Joel Sánchez proves his worth in Juvenil A | OneFootball

It has not been an easy season for Ángel Donato's boys. Despite having come close to achieving a historic milestone in Europe, just one step away from the Final Four of the UEFA Youth League, both in the Copa del Rey and the División de Honor they have had some unusual results, which meant losing their title chances early on. But everything is part of a project aimed at accelerating processes, since the bulk of the squad is made up of first- and second-year youth players, while the others moved up a category within the academy structure.

There have been quite a few names that have stood out overall, but I’ll go with one I really believe in and especially want to talk about here: Joel Sánchez. The Catalan winger put together a very good campaign last season, but he could not finish it because of a long-term injury that took him some time to fully recover from. Looking at his season, it was easy to foresee that his adaptation to the División de Honor would be quick, and that has been the case.

If in the 2024-2025 campaign he recorded 17 goals in 20 matches — 15 goals in 19 matches the previous year — this season he has 6 goals in 18 appearances across all competitions. He has only started 9 of them, but that is understandable, since it takes time to adapt to the team, to what the coach asks for, and to the style of play. In fact, thanks to his strong performances, he made his debut for Atlético de Madrid C against Siello in the Tercera RFEF, playing around 20 minutes for the team managed by Manel Ruano.

What kind of winger is he? A dribbler, strong in 1v1 situations, and someone who can beat his man. In recent years he has shown a knack for finding the net regularly. Taking defenders on, cutting inside after a dribble, picking out the far top corner, and burying it in the angle is his trademark move. That is how he has scored several goals this year, and how he did so before this season as well. Personally, I have not seen him take penalties except for one: in the shootout against Maccabi Haifa in the UEFA Youth League. In fact, the cover photo of this piece is from that day, when he changed the game after coming on in the final stretch.

What can we expect from his future? That before long he will be playing for one of the two reserve teams, most likely the C team in the Segunda RFEF if nothing goes wrong this Saturday. Because he has both the numbers and the attributes, but the jump to the ‘senior’ level is far from easy. Full confidence in the man from Tarragona.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.