Borussia Dortmund U-19s were eliminated from the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid.
Borussia Dortmund U-19s came up short against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Youth League quarterfinals on Wednesday as they fell to a 1-0 defeat. The game was decided by what appeared to be a rather harsh penalty call in the first half, with Javier Currás scoring the winning goal.
The defeat marked an end to what was a memorable UEFA Youth League campaign for the Borussia Dortmund U-19s. Wednesday’s quarterfinal was played at the Signal Iduna Park in front of 19,300 supporters, making it one of the most attended games ever in UEFA Youth League history.
Borussia Dortmund nearly got off to the perfect start, as they were awarded a penalty in the fifth minute of the game. Bradley Fink stepped up for the Black and Yellows, but his penalty was brilliantly saved by the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper.
The Spanish side were then awarded a penalty at the half hour mark after Soumaila Coulibaly was adjudged to have committed a foul inside the box. Replays clearly showed that the defender got the ball first. But despite appeals from the BVB players, the referee pointed to the spot. Javier Currás made no mistake from 12 yards out, giving Atletico the lead against the run of play.
Borussia Dortmund continued to dominate the game after the break, with Atletico Madrid happy to sit back and defend. Mike Tullberg’s side created a number of decent openings in the second half. And both Bradley Fink and Julian Rijkhoff had chances to score late on, while Jamie Bynoe-Gittens hit the crossbar with a well taken free-kick.
But Borussia Dortmund weren’t able to find an equaliser in the end, and Atletico Madrid somehow managed to squeak out the win to qualify for the semi-finals of the UEFA Youth League. The Black and Yellows’ stunning run in the competition came to an end, and they will be left to rue missed chances and some poor officiating as they look back on the game.
Still, it was a really good performance from Borussia Dortmund who controlled the game for the majority of the 90 minutes and did not look too overawed by the big occasion. They can look back on their UEFA Youth League campaign with great fondness and come back stronger next season.