New Triumph for Olympiacos U19 With Huge Qualification in UEFA Youth League

Reigning UEFA Youth League champions Olympiacos are again setting Europe “on fire” this season with their impressive run in the continent’s top U19 competition.

Olympiacos eliminated Sturm Graz on Wednesday in the round of 16, winning 5-4 in the penalty shootout (1-1 in regulation time) and deservedly qualifying for the quarterfinals of the UEFA Youth League.

The popular Piraeus side managed to post another significant victory, this time on the Austrian side’s home ground – and in the face of refereeing mistakes – as home team’s equalizer in stoppage time was preceded with a handball by the scorer, which should have nullified the goal.

Olympiacos Domination

Olympiacos’ young stars had a total control of the game, with the Greek team creating a number of good chances to score.

The highlight of the first half was Lamin Sillah’s one-on-one in the 27^th minute, with the Olympiacos striker crossing the ball but with Sturm Graz defender Pirker intercepting the ball before it passed over the line.

Olympiacos easily controlled the tempo and threatened the home side’s goal, although the 0-0 tie remained until the end of the first half.

Sillah header stopped by the post; goal by Papakannellos

Olympiacos generated a number of good opportunities for a goal in the second half, with the biggest coming in 60^th minute, when Nektarios Alafakis crossed the ball and Sillah’s header was stopped by the horizontal post before bouncing along the goal line. Strum Graz’s defenders swatted the ball out of bounds, giving Olympiacos a corner that materialized into a goal.

Papakanellos’ header from the first post and sent the ball into the net, making it 1-0 for Olympiacos in the 61^st minute.

Papakanellos tribute to Tempi victims

In celebrating his crucial goal, Papakanellos ran to the Piraeus team’s bench to retrieve a white shirt featuring the number 57 and the phrase “I have no oxygen”, dedicating the goal to the victims of the Tempi rail tragedy.

Handball overlooked

Sturm Graz pushed for an equalizer and managed to score in stoppage time with Youba Koita, even though the goal shouldn’t have counted.

The Austrian team’s striker committed the handball before eventually sending the ball into the net with a shot, causing Olympiacos players to strenuously protest, to no avail, as they were ignored by the referee.

Penalty shootout qualification

The game ended in regulation time at 1-1, with both teams then settling their differences in the penalty shootout. Olympiacos won 5-4 as all five of its players scored for the reigning UEFA Youth League champions.

It was Olympiacos goalkeeper Georgios Kouraklis who blocked Martin Kern’s penalty kick in the right corner, setting up the fifth penalty kick by Argyrios Liatsikouras, who sent the ball into the net and Olympiacos into the quarterfinals.

The penalty shootout:

1-0 Mustafic (SG)

1-1 Prekates (Olympiacos)

2-1 Schopp

2-2 Dama

3-2 Wolf

3-3 Toufakis

4-3 Hodl

4-4 Filis

Kern misses

4-5 Liatsikouras

In the end, the “Reds” achieved a huge qualification to the quarterfinals of the competition and continued to impress in Europe.

Sturm Graz U19: Lorenz, Mustafić, Pirker, Schop, Wolf, Afrifa (75′ Weinhandl), Berger, Kern, Hodl, Gurmann (75′ Osayantin), Grgic (62′ Koita).

Olympiacos U19: Kouraklis, Karkatsalis, Prekates, Rolakis, Dama, Alafakis, Liatsikouras, Pleionis (43′ Plish), Papakanellos (81′ Yusuf), Pnevmonidis (82′ Toufakis), Sillah (70′ Filis).

The latest dramatic victory comes after Olympiacos showed great composure and skill in last season’s penalty shootouts, having eliminated Inter, Lens and Nantes from the 11-meter mark.

Salzburg the next opponent

The next opponent of the Piraeus team in their quest to reach the semi-finals and a chance to repeat last year’s championship is another Austrian team, Salzburg.

The Austrian side eliminated Atletico Madrid, prevailing 2-1, and demonstrating the quality of Olympiacos’ next opponent. The games for the round of eight will be played on April 1 and 2.

If Olympiacos makes it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Youth League they will face the winner of the Trabzonspor-Inter Milan match.

The pairs of the quarter-final phase of the UEFA Youth League are:

Alkmaar vs Manchester City

Salzburg vs Olympiacos

Trabzonspor vs Inter

Stuttgart vs Barcelona

Tzolakis’ congratulations

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday from far-off Bodø, Norway, ahead of Olympiacos FC’s first leg match on Thursday against FK Bodø/Glimt in the Europa League round of 16, goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis extended his congratulations to the U19 team for the qualification.

“Congratulations to the U19 team for making it to the last eight (quarterfinals). It’s a great achievement. The whole team (Olympiacos FC) was watching the game at the hotel. We hope to follow the youth team, like we did last year. They were qualifying, we were qualifying. We hope to do that again this year; beginning tomorrow and until next week.”