Barcelona boys batter BATE Borisov
Reuters - Tuesday 06 December 2011, 23:28
Already-qualified
Barcelona showed they have plenty of exciting talent bursting
through the ranks when a team of youngsters lit up the Nou Camp
in a 4-0 drubbing of basement side BATE Borisov in Champions
League Group H on Tuesday.
The holders had comfortably reached the last 16 as group
winners last month and coach Pep Guardiola blooded a slew of
recent youth-team graduates in a starting lineup in which the 10
outfield players had an average age of 21.4.
Teenage midfielder Sergi Roberto opened the scoring against
the Belarussian champions in the 35th minute when he stroked a
loose ball low past goalkeeper Aleksandar Gutor.
Full-back Martin Montoya powered a shot high into the net for
a 60th-minute second before Pedro scored the third three minutes
later with an audacious flick and then converted a penalty two
minutes from time after a foul on winger Isaac Cuenca.
Barca's tally of 20 goals in their six group games equalled
the record set by Manchester United in the 1998/99 season as the
Catalan club seek a fifth triumph in Europe's elite club
competition and a third in four years.
"Having this generation of players and being able to depend
on them is very valuable," a delighted Guardiola, marking his
150th victory in his 208th match as Barca coach, said in an
interview with Spanish television.
"The difficult thing for them now will be maintaining this
level when they go back to playing at second-division stadiums [for Barcelona B]," added the former Barca and Spain midfielder,
himself a product of the club's 'La Masia' youth school.
"But I am very proud of them," he said.
'CLASICO' LOOMING
Guardiola had the luxury of being able to rest most of his
first-choice players with Saturday's opening La Liga 'Clasico'
of the season at great rivals Real Madrid looming.
World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, playmakers Xavi,
Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas and keeper Victor Valdes were
all left out of the squad and Spain forward Pedro was the only
player in the starting XI who could be considered a regular.
Tuesday's side, dubbed 'Baby Barca' in local media, included
brothers Thiago Alcantara, 20, and 18-year-old Rafinha, whose
Brazilian father Mazinho played professionally in Italy and
Spain.
Emulating their senior team-mates watching from the stands,
the youngsters seized control of possession from the kick-off and
Rafinha went close in the second minute with a strike from an
acute angle that Gutor blocked with an arm.
The promising Cuenca has shone on several previous
appearances for the first team and it was his delicate pass that
sent Montoya clear for Barca's second and his low cross that
created their third and the first of Pedro's two goals.
Cuenca also won the late penalty in a man-of-the-match
performance that suggested he has a bright future.
"Winning 4-0 against a top-level Champions League opponent
is a reason for great joy for all of us," first goalscorer Sergi
said.
"A bunch of players from the youth school were playing
tonight and for me that is fantastic," the 19-year-old added.
"Most of us on the pitch were from the B-team and you could
see that in the understanding we had with each other."
BATE coach Viktor Goncharenko said some of the Barca players
on display on Tuesday were possibly the Messis and Xavis of the
future.
"Obviously the level of Messi and Xavi is extremely high but
these players can get close to that level too," he told a news
conference.
Unbeaten Barca finished with 16 points from their six
matches, seven ahead of Serie A champions AC Milan, who were
already assured of second place and drew 2-2 at third-placed
Viktoria Plzen with the Czech side dropping into the Europa
League.
BATE could have grabbed third but that would have needed a
win at the Nou Camp for starters. The Belarussians had no chance
against Barca's exciting second string.