PRIMAVERA DEFEATED IN THE YOUTH LEAGUE FINAL
Youth Teams
Congratulations. Congratulations to our boys and to Mister Abate for some incredible performances in Europe, reaching a historic Youth League Final. Thank you. Thank you to our team for the incredible emotions: from the group stage until today, beating the high-calibre teams of Braga, Real Madrid and Porto on penalties on their journey to today. AC Milan's Primavera just missed out on the cherry on top of the cake, the most important yet difficult step to win the cup. A strong Olympiacos team celebrates here today at the Colovray Sporting Centre in Nyon, a team we can only congratulate for showing their strength in this match: 3-0, thanks to a lethal second half.
Strong regret and yet enormous pride, this evening and the entire European campaign - the season overall - they have grown, they are growing and they will grow. In today's match, the Rossoneri struggled to attack against the Greeks, taking risks but unable to break through and a reasonable start to the second half was not enough: struck by incidents and errors. Too bad. Silver medal which we can be proud of, beyond the unfortunate ending. And now to react because the league is very much alive: Saturday, 27 April at 13:00, the march towards the play off continues against Monza.
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM OLYMPIACOS v AC MILAN
MATCH REPORT
It was Olympiacos who started off stronger, dogged in their attack. In the 3rd minute, Malaspina lost the ball in a central zone and C. Kostoulas picked it up, taking the shot to which Raveyre was equal in the Milan net: Bakoulas' rebound attempt off-target. Olympiacos continued to press as Papakanellos took aim in the 9th minute, coming very close to the far post. Milan were struggling slightly, almost absent in the offensive third, however they grew into the game as time went on: Zeroli shot high in the 28th minute. The opponents remained dangerous, however, as Bakoulas failed to capitalise on a perfect pass, shooting weekly at the keeper. It remained 0-0 at the break.
The beginning of the second half seemed promising for the Rossoneri as they put the pressure on through Sia (just late), Scotti (shot from distance parried by the keeper) and Simić (header wide). Instead, however, came the decisive moment in the 60th minute as the VAR called for a handball from Stalmach: penalty. Mouzakitis made no mistake from the spot, sending the ball into the corner past Raveyre. The real shock came only a few seconds later: Rossonero mistake in possession, Papakanellos takes aim and doubles their lead. It didn't stop there as the Rossoneri's hope was killed in the 66th minute: an incredible bicycle kick from Bakoulas and the ball was in the back of the net for the third time in 7 minutes. That was the decisive strike as Sia missed a double chance, Sina made an incredible double save from Sala and Scotti sent one over the bar in injury time. Raveyre also made an impressive stop from Kostoulas inbetween these. 3-0 fulltime.
MATCH DETAILS
OLYMPIACOS 3-0 AC MILAN
OLYMPIACOS (3-4-2-1): Sina; K. Kostoulas, Koutsidis, Prekates; Koutsogoulas, Bakoulas (88' Tanoulis), Mouzakitis, Alafakis (72' Dama); Papakanellos (76' Liatsikouras), Pnevmonidis (88' Gatopoulos); C. Kostoulas. Subs: Exarchos; Panagakos; Lolis. Coach: Silaidopoulos.
AC MILAN (4-3-3): Raveyre; Magni, Simić, Nsiala (70' Liberali), Bartesaghi; Stalmach (62' Simmelhack), Malaspina, Zeroli; Scotti, Camarda (78' Bonomi), Sia (78' Sala). Subs: Bartoccioni; Bakoune, Parmiggiani. Coach: Abate.
Referee: Brooks (ENG).
Goals: 60' pen Mouzakitis (O), 61' Papakanellos (O), 66' Bakoulas (O).
Bookings: 33' K. Kostoulas (O), 70' Bakoulas (O), 80' Bartesaghi (M).
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