The Battle in Barcelona!

For the third season in a row, Leicester City were preparing for a Youth Final. Last season the Youth Cup, and the season before the Youth Shield. Both times the fans had walked away happy, their team named as Champion, and they were hoping to do so once again.
The route to the final and the clubs history here had given the fans a lot to be happy about. 12 wins, 0 losses. 44 goals scored, 7 conceded. 3 previous finals, 3 trophies.
Division 1 giants Bayern München, Barcelona and Chelsea had all been faced and beaten.
Next up, Earle’s former club, RCD Espanyol.

Fans, players and pundits will all disagree on whether it is better to host the opening leg or host the second leg. Hosting the opener gives you the opportunity to build a lead to take with you on the road, but hosting the second leg allows you to, potentially, celebrate with the trophy at home in front of your own fans.
In either case, the away leg can be tough, in a hostile environment and an unknown stadium and city,
For Earle this was not a problem, as he is still welcomed back to RCD Espanyol by the club president and the fans due to the immense impact he had on the club when he arrived with them whilst in Division 5, setting in motion the forces which would take them to Division 1!

Saturday 15th March – Leg 1

The buzz around the King Power Stadium started early, with English and Spanish fans descending on the local pubs in preparation for the match. Spirits were high as the fan bases drank together, until one Englishman insulted a Spanish counterpart by referring to Madri as a “good traditional Spanish beer”. A Leicester City representative confirmed that the fan had since apologised and had perhaps had one too many to drink, he acknowledged that Madri is just a jumped up Carling, and meant no disrespect to the Spanish fans.

With the mid day antics out of the way, attention turned to the stadium with the fans and media arriving.
Both teams had experience in Youth Finals, Leicester City hoping to make it 4 trophies from 4 finals, and RCD Espanyol hoping to make it 1 trophy from 4 finals, and perhaps that played a role in the early unfolding of the game.

Kick Off – after all the build up and the hype the game got underway with the result anyone’s to call. That was for the first 5 minutes at least, and then a quick snappy move from Tel opened up the defence. The Frenchman set up Musiala who finished tidily to make it 1-0 in the 6th minute, with the nerves of Espanyol showing.
Following the quick start the game settled with even possession and chances, and the half ended at 1-0.

Espanyol made a change, taking off new signing Endrick for Buonanotte. The swap paid off, with the substitute levelling play in the 54th minute to liven up the away supporters. But in the midst’s of their celebrations the cameras caught a quick whisper from Wirtz to Musiala, Musiala glanced at the the defender which Wirtz pointed at and gave his captain a nod. After the long 3 minutes of Spanish celebrations subsided, the game got back underway, Musiala blazed past his marker immediately, got the ball from midfield and fed Wirtz who put the ball in the net just seconds after kick off. Now it was Leicester’s turn to celebrate, as the Espanyol side-line sat silent and dejected. Hope still remained though, with the game only at 2-1 it was still all on the line. But within 5 minutes the lead was doubled as Bergvall scored from outside of the box. Despite some good efforts the game ended 3-1. A solid lead, but not secure enough to be confident that the trophy was won for Leicester.

“There is still a lot to do, we have the lead, but anyone can overturn a 2 goal lead. Especially with the players they have and us being away next. Their fans will be backing them, and they will want revenge. The stats were even and today could have gone either way. I am looking forward to going to Barcelona for the next leg.” The president and I are on great terms and he has invited me for dinner on Friday!”

The In-Between – 16th – 21st

With the first leg done, both teams turned their focus to the “final”. That focus was distracted though. Espanyol had the Derbi Barceloni to play in the league on Sunday.
Leicester had different inconveniences to face, with away matches at Sporting in Portugal and Leverkusen in Germany ahead of the youth game, meaning there was very little time in Leicester in the week.

Both teams also made their intentions clear for the final making key additions to their youth ranks to bolster their chances. Leicester added long term target Pablo Gavi from Juventus, who came in to bolster the midfield for the last game, ahead of replacing Musiala on the wing next season. Espanyol went further though, bringing in a trio of midfielders. Marc Casado came in from Valencia in a trade, and Do-Young Yun returned for a fee of £234,200,000. They also made a blockbuster deal to bring in Pedri as a possible game changer for the final. Already 22, Pedri would only have 1 opportunity to write his name in the history books and help Espanyol win for the first time!

Saturday 22nd March

Similarly to the week prior, the day started early for players, media and fans alike. Home and away fans once again ate and drank together ahead of the game. The atmosphere was excited but friendly, until another mishap. A Leicester City fan had gone to a popular tapas restaurant, and asked for their famous local pizza. When he was corrected that the restaurant sold Spanish Tapas, he confidently explained that he wasn’t stupid, and knew that Pizza was from Spain and so they should sell it there. Upon being kicked out of the restaurant it was discovered that he was the same fan who had caused issues the week before. Leicester City have since confirmed that the fans ticket was suspended and he was sent home to avoid any further issues. He was quoted saying “I didn’t want any of that food anyway! I prefer proper good farm food, and I have seen some reports that there are a couple of good farmers to be found in Spain! And if it’s on the interweb then it must be true!”

