Following the huge victory of the Legend’s Youth Team against Atlético’s Youth Team with 2-0 in away soil, our side was qualified for the next round of the competition. Therefore, the squad of Vasilis Vouzas proved in the best possible way how important it is to have faith in young players and their potential!
Although young in age, they achieved great things against really strong and competitive sides, such as Atlético Madrid and Juventus as well as the iron-willed Malmö. In their 5 matches so far in the UEFA Youth League, the Legend’s Youths attracted all eyes on them with their campaign.
Among the things to notice in this qualification is the three wins achieved by our side. The “red-and-whites” managed to win all three away matches, an admirable and at the same time really hard feat!
The way to the qualification!
What difference does it make if they did not have an ideal start? The Youth Team greeted Atlético Madrid in their first match for the UEFA Youth League in the Rentis facilities.Our players were not lucky in this match and were defeated 2-1 from the Spanish side, although they scored first in the game with an early goal by Vergos.The players of Vasilis Vouzas were defeated, but they were not deterred…
For the next matchday, our side greeted Juventus, coached by Fabio Grosso.From the onset, our Youths showed their intention as Laci scored the opening goal in just the 7th minute.However, our Olympiacos was yet again unlucky.The possession and the many lost chances did not transform in a goal and this resulted in the Italians “stealing” the tie with an own goal by Vatousiadis.
However, two weeks later, the “red-and-whites” exacted their vengeance.They were as prepared as they could be and did not let this opportunity pass them by.Following an exemplary display under torrential rain, the Piraeus footballers overplayed Juventus and the 3-0 score for our side should be considered… honourary for the Italians! This was a great win for our Youths who now were on a good track to qualify for the next round.
The match of the fifth matchday in Spain was the crucial one as regards the qualification.In the land of the bullfighters, the Legend’s Youths had another epic display.Their victim this time was Atlético Madrid and the Spanish players could not stop the… assault of the Piraeus players.The Youths easily won 2-0 in Madrid and were qualified for the next round of the UEFA Youth League with flying colours.The scorers of the grand victory for our Olympiacos were Megaritis and Garefalakis.
Our Youths proved that with will, passion, spirit, heart as well as determination, they can achieve many things.The experiences they gain for the future are important given that the level of the competition is exceptional and that they compete against historic clubs with infrastructure and tradition in their Academies.
In conclusion, Atlético Madrid leads the standings with 12 points, followed by Olympiacos with 10 points, Juventus with 5 points and Malmö with 1 point. The match of the last matchday against the Swedish side in the Rentis facilities will most possibly determine the first place in the group.
“Olympiacos among the top Academies in Europe”
The two scorers of the Legend in the last match against Atlético Madrid, Kostas Megaritis and Kostas Garefalakis, talked to Olympiacos.org regarding the important success of the Youth Team.
The first player pointer out: “We are really happy with this outcome. We tried hard and we were successful. We will try to continue the same way in the next matches, starting in the home match against Malmö, in order to help our Olympiacos reach as high as possible.”
As regards the side’s targets, he said: “Our target from the beginning was to win the championship and go as far as possible in the UEFA Youth League. We work hard for this and we hope to make it.”
Finally, as regards the good work performed in the Academies of the Legend, also proven by the results, he mentioned: “This is very important for us, namely that in Olympiacos they take good care of the Academies and the Greek players. Everyone’s target is to make the President’s dream come true, namely to man the first team with Greek players and players from the Academies and this is an extra motive for us in order to become even better and to fight for a place in the first team whenever we are given the opportunity.”
Kostas Garefalakis, the second scorer in the match against Atlético, said: “We are really happy and satisfied with the outcome, but also with our qualification in the next round! We did our best in this match, as well as in the competition as a whole, in order to achieve something good and we did it!”
On the fact that many players from the Youth Team are training with the first team whenever they are given the opportunity, he pointed out: “It is very important to be training with such great players and coaches. This is a very good experience for us to be going to the first team and this contributes a lot in our development.”
He finally talked about the very good job performed in the Olympiacos Academy: “The participation of our side in the UEFA Youth League, as well as in the NextGen Series in the past, proves the exceptional work performed in the Academies of Olympiacos and the fact that they are among the top European clubs. However, our goal is not only to win and succeed, but also what the coaches and the administration of the Academy keep telling us, namely on the one hand to become good players and at the same time be good people, always respecting our partners.”
