UEFA Youth League Round of 16: U19s visit Real Madrid

Round of 16 match in Madrid!

After the playoff thriller against the Danish champions FC Midtjylland, our U19s travel to the Spanish capital. Like the first team under coach Marco Rose,our youngsters will face Real Madrid in the fight for a place in the quarter-finals.

However, in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Youth League, the tie is decided over just one game. Kick-off is on Wednesday, February 28th at 6 p.m. at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano .

Are the Leipzig U19s in form? What does coach Sebastian Heidinger say? And how good are Real’s young talents?

We have the preliminary report for you.

U19s in form

Our boys are in top form and are undefeated in seven competitive games across all competitions. In the A-Junior Bundesliga North/Northeast, RBL recently picked up four wins and 13 points from the last five matches.
“We are in a good mood and are still unbeaten in 2024. In the last few games we have proven that the team can deal with setbacks. The sending off of Tim Köhler against Midtjylland, the early sending off of Elias Lenz against Wolfsburg and the late goal against Union Berlin “
That gives us a lot of faith in our own strengths. That will also be our focus in Madrid,” Sebastian Heidinger said.
The dress rehearsal has already been a success. On Saturday morning his team won 2-1 at Hamburger SV. The goal scorers were Yannick Eduardo and Laurin Schößler (3rd/55th minutes). This means Leipzig climbed to third place in the league.

WHAT SEBASTIAN HEIDINGER AND MARCO ROSE SAY

Sebastian Heidinger

“We are really looking forward to the game against Real Madrid . It will be something very special for the boys, an experience that they will never forget. No matter who we face, we want to win and advance to the next round. I am very proud of what the boys have achieved so far. But our journey is not over yet.”

Marco Rose

“It’s a great and special event for the boys to get on the plane and play against Real Madrid . They can compete with other top teams. These are priceless experiences for such young guys.
We’re on a very good path and have standardised a few things again, for example when it comes to the game idea and training. The trend is definitely right. We want to continue to develop a culture and energy in the club and in the youth that allows us to achieve maximum success.”

REAL MADRID U19S

Our round of 16 opponents are coached by ex-professional Alvaro Arbeloa. During his playing days, the 41-year-old played for Real Madrid and Liverpool FC, among others. Arbeloa won the Champions League twice, the championship once with Los Blancos, and the former defender became world champion and twice European champion with the Spanish national team. In 2017, he ended his career at West Ham United.

In the league, the Spanish U19s are in second place behind city rivals Atletico Madrid. So far, Real have won 15 wins and 47 points from 21 games. On Saturday, Real Madrid won 5-0 against Union Andarve. Forward Hugo de Llanos has already scored 14 goals.

In the preliminary round of the UEFA Youth League, Real Madrid marched into the knockout round as group winners. In a group with Sporting Braga, SSC Napoli and Union Berlin, Real won comfortably, earning 14 points, scoring 14 goals and conceding one. De Llanos scored four times. Their two attackers, Cesar Palacios and Iker Bravo, are also extremely dangerous.

Bravo is on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen; the 19-year-old played for die Werkself once in the Bundesliga and the DFB Cup at 16.

“Real Madrid have a very strong team. We are preparing for a very intense game in which we will be particularly challenged defensively. Nevertheless, the plan is to exploit Real’s weaknesses and always pose a threat to the opponent’s goal to come,” estimated Sebastian Heidinger in advance.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

We previously faced Real Madrid in the group phase of the 2022/23 UEFA Youth League .
In Spain in September 2022 game finished 1-1. Palacios Perez scored for the Whites shortly after the restart, Ohene Köhl scored the late equaliser in the 89th minute.
In the second leg in October at Cottaweg, the visitors won 3-2. Noël Bigo Atom (26th) and Pierre Weber from the penalty spot (60th) scored the goals for the Messestadt team.

WHAT NEXT?

The winner of Wednesday’s round of 16 match will face the winner of AC Milan and Sporting Braga in the quarterfinals. The game will be played on the 12th/13th of March.
The semi-finals and final will then be played in a final tournament at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland (April 19th to 22nd).
If the game is level after 90 minutes, it goes into extra time, and penalties.