At the RCDE Stadium, Earle had arrived early to visit the staff and groundsmen who he had worked with before, and was greeted by a crowd of fans still grateful for his stint with the club which started over 9 years ago.
The stadium was much unchanged from his departure, but the glamour of reaching Division 1 was evident there.
The changing rooms that slight bit fancier, the ground had a slight bit more capacity, the pitch better kept. The trophy room sat with 3 “Youth Cup Final Participant” badges, and a 4th spot ready for another runners up medal, or maybe finally the Cup itself. But not the Shield, that tournament is considered a “losers competition”. A statement which has caused confusion amongst some fans who have noted their lack of any youth trophy at all. But that could all change today!

Ahead of the game, Earle met with the media
“We are not looking to sit on our lead. We have won every game so far, and we intend to win this one too. I have a lot of love for Espanyol and the fans, but today that is put to one side. To see 2 teams which I managed from Division 5 upwards now meet in the Youth Cup Final is superb, and even now I am shown the appreciation from the fans and president that they wouldn’t be here without the foundations laid down all those years ago in the toughest days the club faced, and carried on by the following managers and of course Glen now. But as I say, today that doesn’t matter. As my counterpart said previously, ‘no one remembers the losers’, and I do not intend to be the loser today.”

The teams were on the pitch, the stadium loud, and the excitement high to see the new Spanish signings of Pedri, Gavi and Casado.
A banner waved in the Espanyol stand “Earle – El regreso del salvador“.
Another nearby hung over the rails “¡No puedes detener a Pedri!“.
The dreams of the Espanyol faithful lay in the hands of an extremely talented squad, but even more so in their new star boy, Pedri! Signed to save the day, signed to create history! He would make the headlines tomorrow, that much the Spanish fans knew.
Leicester fans thought otherwise, between them, Wirtz and Musiala had combined for 29 goals and 28 assists so far, surely that wasn’t going to stop now, and a 2 goal advantage the confidence was high. It was easy to tell which set of fans were making more noise, as chants in English rang around the stadium.

Kick Off – With the lead in hand Leicester started mor confidently, they kept the ball and took their time. A fancy move in midfield by Chaibi led to a late tackle by Pedri, earning him a yellow card early. The game remained stable with Leicester controlling possession. And then came the break, a quick run up the wing by Musiala caught the defence by surprise, Wirtz darted to the near post, tailed by defenders Martinez, Debast and Diouf, only to see the ball sail over all of their heads to the wide open Tel who finished with ease. After the celebrations, the players were headed back for kick off when there was a quick flash and Chaibi went down. No one saw why so VAR was was checked. In frustration at dropping to a 3 goal deficit, and having so little possession, Pedri had continued his earlier scuffle with Chaibi and elbowed him as he passed. With no choice, the ref issued a straight red card and Pedri shuffled off with tears to the boos of both the Espanyol and Leicester fans. Both sets of staff shook their heads as the superstar headed down the tunnel. So Espanyol fans were right, Pedri did make the headlines. A red card within 20 minutes of the Youth Cup final.
Down to 10 men and facing an attacking onslaught, Espanyol held on. But in the 42nd minute, Wirtz was brought down in the box for a penalty, which he tucked away with confidence. Half time saw the score at 2-0, with Espanyol failing to get a shot on target.

No changes came at half time, but like the first leg, Espanyol bounced back quickly, scoring in the 47th minute to restore some hope to the fans. But once again the excitement was short lived. Wirtz was taken down in the box for a second time, and put the penalty away as easily as his first. With that, Espanyol were done, they mustered no more shots on target for the remainder of the game. But Leicester weren’t done, especially Tel. With assists from Musiala and Wirtz in the 72nd and 81st minutes the Frenchman wrapped up a superb Cup Final Hattrick, sealing an aggregate 8-2 win for Leicester.

The stadium remained full for the trophy ceremony. Espanyol collected their runners up medals as the fans chanted “at least it’s not the shield! at least it’s not the shield!”

Leicester raised the trophy to a full stadium, making it 2 Youth Cups back to back, 3 Youth Trophies back to back, and 4 youth Trophies in total.

“It was a great tournament for us, and a great tournament for Espanyol too. Unfortunately, todays game got away from them thanks to an early red card, and 2 clumsy penalties. I think we had it in the bag anyway, but it would be have been good to see the 2 teams go at it 11v11. Hopefully next season the opportunity presents itself once again as they are rapidly improving under Glen. But today is about Leicester and the players, Wirtz and Musiala have been immense this tournament, but Tel showed us his quality today as one of the best out there. Something he has shown in the first team too!
I would also like to pass on my congratulations to Flamengo for a great win in the Youth Shield. It is a massive achievement and Flamengo are becoming synonymous with trophies.”

Wirtz ended the tournament with 22 goals and 11 assists, earning him the golden boot. Musiala chipped in with 9 goals of his own and 20 assists, taking home the Playmaker of the Tournament award.
Tel took home the match ball from the final after his electric hattrick.

And now the eyes are on next season, where Leicester City lose some key players.
Musiala and Chaibi are now ineligible, Colwill and Tel depart for Juventus and Ozcan joins Genoa. The moves leave some big holes to be filled but the like of Gavi, Nwaneri and Kwambwala will be looked to to step up and help the team continue in winning form.

But there are others who are ever improving. Barcelona are ever a threat as long as Lamine Yamal remains, and Juventus look reborn in the youth department with multiple new additions. Espanyol remain a threat with up and coming youngsters, and Flamengo will be looking to build on their Shield win. Spectators and pundits will also look on with excitement to see if Youth Cup legends Levante will re-enter next season after a hiatus this year.