Luke Moore: Barcelonas kids show the way to go

Lyon will be celebrating again come Thursday night, reckons Luke
Having witnessed an entertaining game when Barcelona's under-19s visited their Spurs counterparts as part of the NextGen series last week, Luke Moore calls for more competitive football for academy players. He also picks out a juicy Europa League double
It's been a pretty exciting return for the Champions League this week, with the drama at the Santiago Bernabeu probably topping the lot. Five goals in 20 minutes isn't to be sniffed at wherever you are, but when it involves a team coming back from 1-2 to win 3-2 and the winner is scored by one of the world's best players who's spent most of his spare time recently trying to break the world record for the largest bottom lip, it's hard to top. Throw a textbook Jose Mourinho knee-slide into the mix and you've got something for everyone.
The next generation
I was at a European game of a slightly different nature last week though when I attended White Hart Lane for the NextGen Series fixture between Spurs and Barcelona. If you're not aware, the NextGen Series is a sort of Champions League for academy players under the age of 19. It's a really good format and makes for some competitive ties between some of the very best prospects in Europe.
There are slight differences in the rules between the Champions League proper and the NextGen Series: the squad can only have a maximum of 18 players in it, the teams are not limited to three substitutions, and the players must of course be 18 or under (with the exception of three squad members who may be 19 years old).
On the night, Barcelona ran out 0-2 winners, thanks to two goals from the exciting Sandro, and in the second-half especially the Catalans really did stifle Spurs with their passing style and rigorous pressing game. Spurs had their fair share of play in the first half however, and I witnessed some standout performances, not least by young Alex Pritchard who looks to have a touch and vision beyond his years.
The real eye-catcher though was Barcelona's holding midfielder Sergio Samper. Apparently wanted by Arsenal when they signed Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin from the Spanish giants last year, he really was a class act and seemed to control the game without breaking into a sweat. Based on that performance, there's no money on Earth that would prise him away from his current club.
It's great that young players are getting to play at such a competitive level, and in reality it's exactly what they need. The step between academy games and the first team is obviously reserve team football, and sadly in England that has been nothing more than a joke for some time now.
It's no coincidence that several high-profile foreign managers coming to work in England have called for an adoption of the Spanish model of reserve/second teams being placed in the football league. While I'm against that idea for a number of reasons, it really did hit home to me how poor reserve team football is in this country when a current Premier League player told me that sometimes in reserve games the clubs' assistant managers have to referee a half each.
I'll give that a second to sink in: at PREMIER LEAGUE LEVEL, reserve team games are sometimes officiated by staff from the clubs involved because there is no referee. I've played in Sunday League games where I've been disappointed if we've got no ref. It really does beggar belief.
With the NextGen Series, not only do these players get a competitive game against teams from a different country potentially playing a different style, they get to experience the crowd, the travel, the staying away from home, all the stuff that is part and parcel of being a modern footballer at the top level.
Special credit should also be reserved for Tottenham Hotspur for allowing the game to take place at White Hart Lane too, because some of the other teams involved have opted to host the games at smaller stadiums or training grounds nearby. Due to Spurs agreeing to host the game at their home stadium (and the tickets being so reasonably priced with some available at only 5) the game was attended by just under 9,000 which made for a superb atmosphere.
Europa League tip
Thursday night sees the return of the Europa League, and I quite the look of a double for this week's bet. Lyon are undefeated so far this season and should easily see off Sparta Prague at home, and Napoli are absolutely flying having won all three of their league games so far in Serie A. They face AIK at the San Paolo which shouldn't pose too much of a problem, given their firepower. A double fetches odds of 2.0421/20, which isn't to be sniffed at.