UEFA Youth League joy for VfB Stuttgart but Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim suffer heartache
The young stars of VfB Stuttgart will face their counterparts from Barcelona in a quarter-final in early April after the fledgling Swabians saw off Sporting CP in the teams' last 16 clash in Lisbon. Yet there was disappointment for Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim, who exited the tournament despite both producing solid showings in their respective knockout encounters. bundesliga.com rounds up the action.
Sporting Lisbon 2-3 VfB Stuttgart
Goals: 1-0 Gonçalves 2', 1-1 Boakye 34', 1-2 Mota (o.g.) 43', 1-3 Lüers 76', 2-3 Nel 90'+6
Red card: Silva 88'
Stuttgart sealed their progress to the last eight and a meeting with Barcelona in early April after an impressive victory in Lisbon. Facing a tricky challenge in the Portuguese capital without the likes of regular goalkeeper and captain Florian Hellstern, along with five-goal top scorer Eliot Bujupi and key attacking midfielder Lauri Penna, VfB's task became all the more difficult when the hosts hit the front through Flávio Gonçalves as early as the second minute.
Sporting finished the group stage in second place, three places ahead of their opponents here, yet Stuttgart showed their powers of recovery in the opening phase to bounce back from an opening defeat against Real Madrid to qualify, and that feat stood them in good stead against the Leões (Lions). Following some tidy build-up play, Benny Boakye applied the finish to bring Nico Willig's level, and it would get even better for the visitors when Efe Korkut's shot took a deflection before finding the net.
Stuttgart advanced to this stage having squeezed past Liverpool in a closely-contested penalty shootout yet they looked to have given themselves a tremendous chance of avoiding any such lottery against Sporting when Kenny Freßle had a pop at goal. To VfB's despair, however, the effort came back off the upright. Yet the young Swabians stuck to their task and forged 3-1 ahead when Julian Lüers showed great determination in chasing an apparently lost cause before getting his name on the scoresheet.
The hosts battled hard thereafter and, after seeing Gabriel Silva sent off in the last two minutes of normal time, bagged a consolation goal at the death through Rafael Nel. Stuttgart held on for a priceless win and will next face Barcelona in the last eight on April 1 or 2.
Bayern Munich 1-1 Inter Milan (Inter win 5-4 on penalties)
Goals: 1-0 Chavez 20', 1-1 Alexiou 90'+4
The FC Bayern Campus witnessed UEFA Youth League heartbrake when hosts Bayern came up just short in a dramatic encounter against an Inter side that had previously dominated this competition. The Italians didn't drop a single point in the league phase, before brushing aside Lille in the intermediate stage to set up a clash with the Bavarians.
Yet it was Peter Gaydarov's team - victors against Real Betis in the last round - who were seconds away from going through after Felipé Chavez's strike in the 20th minute - along with a Leon Klanac penalty stop just after the hour mark - looked to have sent the men in red on their way. Chavez previously struck a double in the aforementioned triumph against Betis and he was on target again in the Round of 16 against Inter after being set up by Deniz Ofli.
Bayern hearts were in mouths after Ljubo Puljić fouled the visitors' Giacomo De Pieri in the area in the 62nd minute, but keeper Klanac pulled off a save that kept the hosts ahead. With the game ticking into its 94th minute, Inter found an equaliser via Christos Alexiou and, incredibly, the young Nerazzurri then almost won it when Thomas Berenbruch hit the woodwork moments later.
The encounter heading straight to a penalty shootout, Inter netted all five of their spot-kicks to pile the pressure on Chavez with Bayern's fifth. The Peruvian's effort was saved by Matteo Zamarian, and it was Inter who celebrated their route through to the quarter-finals.
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Hoffenheim 1-2 Manchester City
Goals: 0-1 Warhurst 23', 1-1 Behrens 38', 1-2 Heskey 45'+2
Hoffenheim's UYL adventure ended at the Round of 16 stage after the hosts narrowly lost out to the visiting City at the Dietmar Hopp Stadium. The English visitors took the lead against the run of play in the 23rd minute when Benjamin Lade's save from Max Alleyne's shot fell kindly for Matthew Warhurst, who found the corner of the net.
Buoyed by the return of several players from injury just in time for this encounter, TSG soon worked their way back into the eliminator. Melvin Onos was unlucky to find the upright in the 32nd minute but that moment of misfortune was reversed when full-back Hennes Behrens's effort took a deflection to give Hoffenheim an equaliser.
Parity was short-lived, however, with Reigan Heskey showing pace and composure before drilling a finish into the far corner just before the break. City goalkeeper Oliver Whatmuff kept the ambitious home side at bay thereafter as Leonard Krasniqi, David Creta and Luca Erlein all caused problems for the The Citizens.
Yet, it wasn't to be for Tobias Nubbemeyer's young side, with the coach later summing up his team's efforts. “It obviously makes me sad that the journey is now over. The boys left everything on the pitch. Manchester City punished us in cold-blooded fashion today. Nevertheless, hats off to my team, we played a really good game,” the tactician said.
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