Published October 2018.
This Tuesday, on the 23rd of October, Ajax U19 and Benfica U19 will face each other at De Toekomst in Amsterdam. The return in Portugal will take place two weeks after. Together with @BenficaYouth we wrote a preview for the next two UEFA Youth League games.
Group E
After two games, Benfica U19 tops Group E with 6 points from 2 games (6:1). Ajax U19 takes the second place in the group with 4 points from 2 games (8:2), followed by Bayern Munich (third with one point) and AEK U19 (fourth with no points).
Which players have been in good form this season?
BENFICA: So far this season, the players that are currently in top form are Jota (19), Úmaro Embaló (17), Tiago Dantas (17) and Gonçalo Loureiro (18). These are the obvious standouts, but the U19’s have performed at a good level as group together.
AJAX: Ajax does quite often promote players to higher teams. A lot of talents from the U17’s were promoted to the U19’s last summer. The same happened in the U19’s, where Ryan Gravenberch (16) was promoted to the U21’s. He is still eligible to play for the U19’s, of course. The players in form over the last few weeks have been Quinten Timber (17), Jurriën Timber (17), Nicolas Kühn (18), Sergino Dest (17), Victor Jensen (18) and Ryan Gravenberch (16). Three of them made their U21 debut last week, while Ryan Gravenberch made his first team debut already.
Which players should we have to follow for the rest of this season and for the future?
BENFICA: We would say the same players who are in form right now. Keep an eye on Jota (19), Úmaro Embaló (17) and Tiago Dantas (17). That are the obvious picks.
AJAX: There are a lot of talents who you should keep a close eye on in the future. Most of them are the U17 talents who were mentioned before. Ajax have promoted them for a reason, of course. The Timber brothers (17), Liam van Gelderen (17), Kenneth Taylor (16), Brian Brobbey (16), Nicolas Kühn (18), Sontje Hansen (16), Sergino Dest (17), Enric Llansana (17) and last but not least Ryan Gravenberch (16) are very interesting to keep an eye on.
How did the first two games in the UEFA Youth League go?
BENFICA: The first two games were pretty good. We tend to be a bit sloppy at the beginning of the matches, but after the first 10 or 15 minutes we started to play better. We have scored pretty early in both of those matches, which helped us a lot. The team could play in a more relaxed way in the second half.
AJAX: The first game against AEK U19 was pretty easy for us. The level of AEK wasn’t that high, so it’s difficult to say how good we really were that match. We also scored very early in that game, which helps a lot against that type of opponents. In the end, 6–0 is a good result. Naci Ünüvar (15) made his U19 debut in the UEFA Youth League and scored, making him the youngest goalscorer in the UYL for two minutes. In the match against Bayern Munich U19 we took the lead very early again. After the first 15 minutes, Bayern started creating more chances. There were a lot of changes in the starting line-up, which didn’t help at all. In the first 15 minutes in the second half, we created the biggest chances, after which Bayern scored two goals and changed the game completely. They could have scored even more goals, but in extra time we stole a point in a ‘German-way’ when Sven Botman scored the 2–2.
How is the regular season going so far?
BENFICA: The regular season has been excellent so far. Although some players play in different ranks (U19’s, U23’s and the B side), Benfica top their leagues across every rank.
AJAX: In the first 9 matches of this season, Ajax U19 won 6 matches, drew 2 matches and lost 1 match. The way we played wasn’t always great. There have also been a few injuries, which didn’t help as well. We can play way better than we did in the first two months of this season.
Expectations for both matches?
BENFICA: I expect a very tough game, especially the away match. Ajax, just like us, currently has one of the top 3 academies in the world. We can get a good result in both legs.
AJAX: As mentioned before: Benfica and Ajax have two of the best Youth Academies in Europe, if not the world. We expect two very difficult matches, but also two close and equal matches. Benfica has won 3–0 against Bayern, which is a great result. At home we must win, since Bayern will win against AEK U19. This means Bayern will get 4 points after the third group match. In the away game in Portugal it will be more difficult, but we can get a good result as well. It will probably be quite even in both matches and also very interesting to watch.
