PRIMAVERA: IT'S NOW TIME FOR EUROPE

The Champions League draw also determined the groups for the 2022/23 Youth League, a competition that Coach Abate’s Primavera will be involved in. Just like the first team, the U19s will face Chelsea, FC Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb. These are strong teams that place high importance on their youth sectors. But AC Milan are no different. It’ll be a tough but formative experience for our Primavera, who will need to give as good as they’ve got on a unique stage in youth football.

In the last edition of the tournament, FC Salzburg lost to Benfica in the final and, along with Chelsea, probably represent the biggest challenge for El Hilali and Co. When he was on Chelsea’s books, a certain Fikayo Tomori previously did well in the competition for the Blues, winning it in 2015/16 and even finding the net in the final. Since the introduction of the tournament in 2013, the Blues have been involved in four of the eight finals that have taken place, emerging victorious in two. The Austrians, meanwhile, triumphed in 2016/17. As for Dinamo Zagreb, they’re eager to make their mark again after reaching the quarter-finals in 2019/20.

It was an important experience for the Rossoneri last season. Indeed, the Primavera were involved in some big matches and tried to take the game to their opponents, earning draws against Atlético Madrid and Liverpool at the PUMA House of Football. This time around, the team will first travel to Salzburg and then take on Dinamo Zagreb, after which two fixtures against the English side await. The return fixtures against the Croatians and the Austrians will finish things off at the start of November.

In terms of how they’ve played, the Diavolo have made an encouraging start to the season: there have been some interesting ideas, and the team have done well on the goalscoring front. The Primavera have returned with pillars from last season’s squad still involved, including captain Coubis and playmaker El Hilali, who has bagged five goals in four matches so far. There are plenty of new faces, too: among others, Bakoune (born in 2006), Paloschi, Cuenca and Zeroli (2005) are very much part of Abate’s plans as they continue to get minutes under their belts. The Youth League will be a unique opportunity for our lads to test themselves and gain experience, and they’ll be highly motivated.

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