La Academia, at their best in recent red-and-white history | OneFootball

I still haven’t fully processed what happened on Saturday afternoon at Mestalla. I still can’t believe it — it must be the closest thing to paradise for the young talents of La Academia, the club staff, and people like me who have been following the youth ranks for quite a few years now. It may sound exaggerated, but believe me: I’m speaking from the heart and from the emotion of watching player-supporters make their debut, grow, and fight to succeed at the club we love.

Whatever happens with the first team, this year is historic. No one would have said we’d reach a Copa final and the Champions League semifinals. I don’t care if Arsenal knock us out, if we reach the final, or even if we win it. We’re all going to remember this year, and not because of the destination, but because of what we experienced. What always mattered was the process and the road traveled, not the final reward. And if I focus on La Academia, what can I even tell you.

In recent years, there were hardly any opportunities for academy players. Everyone will have their own opinion on whether it was deserved or not, whether it was necessary or not… and well, there will always be those who use the slightest detail to attack the other side. You won’t see that here. But I admit that, despite the debuts that did happen, the context wasn’t easy, and even less so the final outcome. Almost always in defeats or at moments when the team wasn’t delivering in terms of football and/or attitude, for whatever reason. Salim in Cádiz, Abde Raihani in Vitoria, Niño in Leganés… even Pablo Barrios and Alberto Moreno away to Arenteiro, drawing 2-2 against one of the top teams in Segunda RFEF that was pushing us to the limit in a Copa tie.

That has changed. It’s over. La Academia has value, and it is enormous, even if sometimes that’s hard to see or people take time to realize it. Don’t take this the wrong way, because that’s not the intention. And the facts are there: with some controversy over the team’s policy and setup, Atlético Madrileño is still right in the mix for promotion to LaLiga Hypermotion, which, by the way, it never should have left 26 years ago. All the years of my life. Atlético de Madrid C earned direct promotion to Segunda Federación. The youth teams dominate national and international tournaments: the MIC Football, LaLiga Promises… And that’s without even mentioning the women’s section, whose main reserve side has stayed one more year in the Second Division, while the C team secured a comfortable survival in the third tier.

The list of players who have earned a call-up to the first team is endless. Arriving at the Metropolitano alongside your idols and seeing your name displayed both in the dressing room and on the majestic, brand-new ‘sky-board’ the club is so proud of — rightly so. Boys living the dream of being alongside the players they watched on television when they were even younger. And the debuts… oh, the debuts…

There have already been 10 this season. Ten. TEN! It sounds easy to say. After years when one debut felt like a miracle, there have been nine this season. Jano Monserrate away to Levante. Julio Díaz in Oviedo, playing a key role in Julián Álvarez’s goal. Javi Morcillo and Taufik Seidu against Barcelona at home — no small thing. Javier Boñar, Rayane Belaid and Dani Martínez at the Sánchez Pizjuán, with the right-back scoring the temporary equalizer from a Julio assist. And now, Iker Luque and Miguel Cubo at Mestalla, with a goal each, as well as Aleksa Puric in the closing stages at the same stadium. The two goals scored by the first team to win in Valencia came from the academy. And Iker, on top of that, is the player who has taken the least time to score on his league debut for the club since 2002. No joke.

La Academia is at its best moment, but let’s not let the euphoria fool us. The work of previous years is gradually starting to show, but there is still a long way to go in training, methodology, and facilities — something that sooner rather than later will be reflected in the future Sports City, and with that, we will take a gigantic leap forward as an institution and as a football club.

And to finish, because this is getting a bit long. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that compares to making your debut, playing, and scoring for the team you’ve supported since birth. Just ask Javier Boñar, Iker Luque, and Miguel Cubo. Since they were just kids, they have absorbed the Atlético de Madrid DNA; they know better than anyone what it means to represent the beautiful crest they wear on their chest every weekend. And that is why, Atleti, you have to take care of them. They would give their lives for you — take care of them as they deserve, and live up to those rogue stripes.

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