The young players of FC Nantes are making history! Winners at La Beaujoire (1-0) during the first leg of this second round of the “Voice of National Champions” of the Youth League, Stéphane Moreau’s men showed enormous mental strength against HJK Helsinki this Wednesday November 22 to get their ticket for the next round.
video ezoic-under_first_paragraph"/>
Strong despite hostile conditions.
Despite unfavorable weather conditions, the young players of FC Nantes did well against the vengeful but too imprecise Finns. It was even the Canaries who were the most dangerous in the first half, notably through Mafoumbi (17′ then 31′), or even Guirassy (30′). Tom Mabon, FC Nantes goalkeeper, had little work during this first act but was decisive on Toivonen’s beautiful strike shortly before half-time (42′).
In the second half, the Yellow and Green were as incisive as ever. Gomes fails to find the target after returning from the locker room (49′), but the message is clear: FC Nantes does not intend to play for time. Mabon shines again around ten minutes later, saving his team with a point-blank shot from Möller (59′).
But we had to wait until the last quarter of an hour of this meeting to finally see the nets shake. Stredair Appuah enters the center and unleashes a powerful shot with his left foot… which finds the left post of Ramula (73′). A sign of destiny for the Canaries, who suffered the opening score from the Finns a few moments later. After a mix-up on the counter-attack following the Nantes offensive, Ezeh managed to deceive Tom Mabon (74′). 1-0 in this return match and 1-1 on aggregateeverything is relaunched between FC Nantes and HJK Helsinki!
A penalty shootout to make history.
Despite a huge scare on the Nantes side with a save on their line from Mabon (83′), no team ultimately managed to make the difference in the last fifteen minutes. It is under an icy wind of snow that Nantes and Helsinki must decide between themselves during the terrible penalty shootout.
video ezoic-under_second_paragraph"/>
Scorer from the penalty spot in the first leg, Nathan Zézé is the first to set off. He deceives Ramula and gives the Canaries the advantage (0-1). Ezeh, the only scorer of the day, is the second player to take responsibility in this session. His shot crashes into Mabon’s right post (0-1).
Stredair Appuah sees his penalty saved by the Finnish goalkeeper and therefore misses the opportunity to make the break. HJK Helsinki equalizes thanks to Baranov. David, Mongo and Touré did not tremble against the Finnish goalkeeper, while Möller and Ritari also converted their shots on goal (3-4). Last shooter of this session, Simojoki has no room for error. But the Finnish defender crosses his shot too far, which ends up hitting Mabon’s post. Nantes won in this penalty shootout (3-4) and qualified for the Youth League play-offs!
When will the play-offs take place?
The Youth League being divided into two distinct paths, the play-off round (equivalent to the round of 16) constitutes the meeting point between the clubs of the National Champions Path (such as FC Nantes) and those of the League Path. Champions (like PSG or FC Barcelona).
While the first in each group of this second path are directly qualified for the round of 16 of the competition, the clubs finishing in second place will face a team drawn at random from among the eight survivors of the Champions Path on the occasion of a play-off match with the aim of reaching the round of 16.
video ezoic-mid_content"/>
The Canaries will now have to wait a month before knowing their future opponent. While the draw will take place on Wednesday December 19 at 12 p.m., the young people of Nantes will have the honor of welcoming this European Cup poster which will, logically, be played at La Beaujoire. This historic shock for FC Nantes will take place February 6 or 7, 2024.
Finally, in the event of qualification, the knockout phase (from the round of 16) will be played in single matches, unlike the Champions League. The semi-finals and the final will be played in Switzerland, three days apart, at the Stade de Colovray (Nyon). Like its big sister, no match for third place is organized in the Youth League.
2023-11-22 23:43:08
#Youth #League #Nantes #U19s #achieve #historic #qualification #playoffs
