Drago loses the youth league champion and qualifies for the quarter-finals ::zerzero.pt

Passion (some luck), competence and belief: FC Porto beat the defending champions, AZ Alkmaar, on penalties (3-4) after drawing 1-1 in regular time and qualifying for the quarter-finals of the competition. It is worth saying that the Dutch tasted their poison after that He eliminated the Lions last seasonin the same vein.

With the tournament's top scorers somewhat uninspiring – Cande missed Porto's only penalty – and Moura departing at the 55th minute, Antonio Ribeiro – with a goal in the 90th minute+3 – and Diogo Fernandes, from the 11-metre mark, were the best on the pitch.

In terms of the match, the Dragon team, after a dangerous shot in the first minute from Jayden Addai – the host team's most player – controlled the ball, put high pressure and created the first big chances in the match.

Champions in defence

Antonio Ribeiro, Rodrigo Moura and Jorge Meireles – chronologically – created danger in just three minutes. The first shot was powerful – from a distance – but Koegsten caught it; The second, in the face of the Dutch goalkeeper, shot a little wide and the third, finally, had the most striking opportunity: after a powerful header, the ball fell into the hands of the striker who, with the chance to hit the net, scored a “pass” to the goalkeeper.

After these fears, Alkmaar started to breathe again with the ball and ended up finding the goal: Julian Oyreb – in a quick move – shot the ball over the Porto defense and Yoel van den Baan, with Diogo Fernandes in front, did the same and shot the ball away. The ball – with a wonderful finish – over Diogo Fernandes.

In the second part, everything was completely different. Alkmaar – aggressive and focused – managed to keep score and controlled the game well and without any major surprises, but on a dead ball… everything changed.

Gil Martins sent a tense cross into the penalty area, and Tristan Koegsten – with an incredible mistake – ended up “presenting” the goal to Antonio Ribeiro who, unmarked, had to push the ball into the goal. In the penalty shootout, Tristan Koegsten saved first – Kande hesitated – but from then on, Diogo Fernandes was better and saved two penalty kicks: they were enough to take FC Porto to the quarter-finals of the competition.

FC Porto in the youth league rooms 🤩#YouthLeagueELEVEN pic.twitter.com/BdNjeSMfej

– DAZN Portugal (@DAZNPortugal) February 27, 2024