Ajax prevailed over the U20s [video]
Their task was far from easy, but every moment of the effort, the dynamism and the passion that PAOK players displayed on the pitch was worth it. The U20 side “Double-Headed Eagle” lost 2-0 to AFC Ajax for the last 32 stage of the UEFA Youth League. The Dutch outfit gained the upper hand in the tie ahead of the second leg in the Netherlands.
Ajax’s youngsters are on a run of 10 victories in as many encounters (7 in the league and 3 in the UEFA Youth League), have scored 32 goals and conceded just one!
PAOK started well, focusing on keeping a solid defence and launching counterattacks. However, the visitors took the lead against the run of play in the 24th minute. Following a defensive error, Justin Kluivert (Patrick Kluivert’s son) was handed the opportunity to beat Siampanis with a lob and break the deadlock. The goalkeeper of PAOK showed fine reflexes in the 41st minute, when he denied Antonucci’s long range effort.
In the second half, Ajax gained more space on the pitch, pressured for a second goal, but PAOK managed to balance the game. It was an open match and PAOK came close to equalizing in the 72nd minute, when Lyratzis tested the Dutch goalkeeper and the latter kept his goal intact. Two minutes later, Ajax launched a counterattack from the right through Kluivert who teed up Sierhuis with a low cross and the latter just tapped the ball in.
Despite being 2-0 down, the troops of Pablo García and Apostolos Papavasiliou didn’t give up the fight. Dodontsakis (87’) and Gargalatzidis (91’) came close to adding their name on the scorers’ sheet but to no avail.
Second leg
The second leg will be held in Ajax’s auxiliary field in Amsterdam on 22 November (19:00 CET) and not on 23 November as originally scheduled. The change occurred on the petition of Ajax’s senior side, who need to prepare on that pitch ahead of their UEFA Europa League encounter against Panathinaikos.
The side to qualify to the next round will be faced (in a kind of play-offs) against one of the teams who finished second in the group stage of the UEFA Youth League Champions League path. This procedure will produce the last 16 sides of the UEFA Youth League. The 2nd-placed teams in the group stage are the following: SL Benfica, FC Basel, Manchester City FC, Club Atlético de Madrid, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Club Brugge and Sevilla FC.
PAOK Youth League line-up: Siampanis, Papathanasiou, Dodontsakis, Dimitriou, Gialamoudis, Meletidis, Mattheou (46’ Lyratzis), Chatzidimpas, Chatzistravos (46’ Kozak), Tzovaras (68’ Gargalatzidis), Stathopoulos.
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