Atalanta beat Arsenal and Inter shock Man City in UEFA Youth League

The Italian teams have started the UEFA Youth League well, as Inter beat Manchester City away, Atalanta flattened Arsenal 4-1, Juventus defeated PSV and Milan held Liverpool.

The Champions League kicked off this week with its new format of 36 teams playing eight different opponents, four at home and four away.

The change in format has also shuffled down to the UEFA Youth League and the Italian sides have had a very impressive Matchday 1.

Italian teams shine in UEFA Youth League

Juventus saw off PSV Eindhoven 1-0 in Turin with a lone goal from Alfonso Montero, who is the 17-year-old son of former Juve defender and current Juventus Next Gen coach Paolo Montero.

Milan did not win, holding Liverpool to a 0-0 draw, which was still a vast improvement on the senior squad’s 3-1 home loss.

The Rossoneri reached the Final last season, losing to Olympiacos. 

Perhaps the best result was for Inter, who shocked Manchester City’s kids 4-2 on English turf on Wednesday.

Midfielder Thomas Berenbruch was the star with two goals, around a Matteo Lavelli penalty and Christos Alexiou tap-in.

Manchester City’s two goals were both scored by Farid Alfa-Ruprecht.

Atalanta also have one of the best youth academies in Italy and proved it with a 4-1 triumph over Arsenal this afternoon.

Pietro Comi, Candas Bah Novo Fiogbe, Federico Steffanoni and Nicolò Artesani completed the rout, although Max Dowman made history for Arsenal as the youngest ever player to score in the UEFA Youth League at just 14 years, eight months and 19 days.

Bologna’s game with Shakhtar Donetsk had to be abandoned due to heavy rain on Wednesday, but was rescheduled for today and the Ukrainians emerged 4-3 winners.

Tommaso Ebone, Alessandro De Luca and Lorenzo Menegazzo were on target for the hosts.