The Academy shows its worth yet again in friendly draw with Leicester City

Malaga CF's academy once again demonstrated its importance to the club after seven reserve team players featured in Saturday's 3-3 pre-season draw with Leicester City at the Marbella Football Center.

Head coach Juan Francisco Funes named a 25-man squad for the opening friendly of the summer and all but five of those players came through the club's youth system. The only exceptions were Eneko Jauregi, Joaquín Muñoz, Carlos Dotor, Adrián Niño and Julen Lobete.

Three academy graduates, winger Juani, left-back Óscar González and midfielder Otu, made their unofficial first-team debuts against the English side as Malaga began preparations for their return to the top flight.

Juani, Santaella and Pablo Arriaza all started the match, while Andrés Céspedes, Óscar González and Otu featured after the break. Goalkeeper Alejandro Mateos, from Vélez-Málaga, was also included in the matchday squad as third-choice keeper but did not play.

The friendly, which was moved at the last minute from Algeciras to Marbella after complaints from the English side about the state of the pitch, ended 3-3 after Malaga cancelled out Louis Page's opener with goals from Chupete and Aarón Ochoa.

Leicester, who now play in the third tier of English football, regained the lead late in the second half through Woyo Coulibaly and Tommy Neale, before Dotor equalised in stoppage time to cap an encouraging opening outing.

Although the result offered few firm conclusions at this early stage of pre-season, the involvement of so many academy players reinforced the club's commitment to developing homegrown talent.

"We're where we want to be at this stage of pre-season," reflected Juanfran Funes following the game.

The head coach's choice to include so many young players reflects the growing pathway from Atlético Malagueño to the first team as Malaga continue building their squad for the new La Liga campaign.

"A lot of them [academy players] got involved and I think some of them did really well. I'm very pleased they're continuing to make a contribution."