Paris bar Chelsea's way to more Youth League glory
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Article summary
Holders Chelsea, 14 UEFA Youth League matches unbeaten, face "possibly our hardest game over the last two seasons" when they play Paris Saint-Germain in Monday's final.
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- Chelsea are aiming to win the competition for the second time in three seasons
- Adi Viveash steered Chelsea to a 3-2 defeat of Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2015 final
- Paris' previous best performance was reaching the last eight in 2013/14
- Jean-Kévin Augustin and Christopher Nkunku have Ligue 1 experience
- Chelsea have not lost in the UEFA Youth League since 25 November 2014
Adi Viveash, Chelsea coach
It's an outstanding achievement to be in two [consecutive] finals. An excellent Barcelona team won it in the first year and a few of their players went on to the first-team squad, while we have six of our starting XI from last season now playing in European football so that shows the strength of the academy. This year we're a lot younger, but they've done fantastic. It's a brilliant achievement and whatever happens on Monday we should be really proud. It'll be another step in their development and they'll be better people and players for it.
We've got to focus on the game; you can't play out the occasion. Winning again would be a major achievement, but we know we face our sternest test, possibly our hardest game over the last two seasons. We're more than capable of producing the display needed, but finals tend to be about who performs best on the day.
Mason Mount has put himself in the frame to start with what he did on Friday [two assists from the bench]. However, I've got players who weren't involved against Anderlecht who will come into my thinking and we'll try to pick a team capable of winning the game.
Road to the final
Group stage
Chelsea 3-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Porto 3-3 Chelsea
Dynamo Kyiv 0-2 Chelsea
Chelsea 3-1 Dynamo Kyiv
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 0-4 Chelsea
Chelsea 0-0 Porto
Round of 16
Chelsea 1-1 Valencia (Chelsea win 5-3 on pens)
Quarter-finals
Chelsea 1-0 Ajax
Semi-final: Friday, Nyon
Chelsea 3-0 Anderlecht (Palmer 21, Colkett 56, Abraham 75)
Collins; Sterling, Tomori, Clarke-Salter, Aina; Mukhtar, Colkett (Christie-Davies 79); Maddox, Palmer (Mount 46), Scott (DaSilva 73); Abraham.
Did you know?
Eight-goal Tammy Abraham is one shy of the 2015/16 UEFA Youth League top scorer, Atlético Madrid's Roberto Nuñez. Chelsea forward Dominic Solanke (12 goals) was the competition's leading marksman last term.
François Rodrigues, Paris coach
We're going to try and have a good look at Chelsea because up until now we haven't had the chance to study them in depth. But whenever you play against an English team you expect to encounter some fighting spirit because that's in their DNA. We expect a completely different match from the semi-final because the opposition have different strengths.
We have a really strong attack with players who can make the difference at any time, with Jean-Kévin Augustin, Nanitamo Ikone, Wilfride Kanga, Odsonne Edouard and Christopher Nkunku. We're a team that can hurt you from various parts of the pitch. Our forwards are really sharp, our defenders are dangerous from dead balls and in a way we share the attacking responsibility.
This is an adventure that began for us in September, and we had a slow start with a 0-0 draw against Malmö in the group. But the 4-0 home win we recorded against Real Madrid gave us lift-off in this competition and really boosted us. Overall it's been a really interesting campaign.
Road to the final
Group stage
Paris 0-0 Malmö
Shakhtar Donetsk 1-4 Paris
Paris 4-1 Real Madrid
Real Madrid 2-0 Paris
Malmö 0-3 Paris
Paris 5-2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Round of 16
Paris 1-0 Middlesbrough
Quarter-finals
Paris 3-1 Roma
Semi-final: Friday, Nyon
Real Madrid 1-3 Paris (Mayoral 33pen; Hakimi og 5, Kanga 84, Augustin 90)
Deschamps; Georgen, Eboa Eboa, Doucoure, Toure; Callegari (Bernede 34), Demoncy, Nkunku; Edouard (Ikone 61), Meïté (Kanga 71); Augustin.
Did you know?
If Yakou Meïté plays in the final he will equal the competition's all-time appearance record of 23 held by Anderlecht midfielder Samy Bourard and Shakhtar's Mykola Matviienko.