Some of the most promising talents of La Fábrica faced Chelsea FC’s U19 side on the 25th February in the round of 16 of the UEFA Youth League. Los Blancos won an exciting match in front of 905 spectators at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium 1:0 thanks to a goal from Daniel Yáñez, thereby qualifying for the quarter-finals of the prestigious youth competition.
While the London side had finished the group stage at the top of the table, Real Madrid’s Juvenil A entered the playoffs in fourth place. Both teams started the match in a 4-3-3 formation. Los Blancos applied high pressing from the outset and aimed to put their opponents under immediate pressure. As a result, the home side managed to gain control of the game in the opening minutes and push Chelsea back into their own half. Therefore it came as little surprise that the first chance of the match belonged to Real Madrid. In the 4th minute, the Spaniards had their first opportunity to take the lead. However, Alexis Ciria’s goal was ruled out for offside.
Although Chelsea began to push higher up the pitch after a few minutes, the Madrilenians were hardly put under pressure in front of their own goal. The home side took advantage of transition moments effectively and repeatedly reached the opposing goal through counterattacks. In particular, the explosive winger Yáñez contributed by carrying the ball into the opposition’s zone with his dribbling and consistently initiating attacks. It was therefore no surprise that the 18-year-old scored the only goal of the match in the 9th minute. Yáñez, who has already made an appearance for the first team in LaLiga, received the ball a few metres outside the penalty area following a short corner routine. Although he needed several touches to control it, he was able to finish unchallenged. The long-range effort was deflected on its way and was therefore unstoppable for Chelsea goalkeeper Freddy Bernal.
The visitors from London did not ease off after conceding early. On the contrary, left-back Genesis Antwi in particular repeatedly advanced into the opposition penalty area with sprints while carrying the ball, largely unchallenged. The quick Swede, who has already made two appearances for the first team in the UEFA Europa Conference League, caused Madrid defender Álvaro Lezcano problems time and again, but ultimately failed to score for his side.
Aside from the chances initiated by Antwi, Chelsea grew increasingly cautious as the game progressed. The English side struggled to advance into the opposition half. After around 25 minutes, Real Madrid showed less aggressive pressing in zone 3 than at the beginning of the match but still prevented Chelsea from progressing far up the pitch. The next major chance therefore fell to the home team: Roberto Martín managed to break through in tight space and passed to Ciria, who narrowly missed the target from the centre of the penalty area with his left foot.
After a few uncertain minutes, Chelsea once again ventured forward into the opposition half. During this phase, Jesse Derry in particular made his mark. The England U19 international beat several Madrilenians with an explosive dribble and struck from the left side with his left foot, but his effort went narrowly wide of the right post. He too has already had the opportunity to represent the first team in a competitive FA Cup match.
Although Chelsea established themselves as the more dominant side shortly before half-time, showing greater attacking intent and impressing with several textbook build-up sequences, another notable chance was once again created by Yáñez. The Spain U19 international controlled a pass from Diego Martínez, beat his opponent and shot from just a few metres out. Chelsea keeper Bernal was alert, however, and parried the shot towards the lower right corner. At the other end, Illia Voloshyn also produced several fine saves from efforts by Derry and Antwi.
In an eventful first half, it was clear that both teams and every individual player wanted to showcase themselves on the big stage. Real Madrid were the more offensively creative side at the start and particularly after taking the lead, while Chelsea, after an uncertain phase, gradually found stability and established themselves as the more dominant team towards the end despite trailing.
At the start of the second half, Madrid once again offered more options in build-up play and showed greater movement off the ball, meaning they relied less on long balls than the Blues. However, both teams began the second period with fewer clear-cut chances than in the first half, even though they remained determined to reach the opposing goal.
The first major chance of the second 45 minutes came in the 60th minute for Chelsea: after a low free-kick from Derry, Shumaira Mheuka finished with his right foot towards the bottom right corner, but Voloshyn managed to get fingertips to the ball and divert it. It was Mheuka’s first noteworthy action. In the immediate reply, Real’s Ciria struck from outside the penalty area, but Bernal saved the effort, which was too central.
After just over an hour, Christoph Kern’s team increased the pressure, while Real Madrid continued to look dangerous in transition from defence to attack. In the 77th minute, Yáñez made a rapid run towards the penalty area, leaving his opponent behind, but his long-range effort was blocked by the Chelsea defence. Five minutes later, Ciria tested Bernal again with a shot just under the crossbar, which the goalkeeper saved well. Substitute Ignacio Gascón provided the assist and once again proved to be an important figure in build-up play.
Despite trailing, Chelsea were unable to create clear chances in the final quarter of an hour. The coach repeatedly had to urge his players to press, as they allowed themselves to be pushed back into their own half, showed little movement off the ball and increasingly resorted to long passes that usually ended up with the opposition. Real Madrid had another big opportunity following a quick transition, when Jacobo Ortega struck the post from the centre of the penalty area. Frustration became increasingly visible among the Chelsea players, with many final passes failing to find a teammate.
In the closing stages, a member of the Real staff was shown a red card for time-wasting by holding onto the ball. Shortly afterwards, the final whistle blew. Real Madrid secured a 1:0 victory, and by the end, the determination to win was almost only visible in the Chelsea coach.
For Los Blancos, Yáñez impressed with his acceleration and created several breakthroughs, while Ciria was important in build-up play. For Chelsea, Antwi and Derry stood out. The Londoners’ captain and main attacking hope, Mheuka, was unable to make an impact at all, which demonstrated how solid Madrid’s defence was. They were especially composed when dealing with high balls and were almost always first to them. All in all, Real Madrid showed more passion, creativity and intelligence and were the deserved winners of an exciting game.
Álvaro López’s side will face Sporting CP at home in the quarter-finals on 18 March, while Chelsea’s journey in the Youth League has come to an end.