Meet the UEFA Youth League finals contenders: AZ Alkmaar, Barcelona, Salzburg, Trabzonspor

The UEFA Youth League semi-finals ties are set, with places in the final to be decided at Colovray Sports Centre, Nyon, on Friday 25 April.

We introduce the contenders, including three past winners and the first team from their nation to get to this stage.

AZ ALKMAAR VS BARCELONA

AZ Alkmaar

Domestic champions path second round: W8-2agg vs Strømsgodset (W4-1 a, W4-1 h)
Domestic champions path third round: W2-1 agg vs Manchester United (W2-1 h, D0-0 a)
Round of 32: W2-2, 4-3pens h vs Benfica
Round of 16: W2-0 a vs Real Madrid
Quarter-finals: W1-0 h vs Manchester City
Top scorers: Wassim Bouziane, Jasper Hartog 3
Previous best: Winners (2022/23)

Previous finals matches (semi-finals onward)

2022/23: W2-2, 4-3pens vs Sporting CP (semi-finals), W5-0 vs Hajduk Split (final)

• Also came through the domestic champions path in 2022/23, when the finals were uniquely played in Geneva rather than Nyon. In that season they knocked out Barcelona (2-0 in the round of 16, these sides' only previous competition meeting) and Madrid, and hope to complete the same double this time in the semis. AZ have now gone a record 24 consecutive Youth League games unbeaten over 90 minutes (not counting penalty shoot-outs), having begun the season sharing the mark of 17 with Chelsea.

Barcelona

League phase: L3-4 a vs Monaco, W4-2 h vs Young Boys, W3-1 h vs Bayern München, W2-1 a vs Crvena Zvezda, W2-0 h vs Brest, W3-2 a vs Borussia Dortmund (4th place)
Round of 32: W2-2, 5-3pens h vs GNK Dinamo
Round of 16: W3-1 a vs Aston Villa
Quarter-finals: W2-1 a vs Stuttgart
Top scorer: Arnau Pradas 5
Previous best: Winners (2013/14, 2017/18)

Previous finals matches (semi-finals onward)

2018/19: L2-2, 4-5pens vs Chelsea
2017/18: W5-4 vs Manchester City (semi-finals), W3-0 vs Chelsea (final)
2016/17: L1-2 vs Salzburg (semi-finals)
2013/14: W1-0 vs Schalke (semi-finals), W3-0 vs Benfica (final)

• The first club to reach the Nyon finals for a fifth time, Barcelona currently share the record of two titles with Chelsea.

SALZBURG VS TRABZONSPOR

Salzburg

League phase: W3-2 a vs Sparta Praha, W5-1 h vs Brest, W3-2 h vs GNK Dinamo, D2-2 a vs Feyenoord, W1-0 a vs Bayer Leverkusen, W3-2 h vs Paris Saint-Germain (3rd place)
Round of 32: W1-1, 4-2pens h vs Celtic
Round of 16: W2-1 h vs Atlético de Madrid
Quarter-finals: W1-0 h vs Olympiacos
Top scorer: Phillip Verhounig 8
Previous best: Winners (2016/17)

Previous finals matches (semi-finals onward)

2021/22: W5-0 vs Atlético de Madrid (semi-finals), L0-6 vs Benfica (final)
2019/20: L1-2 vs Real Madrid (semi-finals)
2016/17: W2-1 vs Barcelona (semi-finals), W2-1 vs Benfica (final)

• Have won all four of their quarter-finals (including 4-3 against Lyon in Nyon in the unique 2019/20 format to add to their other five matches at Colovray) and aim to be only the second two-time champions after Barcelona and Chelsea.

Trabzonspor

Domestic champions path second round: W8-3agg vs Budućnost Podgorica (W3-1 h, W5-2 a)
Domestic champions path third round: W8-3 agg vs Sarajevo (D2-2 a, W5-1 h)
Round of 32: W1-0 h vs Juventus
Round of 16: W0-0, 5-3pens h vs Atalanta
Quarter-finals: W1-0 h vs Inter
Top scorer: Poyraz Yıldırım 6
Previous best: Domestic champions path second round (2021/22)

• Were already the first Turkish team to reach the round of 16 before going two steps further, with a hat-trick of wins against Italian opposition. They attracted a competition-record crowd of 40,368 against league phase table-toppers Inter and their total of 66,404 for their five home games, 66,993 including their two in 2021/22, is the all-time high for any club in the Youth League.