Villarreal beats Bayer
©IMAGO
The Youth League adventure ended very bitterly for the U19s of 1. FC Köln. In a dramatic game in the sold-out Rheinenergiestadion, Cologne’s Inter Milan lost 1:3 (0:0) due to two late goals. A new record was set in the Youth League with 50,000 spectators. Bayer Leverkusen was also over against FC Villarreal in the second round.
The Italians took the lead at the start of the second half through Leonardo Bovio (49th minute) before Fynn Schenten equalized in the 80th minute. When everyone in Müngersdorf was already preparing for the penalty shootout that would follow, Inter Milan managed to reach the round of 16 with a double blow. In the seventh minute of stoppage time, Dilan Zárate scored to make it 1-2 from Cologne’s perspective, with Roberts Kukulis scoring the final point two minutes later.
A total of 50,000 spectators saw the game early on Wednesday evening in the Cologne stadium. The previous record was held by Trabzonspor’s U19s, who played at their home Papara Park in front of 40,368 spectators at the beginning of April 2025 and qualified for the semi-finals of the competition with a 1-0 win against Inter Milan. The remarkable thing back then was that twice as many spectators came as the average for the professional team, where there were 18,350 spectators in 2024/25. The average attendance for Cologne’s first team is 50,000 – every home game was sold out. “This record number of spectators in the Youth League fills us with great joy and makes us proud,” said Vice President Ulf Sobek.
Youth League: Bayer Leverkusen loses to Villarreal
Bayer Leverkusen’s trip to the Youth League ended two hours earlier. Against the Spanish representative FC Villarreal there was a 2:3 (1:2). The goals for the Werkself were scored by Emmanuel Chigozie Owen (11th) and Ivan Massek (18th), while Iker Adelantado (9th), Hugo López (71st) and Daniel Budesca (73rd) were successful for Villarreal. On Tuesday, Borussia Dortmund was eliminated by AZ Alkmaar. Only Eintracht Frankfurt made it to the round of 16 against Athletic Bilbao.
