Barcelona’s youngsters turned in a dominant performance, routing Belarus champions Bate Borisov 4-0 in the final round of Champions League group play.

With first place in Group H already wrapped up and el clasico just days away, Guardiola chose to rest the majority of his senior team, letting a largely Barca B squad take the field for a taste of European football.

Watching them play, you’d never have known. The final stats for Barcelona read: 76% possession, six corners to zero, nine shots on goal to zero, 4-0 score.

The future appears bright in Catalunya.

Fontas and Bartra (who penned a new two year extension with the club this week) looked steady in defense. Montoya showcased the speed and discipline that has seen him already called up by Del Bosque for Spain’s national side. Rafinha played aggressive and hungry. Thiago continued to demonstrate the class and flair of his Brazilian heritage. Sergi Roberto stroked the ball around in midfield with the poise of Iniesta. Cuenca turned in a man of the match performance, taking another step forward in his meteoric rise this season.

With Guardiola resting his starting eleven, BATE hoped to take advantage of Barcelona’s youth and spring an upset at the Camp Nou. They were in for a rude awakening.

Barcelona dominated from the opening whistle, utilizing their speed in the passing game, confidence on the ball and attacking pedigree to dismantle the visiting Belarusians.

The match marked the first time brothers Thiago and Rafa Alcantara have played together in the senior squad, and it was baby brother Rafinha who nearly put the hosts ahead in the second minute after streaking into the area and firing from a tight angle, forcing Aleksandr Gutor into the near-post save.

Barca would dominate possession, but struggle early on to create clear-cut chances. Sergi Roberto had a tremendous chance to put the Catalans up in the 34th minute when Martin Montoya broke in on the right and slid his pass across the face of goal, but Roberto couldn’t connect cleanly at the far post and steered his shot wide from six yards out.

The 19-year old would redeem himself one minute later, taking advantage of Thiago and Rafinha’s buildup to pass the loose ball from the edge of the box into the bottom right corner, marking his first ever goal for the senior squad.

He nearly had a brace ten minutes into the restart after being put in on goal, but Gutor did well to deny the midfielder, parrying away his strike to preserve the one goal advantage.

Barca would up the tempo, forcing the issue with a series of good chances in succession. A clever chip by Pedro was barely kept out by a one-handed swiping save by Gutor before Montoya made it two.

Isaac Cuenca was at the heart of things, turning his marker and ghosting past another defender before finding Martin Montoya on the overlap, with the right-back drilling his shot into the upper right corner for his first career goal.

The goal makes Montoya the 15th player to have scored for Barcelona this season.

Montoya’s ability to defend reliably, while still getting forward as a right-winger make him a standout for the future. Make no mistake about it; the kid is ready to backup Dani Alves on the senior squad.

Barca continued pressing forward and would make it 3-0 just moments later when Pedro’s hard work saw the forward score his first goal since October. Cuenca started the move, dribbling to the touchline before cutting the ball back to Pedro at the near post, with the Spaniard sending an audacious back heel effort through the legs of Gutor and into the back of the net.

Marti Riverola would come on for Sergi Roberto in the 79th minute, making his debut appearance for the senior squad as the 22nd canterano to premier under Pep Guardiola.

Cuenca’s shifty movement won Barca a penalty two minutes from time when he was tripped in the area by Alexander Volodko.

Pedro stepped up to the mark and sent Gutor the wrong way, securing a brace on the night and his 50th career goal for Barcelona.

The 4-0 victory sees Barcelona increase its goal tally to an astounding 47-2 advantage at the Camp Nou this term.

Cuenca’s man of the match performance saw the youngster record two assists and a penalty won.

His emergence as a credible striker stands reminiscent of Pedro’s rise to greatness just two seasons ago and greatly masks the loss of Ibrahim Afellay to long-term injury.

The match may have been inconsequential, but the youngsters made a statement with the victory: Barcelona are a team to be feared for many years to come.

The road to the future begins this weekend with a trip to the Bernabeu in what will surely be their most difficult test this season.

To the interminable champions, un crit valent: Visca!

Article written by Barcaloco contributor Anson Woodring.  Follow Anson on Twitter at @ansonwoodring.

Real Madrid v Barcelona is live on ESPN Deportes on Saturday, December 10 at 4PM ET.