UEFA Youth League reaction: Something special
After being crowned European champions for
youth football following a 3-2 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA
Youth League final, our Under-19 players reflected on the achievement.
‘It’s my best feeling yet as a player,’ said Izzy Brown (pictured above left), who scored twice in the final.
The forward was an unused substitute for the first team at Loftus Road on Sunday, before flying back to Switzerland to captain the team in the final.
‘I’ve won the FA Youth Cup and the Under-17 European Championships with England but this just tops it all off. It was an excellent game and I thought we deserved our win. To be on the bench for the first team and then come back here to play has been a great experience for me and I’m just so happy we’ve won the competition.’
Midfielder Charlie Colkett (above right) highlighted the character of the team and credited the win as a reward for hard work from everybody working in the Chelsea Academy.
‘We’re absolutely delighted and it’s difficult to put into words really. This is a massive competition on the world stage and we’ve produced the goods. I thought we started the game very sharply and got the important early goal but maybe we took our foot off the gas a little bit after that.
‘Shakhtar are a very good side but we showed our character in the game and upped the tempo again at the start of the second half, just like we did against Roma in the semi-final. It’s days like these that you work hard all year for and it’s a huge statement for our Academy and what they do on a daily basis.’
Striker Dominic Solanke netted his 12th UEFA Youth League goal of the season in between Brown’s brace and finished as the tournament’s top goalscorer.
‘I’m a very competitive person so I love to win everything that I can,’ he said. ‘This is one of the best tournaments you can be involved in against all the best teams in Europe so to win it is fantastic.
‘It’s an amazing achievement for me personally, to finish as the competition’s top goalscorer and score in every round, against all these different teams and styles. You find a different variety around all the teams in Europe so it’s something special for me personally.’
Solanke also reiterated the team’s desire to use the victory as a springboard heading into next week’s FA Youth Cup final against Manchester City and emphasised the players would be determined to defend their European crown next season, with just two of the starting 11 in the final graduating from the Under-19 age group in the summer.
‘We’ve got strong teams at every age group at Chelsea. Losing Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be a loss to us next season but we’ll be looking forward to coming back and defending our title next year.’
‘It’s my best feeling yet as a player,’ said Izzy Brown (pictured above left), who scored twice in the final.
The forward was an unused substitute for the first team at Loftus Road on Sunday, before flying back to Switzerland to captain the team in the final.
‘I’ve won the FA Youth Cup and the Under-17 European Championships with England but this just tops it all off. It was an excellent game and I thought we deserved our win. To be on the bench for the first team and then come back here to play has been a great experience for me and I’m just so happy we’ve won the competition.’
Midfielder Charlie Colkett (above right) highlighted the character of the team and credited the win as a reward for hard work from everybody working in the Chelsea Academy.
‘We’re absolutely delighted and it’s difficult to put into words really. This is a massive competition on the world stage and we’ve produced the goods. I thought we started the game very sharply and got the important early goal but maybe we took our foot off the gas a little bit after that.
‘Shakhtar are a very good side but we showed our character in the game and upped the tempo again at the start of the second half, just like we did against Roma in the semi-final. It’s days like these that you work hard all year for and it’s a huge statement for our Academy and what they do on a daily basis.’
Striker Dominic Solanke netted his 12th UEFA Youth League goal of the season in between Brown’s brace and finished as the tournament’s top goalscorer.
‘I’m a very competitive person so I love to win everything that I can,’ he said. ‘This is one of the best tournaments you can be involved in against all the best teams in Europe so to win it is fantastic.
‘It’s an amazing achievement for me personally, to finish as the competition’s top goalscorer and score in every round, against all these different teams and styles. You find a different variety around all the teams in Europe so it’s something special for me personally.’
Solanke also reiterated the team’s desire to use the victory as a springboard heading into next week’s FA Youth Cup final against Manchester City and emphasised the players would be determined to defend their European crown next season, with just two of the starting 11 in the final graduating from the Under-19 age group in the summer.
‘We’ve got strong teams at every age group at Chelsea. Losing Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be a loss to us next season but we’ll be looking forward to coming back and defending our title next year.’
Loftus-Cheek (pictured above) echoed his
manager’s sentiments ithat the best team on the day and in the whole
competition had won the title.
‘It was a tough game in which we had to really dig in. Going 1-0 up and then conceding, you have to be strong mentally to deal with that and go away. Having been in finals before, we’re all used to that pressure.
‘It was difficult at times defensively because Shakhtar’s rotation was very good but we dealt with it well. It’s a massive well done to everyone; to win nine out of 10 games in the competition is a brilliant achievement and shows our quality all the way through.’
‘It was a tough game in which we had to really dig in. Going 1-0 up and then conceding, you have to be strong mentally to deal with that and go away. Having been in finals before, we’re all used to that pressure.
‘It was difficult at times defensively because Shakhtar’s rotation was very good but we dealt with it well. It’s a massive well done to everyone; to win nine out of 10 games in the competition is a brilliant achievement and shows our quality all the way through.’
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