Chelsea FC had something to celebrate this week as the youngsters showed the senior squad how to do it. They defeated PSG to win the UEFA Youth League.
The Chelsea Under 19s created history as they retained the UEFA Youth League title on Monday by beating PSG 2-1 in the final in Nyon, Switzerland. This is only the third edition of the tournament and Chelsea replicated last year’s triumph in which they beat Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 in the final. In that team were the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek who is now establishing himself in the first team and the current crop of Under 19s will be hoping for the same to happen to them in the near future.
This year’s competition was a topsy-turvy one for the Blues as they were on the brink of elimination earlier on but somehow came through and in the end win the title. The group stages for the UEFA Youth League are the same as those in the Champions League which meant that Chelsea faced FC Porto, Dynamo Kiev and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
Adi Viveash’s side managed to top the group with 14 points (4 wins, 2 draws and 0 loses). Finishing top meant a home tie in the last 16 at Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham against Spanish side Valencia.
Going into this game, Chelsea were strong favourites but found it tough to break down a solid and aggressive Valencia outfit. The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes with Valencia missing a penalty in the 85th minute to make it 2-1, meaning that a penalty shootout was contested. Chelsea were victorious 5-3 on penalties after a controversial moment. The ball crossed the line for one of the Valencia penalties but it wasn’t given by the referee or his assistant. Chelsea were in the quarter finals…
They faced Ajax who have produced so many great dutch players over the years including the likes of the lately departed Johan Cruyff, Dennis Bergkamp and Clarence Seedorf. The game was also at Cobham and the Blues claimed a 1-0 win thanks to a Kyle Scott strike right on half-time. This booked a trip to Nyon to contest a semi-final and a final within four days. Chelsea were up against Anderlecht who also reached the semi-finals last year and Real Madrid entertained PSG in the other semi-final.
With Chelsea unable to qualify for the Champions League next season, the under 19s had to win this competition to take part in it themselves. So there was huge pressure on the young Blues but that wasn’t evident as they dispatched Anderlecht 3-0 thanks to goals from skipper Charlie Colkett, Kasey Palmer and Tammy Abraham. They would meet PSG in the final who beat Real Madrid 3-1 on the same day.
The showpiece final was held at the Colovray Sports Centre in Nyon, the same venue for the semi final. The Blues took the lead after ten minutes through Fikayo Tomori. Jean kevin-Augustin missed a penalty for PSG soon after the goal but the Parisians levelled when Yakou Meite’s fierce strike flashed passed Bradley Collins in the Chelsea goal.
But just when you thought PSG were on the front foot, Chelsea took the lead three minutes later when Palmer scored his fifth goal of the competition. Chelsea had to withstand a barrage of PSG chances but they hung on to create more history by retaining the UEFA Youth League title.
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The youngsters at Chelsea are proving again that there is talent in the academy. I’m sure incoming Blues boss Antonio Conte will be keeping a watchful eye developments in the academy and on both legs of the FA Youth Cup final coming up against Manchester City.