time it was his first start in this season.

But why am I talking about him so much? Well, his addition to the team resulted in a big change of tactics, as Guti decided to switch to a 3 man backline and deployed Mink in his best role - behind the striker (almost as a second striker).

It looked a bit like this:

From the kick-off it was obvious that those two teams were not equal in any aspect of the game and it was quickly reflected by the scoreline. In the 5th minute, the captain, Oscar put Dani Gomez (Pichichi of this team) through on goal, making it 1-0. Then after lovely one-twos between Toni and Oscar, Alex switched the play to a completely free Alberto, who found Toni in the box, who made it 2-0. Juvenil didn't stop and kept pressuring Alcorcón, who were simply unable to put a few decent passes together. Then in the 18th minute, Mink found Dani Gomez with a deflected cross and Dani calmly put it in the net; 3-0.

And in the 28th min Manu, who was probably watching Bonucci's compilation last night, decided that those goals, assists and passes were not spectacular enough, as he made this pass to Dani.

What a way to complete a hat-trick.

It turned into a competition; who can make the best assist?

The next candidate was Mink, who escaped one defender, nutmegged another and then laid it off to Toni, who had an empty net in front of him. Only 31 minutes in and it was 4-0.

But the winner of the contest must surely go to the next assister, right before halftime in the 45th min. It was a perfect example of how scandalously good Toni is. Quick feet and brilliant vision. He nutmegged his opponent and made an absolutely stunning razor pass to Dani Gomez, who scored his 4th and his final goal of the match.

After the break, Juvenil kept controlling the game and briefly switched to a back 4, but only for 5-10 minutes. And even though we didn't have enough wing-backs in the team or on the bench bench, it didn't stop Guti from still going with a 3 man back-line. He took off our only full back, Cobo, for a Martín Calderon, who moved to DM, while Alex moved to CB (his natural position) and Javi (CB) moved to left wing-back. And even there Javi was able to produce a lot of attacking options for his teammates and was a genuine threat going forward.

Juvenil was able to score 2 goals in quick succession in the 70th and 72nd minute by Llario (a striker, subbed on for Dani Gomez) and by Toni, who completed his hat-trick. As is Real Madrid's tradition, Juvenil allowed one big chance, which was saved by Moha.

In the end, it was a very easy victory for Juvenil A. They completely dominated Alcorcón, who didn't and couldn't find any response to Juvenil's high pressing and uber-attacking game. Sadly OPTA doesn't track these youth leagues, but I reckon Juvenil had at least 13-15 shots on target and 65% possession. To be fair, Alcorcón is one of the worst teams in the league, but even then the contrast between those two teams was massive.

Juvenil continues to top the league with 45 points ahead of Atleti in 2nd place with 38 points (they play tomorrow) and Getafe with 33 points (they also play tomorrow). And it's worth noting that this was far from Juvenil's best lineup...

MOTM

It's hard not to pick Dani Gomez as MOTM, but for me the MOTM award goes to Toni, he scored a hat-trick and also made 2 assists - unbelievable match from him. He had an excellent game and I think he has a shot at Real Madrid's first team.

MOTM Ranking

Toni Dani Gomez Oscar

4 goals from @DaniGomezAlcon9, a hat trick from Toni and 1 goal from Llario. #RealMadridJuvenil pic.twitter.com/2a8GJ4ppb3 — Ondra Paul (@OndraPaul) January 7, 2017

Final thoughts:

There are a lot of things that are very impressive about this team. When you see their structure in possession, you want to weep. It's amazing what a coach, who has clear ideas and is able to convey them to his players, can achieve in such short time (last year, Juvenil's coach was Santiago Solari and let's just say they were as impressive as Castilla is this year). The off-the-ball movement, fluidity, and combinations between interior-winger-fullback are excellent. Players are very rarely isolated without any outlet to pass to. Combine all of this (structure, combination, fluidity) with the excellent technical ability of the players (passing and 1v1 - especially wide players are excellent dribblers) and it's a deadly mix. It will surely be interesting to follow this team in the UEFA Youth League, where they will face much better opposition and it's going to be a big test for them. They will know their first opponent in the knock out stages in a few weeks.

Recently a lot has been said about Moha and his potential, but I'd advise everyone to be a bit more cautious. Honestly, it's quite hard to evaluate goalkeepers and defenders in general. Those two positions are the hardest and it's especially hard when they are playing in a team like this Juvenil A. Moha, who was called Real's Donnarumma by MARCA, had only 1 meaningful save this game. Even though he deserves credit since it's hard to maintain concentration when you're not facing any shots, we need to see him in tougher situations, which due to Juvenil's strength, don't appear very often. Maybe if he was selected to start in the UEFA Youth League we could have a better idea of his abilities and potential. Right now we can only speculate. But still, to be 16 years old and play in U19 side is a good accomplishment and it shows that he has talent. He is technically registered with Juvenil B, but due to injuries he is now playing with Juvenil A for some time.

I must say, when I read some reports about the new signings this summer, Toni (Antonie Segura Robaina) looked like the best/most interesting of them all. He was bought from Real Betis and it was a superb decision. He is the most technically gifted player in this team (his dribbling skills are Isco-smooth and he has excellent vision). Another great purchase from this summer was Franchu (Francisco Feuillassier Ávalo), who was bought from Rayo Vallecano. He is a left-winger, with good goalscoring ability.

Update:

I made a brief highlights of Toni (no.8 shirt) from this match: