Barcelona continue their UEFA Youth League drought after being knocked out by Mainz on penalties
Barcelona is the most successful team in the history of the UEFA Youth League, having won the competition on two occasions (2014 and 2018). However, they will not add a third title this season, with their participation in the 2023-24 fixture of the competition ending on Tuesday night.
✔️ Penalty shootouts
🏆 Play-offs @UEFAYouthLeague
🗒️ Mainz 0 🟢🟢🟢🟢❌🟢🟢
🗒️ Boat 🟢🟢🟢❌ 🟢🟢❌👉🏼 Deleted#GoBarcelona 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/x6wu13RwrU
โ FC Barcelona โ Masia (@FCBmasia) February 6, 2024
The Catalans' U19 team faced Mainz in the round of 32, and it ended 2-2 after 90 minutes. Daniel Gleiber had given the hosts a dream start, before Noah Darvich, who is making his return to Germany, equalized before half time.
After the break, Dani Rodriguez – who has been in excellent form in this season's competition – made it 2-1 to Barcelona, โโalthough they could not see the game out, as Philipp Schulz would equalize in the 74th minute.
It meant that penalties were required, and unfortunately for Barcelona, they went on to lose 6-5. Given the quality in their U19 squad, it will be a huge disappointment not to have gone far in the UEFA Youth League this season.
