Kluivert guides Barcelona youth team to lopsided win over Real Madrid

Barcelona’s under-12 side won an international tournament in New York winning the final 6-1 to claim victory over their rivals Real Madrid.

On their way to the final, Barcelona defeated Hoboken City FC, a local American side, as well as Villarreal, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.

In the end, the final was a routine victory for the junior side, after they took the lead within just four minutes. By half time, the scores were still close, as the Catalonia based side led 2-1, but in the second half, they pulled away to clinch victory by five goals.

Among the goalscorers was Shane Patrick Kluivert, who bagged a brace. Kluivert, son of the Barcelona legend Patrick, scored two in the final, while Landry, Xavi Castellanos, Marco Bernal and Sylla all scored a goal a piece. 

Shane Kluivert signed his first contract with sportswear giant Nike aged just nine years old in 2017, and is clearly beginning to live up to his potential.

Shane’s brother, Justin, came through a different youth academy, having started in his native Netherlands with Ajax, where he made his professional debut in 2016. Since then, he earned a move to Roma in Italy and made 29 league appearances in his first campaign with the Serie A club.

Justin Kluivert also made his senior debut for the Netherlands in March 2018, coming on as a substitute for Memphis Depay in a 3-0 win over Portugal in an international friendly. 

Patrick Kluivert played the majority of his club football for Barcelona, scoring 90 league goals in 182 appearances, and he will be hoping that his son can replicate his impact on Spain’s north-east coast one day.

Although Real Madrid were well beaten by Barcelona in the final of the La Liga Promises tournament, they too had to overcome tough opposition to reach the last two, conquering Liverpool, Inter Milan and Espanyol on their way to second place in the tournament. 

Barcelona’'s U12 side, known as El Alevin A, have now won the New York edition of the tournament in four of the last five years and have cemented themselves as one of the strongest youth organisations in the world. 

Real Madrid, however, won two editions of La Liga Promises earlier this season, and were ultimately disappointed not to make it a treble this campaign.