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Six of the eleven players who started the 2018 UEFA Champions League final for Real Madrid are aged 30 and above. One of those players, Cristiano Ronaldo, has left the club in the summer but the remaining five still remain an integral part of the first team.
It is clear as daylight that Real Madrid will have to replace many of those players over the years and they’ve already laid the foundation for the future.
Also read: Top 5 U-21 players to watch out for in the LaLiga this season
The likes of Sergio Ramos and Marcelo started at Real Madrid when they were teenagers and they have shown that if a player has the necessary quality and attitude then there is a pathway into the first team.
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The Los Blancos have some fantastic teenagers contracted to the club already and they have the potential to be world beaters in the future. In fact, Real Madrid has enough players on their books to name a starting XI featuring only players aged 23 and below.
The team formation used will be 4-3-3
Goalkeeper - Andriy Lunin
The 19-year-old Ukrainian shot-stopper joined Real Madrid from Zorya Luhansk this summer although there was interest in the player from other top European clubs.
Lunin made his debut for Dnipro aged 17 as the club had to sell their stars due to a severe financial crisis.
Due to the same financial crisis, Dnipro faced a deduction of 24 points in 2016/17 and was thus facing impending relegation.
During this adverse situation, Lunin announced himself to the world by keeping 10 clean sheets in 25 games while conceding just 23 goals.
The following season, Lunin signed for Zorya Luhansk and uprooted their first choice goalkeeper.
He also made his debut for Ukraine in 2017 and is expected to be their first choice goalkeepers for many years to come.
Honourable mention - Luca Zidane
Full-backs - Álvaro Odriozola and Theo Hernández
Alvaro Odriozola is a product of the Real Sociedad academy that has brought to fore players like Antoine Griezmann and Inigo Martinez in recent years.
Odriozola broke into the Sociedad first team during the 2016/17 season and cemented his place in the first team in 2017/18. In fact, he was so impressive that he received a call-up to the Spain national team and played for La Furia Roja during Dani Carvajal’s absence.
Also read: 6 Real Madrid teenagers who can be future stars
Real Madrid wasted no time in snapping up the 22-year-old right back and paid €30 million, plus another €5 million in add-ons to sign the player this summer.
Odriozola’s ceiling is huge, so don’t be surprised if he benches Carvajal in the near future.
Theo Hernandez joined Real Madrid a year ago from arch-rivals Atletico Madrid. The left-back spent the 2016/17 season on loan at Deportivo Alaves and his impressive performance for the club propelled Real Madrid’s interest in the player.
The 20-year-old struggled to break into the first team last season and understandably so as he was competing with Marcelo who is with arguably the best left-back in the world.
Marcelo is 10 years older than Theo and if the latter can put his head down and work hard, then he has a great opportunity to be the Brazilian’s long-term replacement.
Theo is currently out on loan at Real Sociedad for the season in a bid to get regular playing time and valuable experience.
Centre-backs - Jesús Vallejo and Achraf Hakimi
Real Madrid signed Jesus Vallejo from Real Zaragoza in 2015 for a fee rumoured to be just €6 million.
Vallejo went back to Zaragoza on loan for the 2015/16 and spent the 2016/17 season on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt playing 25 out 34 Bundesliga games. Following his loan stint in Germany, Vallejo returned to Real Madrid as a first team player and was the team’s fourth choice centre-back behind Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Nacho.
Also read: 4 reasons why Atletico Madrid can win the LaLiga this season
The 21-year-old only played 12 games in all competitions for Real Madrid in his first season at the club but with age on his side and a manager who trusts young players, Vallejo has the opportunity to break into the first team.
Achraf Hakimi was born in Madrid and came through the Real Madrid academy. He made his first-team debut in 2017 following an injury to Dani Carvajal and he racked up 17 appearances scoring twice when he was presented with the opportunity.
The 19-year-old is a versatile defender capable of playing anywhere across the backline. He was deployed as a full-back at Real Madrid, but he has operated in the heart of the defence before.
Hakimi is a Moroccan international with 13 caps and he joined Borussia Dortmund on a two-year loan in the summer. Dortmund is renowned for giving chance to young players and Hakimi should capitalize on this opportunity if he wants to have a future at Real Madrid.
Midfielders - Marcos Llorente, Dani Ceballos and Federico Valverde
Marcos Llorente is also a product of the famed Real Madrid Castilla. The 23-year-old made his debut for Real Madrid back in October 2015.
The Spaniard spent the 2016/17 season on loan at Deportivo Alaves and played alongside his future Real Madrid teammate Theo Hernandez. While on loan at Alaves, Llorente racked up 33 appearances and impressed in the top tier of Spanish football.
Llorente has mainly been used as a squad player but still managed to make 20 appearances for the first team during the 2017/18 season.
Interestingly, football runs in his blood. His father, Francisco Llorente Gento; his great-uncle Francisco Gento and his grandfather, Ramón Grosso, were all Real Madrid players. His uncle and grandfather are considered legends of the club.
Dani Ceballos, a graduate of the Real Betis academy, joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2017. However, he faced competition for places with the likes of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Mateo Kovacic and Isco; and was thus restricted to just 22 appearances in all competitions in his debut season.
The 22-year-old is regarded as one of Spain’s most promising midfield prospects. He helped the Spain U19 team win the European Championship in 2015 before being named the Player of the Tournament at the 2017 UEFA U-21 Euro.
Real Madrid’s new manager, Julen Lopetegui, seems to have more trust in the player’s abilities than his predecessor Zinedine Zidane. Ceballos started Real Madrid’s first league game of the 2018/19 season and also featured in the UEFA Super Cup match as a substitute.
Federico Valverde is one of Uruguay’s biggest prospects. The 20-year-old midfielder signed for Real Madrid in 2016 from Peñarol and played for the Castilla team before going out on loan to Deportivo La Coruña in 2017/18.
Valverde played 24 LaLiga games in his first season in one of Europe’s top tiers and he didn’t disappoint. His performance at club level also earned him a call-up to the Uruguay senior team.
The Uruguayan is known for his ball retention abilities and tackling skills. He likes to spray the ball from deep in midfield to pick out runners and also take a pop at goal from distance.
Forwards - Martin Ødegaard, Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio
It’s sometimes hard to phantom that Martin Ødegaard is still a teenager. Although he hasn’t broken into the Real Madrid first team since joining the club in 2015, he has made significant progress after his spell on loan at SC Heerenveen.
The Norwegian was a regular for the Dutch club during the 2017/18 season after a tough start in the second half of the 2016/17 season.
He had an impressive WhoScored rating of 7.36 last season which was the highest in his team and the 15th highest in the league. In fact, Arber Zeneli had the next highest rating from Heerenveen with 7.14 and he was placed 42nd.
He is now back at his parent club but he may need a loan spell at a LaLiga club to further his first-team ambitions at Real Madrid.
Vinícius Júnior joined Real Madrid this summer after the club agreed on a deal to sign the highly rated Brazilian a year in advance for €45 million!
Also read: 5 LaLiga debutants to watch out for this season
The 18-year-old Brazilian has drawn comparisons with his compatriot Neymar for his playing style. Vinicius is quick, is an excellent dribbler and has a bag of tricks up his sleeve. He scored an impressive 14 goals in 69 games for his former club Flamengo before he turned 18 and also 17 goals in 19 games for the Brazil U-17 team.
It remains to be seen how big a role he will play at Real Madrid in his debut season but he’s certainly one to be excited about.
All the previously mentioned 10 players in this XI are either far from the first team picture at the moment or on the fringes but Marco Asensio has been a first-team regular for quite some time now.
Asensio signed for Real Madrid in 2014 from Mallorca and he spent the 2014/15 season and 2015/16 season on loan at Mallorca and Espanyol respectively.
Since the start of the 2016/17 season, the 22-year-old has remained a regular member of the first team and has played 93 games scoring 21 goals.
Asensio is now also a regular for Spain at the senior level and also a starter for Real Madrid following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Honourable mention - Borja Mayoral and Rodrygo Goes
What do you think of this team? Sound off your opinions in the comments section below!
