The U19s of 1. FSV Mainz 05 have caused another big surprise in the Youth League. They beat Manchester City 2:1 in the round of 16.
The U19s of 1. FSV Mainz 05 had already caused a big surprise in the Youth League with their 8:7 penalty shoot-out victory over FC Barcelona. In the round of 16, the team of coach Benjamin Hoffmann, who worked for Borussia Dortmund’s youth team from 2007 to 2019 and was twice A-Junior champion during this time, picked up exactly where they left off against the big Spanish talent factory.
Manchester City, a renowned academy of a top international team, was once again a guest at the sold-out Bruchweg Stadium, where over 7,000 fans provided an impressive atmosphere including choreography and pyrotechnics – and once again the underdogs surprised the fans with a 2:1 victory, providing a change from the dreary Bundesliga relegation battle of the professionals.
Buoyed by the crowd, the reigning German U19 champions started the game with plenty of momentum, while the Cityzens initially failed to do much. After 16 minutes, a pass from Mainz slipped through to Fritz Engel, who showed good vision and played a pass to Tim Müller, who was racing down the left. The left-back placed his powerful direct shot into the far corner to give Mainz an early lead (16′).
The English side, on the other hand, struggled for the most part. Louis Babatz only had to make a save from Joel Ndala, whose shot was saved in the near corner (24′). However, the pressure increased shortly before the break. After a well-worked attack, it was Justin Oboavwoduo who equalized from close range (45.+1).
Penalty shortly after the break
Mainz were not at all shocked by the goal they conceded shortly before half-time. On the contrary: shortly after the restart, Safyan Toure, who came on as a second-half substitute, broke through the City defense. In the penalty area, Manchester’s Mahamadou Susoho then caught Mainz with a tackle. Philipp Schulz showed nerves of steel at the penalty spot and converted to give Mainz the lead again (50′).
Manchester City went on the attack in the final phase in particular and produced a number of dangerous moves, but spurred on by more than 7,000 05ers in the stands, the hosts fought back, managed to hold on for a narrow 2-1 win and celebrated their progress to the quarter-finals.
Two more German teams could progress to the quarter-finals of the Youth League on Wednesday. FC Bayern Munich will host Feyenoord Rotterdam (4pm), while RB Leipzig’s U19s will play Real Madrid (6pm). BVB were already eliminated in the intermediate round against Slovakian representative MSK Zilna (1:2).