Pablo Torre & Álvaro Leiva: Primera RFEF’s teenage sensations – scout report

Last summer, the Spanish football pyramid suffered a big revamp. The former third division (Segunda B), composed of over a hundred teams divided into five groups, was divided in Segunda RFEF, the current fourth tier with 90 teams in four groups, and Primera RFEF, the current third tier with 40 teams (39 after Extremadura went out of business last week) in two groups.

In the new Primera RFEF, we find teams like Deportivo La Coruña, the team that beat Arsenal, Man United, Juventus or PSG among others in the early 2000s, alongside new projects like Gerard Piqué’s Andorra or some top teams’ B sides like Real Madrid Castilla and FC Barcelona B.

This new league has some of the best talents in Spain in it, mostly because of the eight B sides that compete there but also thanks to smaller clubs that are producing excellent talents outside La Liga’s setup.

In this scout report and tactical analysis, we’ll have a look at two of the U18 talents who are catching everyone’s attention: Pablo Torre and Álvaro Leiva. While Torre signed yesterday for Barcelona, Leiva has been linked with Real Madrid for some time now. We’ll also see how they could fit into the Spanish giants tactics too.

Pablo Torre (2003, Racing de Santander)

Pablo Torre is an 18-year-old Spanish midfielder who plays for Racing de Santander in Primera RFEF Group 1. Born in Santander, he came through the club’s academy and his father Esteban Torre is a former Racing Santander player so he has a good example to look upon.

Torre made his first-team debut last season aged just 17 and since then, he has played 49 games for the club in all competitions, scoring 10 goals and providing 12 assists. He’s currently part of the Spain U19 squad after featuring for the U18 side too.

He usually plays as an attacking midfielder in Racing Santander’s 4-2-3-1, much like Pedri did in Las Palmas before signing for Barcelona. In a 4-3-3, he would be the most offensive of the midfield trio or the left winger coming inside to his strong right foot.

Standing at just 1.73m / 5’8’’, Torre is a rather small player but he still has some very impressive physical characteristics. He’s extremely agile and mobile, which allows him to accelerate, stop and turn very quickly and accurately in tight spaces. His top speed is quite good, not fantastic but not slow at all. He makes lots of long efforts as he’s always on the move and can be seen making long runs to consistently be in the right position in attack.

As we just said, Torre is a very dynamic midfielder who is always offering new options and solutions to his team. He moves very well to receive between the lines but also attacks space with deep runs as soon as rivals leave any spaces. He never stops moving so he becomes very difficult to mark. His work rate in attack is excellent, he can initiate the play receiving from the centre-backs but always tries to finish them in the box and into scoring positions, participating in the attacking plays at all heights.