UEFA Youth League semi-finals: Milan and Olympiacos set up decider

AC Milan and Olympiacos will face off in Monday's UEFA Youth League final in Nyon after both came through last-four shoot-outs.

Neither Greece nor Italy have ever had a team in the final before but that has now changed after Olympiacos held their nerve against a Nantes side who had been shoot-out specialists so far in the competition and then Milan produced a dramatic success against former champions Porto.

Olympiacos 0-0 Nantes (3-1 pens) 

Olympiacos, already the first Greek side to reach this stage of the competition, held their nerve to knock out a Nantes team that had previously won a record four penalty shoot-outs on their way to the semis. Perhaps there was an omen in the starting presence of centre-back Isidoros Koutsidis, an unused senior substitute on Thursday as Olympiacos beat Fenerbahçe on penalties in the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals, flying to Switzerland from Istanbul alongside Under-19 coach Sotiris Silaidopoulos (serving a touchline suspension today).

Nantes had the better of the early chances, Olympiacos keeper Antzelo Sina doing well to deny Exaucée Mafoumbi. Just past the half-hour, Olympiacos came close as Charalambos Kostoulas (younger brother of defender Konstantinos) forced a fine save from Tom Mabon, Nantes soon responding with Taigy Dugard heading just over.

Antzelo Sina proved key both in the 90 minutes and the shoot-outUEFA via Sportsfile

The French side picked the pace up further after the break, keeping Sina busy. Mabon did have to stop a Christos Mouzakitis free-kick, also blocking the follow-up. However, there was no way through and for the third year running the early Youth League semi-final was decided by penalties (the winners of those previous shoot-outs, AZ Alkmaar and Benfica, went on to comfortable final victories).

Both these teams had proved their shoot-out process on the road to Nyon, Olympiacos winning two as well as Nantes' unprecedented four but the first three kicks were saved, two by Sina either side of a Mabon stop. Olympiacos then opened a 2-1 lead and, after Louis Leroux hit the crossbar, substitute Argyrios Liatsikouras converted to take his team through.

Key stat: Olympiacos are only the second Greek club to reach a UEFA competition final after Panathinaikos in the 1970/71 European Cup.

Dimitrios Mavrogenidis, Olympiacos assistant coach: "The whole club is proud. Today, last night – it’s a very special time for the club. We have a lot of confidence [for the final]. The effort the boys put in is amazing. The trip has been amazing, but now we have one more stop. We will give it our all."

Stéphane Moreau, Nantes coach: "There are two major emotions right now. First disappointment at coming so close to reaching the final. But also a lot of pride. Very proud of the journey up to here, and the performance we produced today. The players approached it with the ideas that we put in place. We lacked a little intensity, and perhaps the final touch."

Anxhelo Sina, Olympiacos goalkeeper: "I’m very happy for my team. We have achieved something really great and so we go on. We have another game on Monday. This is the first time something like this has happened. Everyone in the team is very excited. We’ll stick to the plan and we believe we will do the best we can.

"[In the shoot-out] I was just very calm. I was carrying a little note from my coach. I trusted him and he was right in the end, we qualified."

Malang Gomes, Nantes captain: "I'm obviously disappointed, but there's a lot of pride too at making history with the club. In general, we can be so proud of ourselves, we've come so far. We started in the [domestic champions path], so there's nothing but pride."

 Porto 2-2 Milan (3-4 pens)

AC Milan are the first Italian side to reach a Youth League final but needed a last-gasp equaliser and penalty shoot-out to end Porto's hopes of a second title to go with their 2018/19 victory.

Milan looked to press Porto from the start and in the 12th minute had their reward. Gabriel Brás was put under pressure by Kevin Zeroli's flick and Fillipo Scotti pounced on the ball, outpaced the Porto captain and struck past Diogo Fernandes.

After the goal Porto, backed as Portuguese sides always have been in Nyon by a big vocal following, began to find their feet. Four minutes before half-time they were level, Davide Bartesaghi handling in the box and Jorge Meireles converting the penalty.

Porto sought to keep up the momentum in the second half and Gabriel Brás headed then into a 65th-minute lead, rising high to meet a Jorge Meireles corner and get his first Youth League goal on his 20th appearance. Competition joint top scorer Rodrigo Mora hit the outside of the post as Porto continued to press.

However an equaliser seemed on as Davide Bartesaghi's cross deflected to substitute Alexander Simmelhack, whose improvised back-heel was blocked by Diogo Fernandes and the rebound just did not fall kindly for Scotti. It was then Porto's turn to have their heads in their hands as Gil Martins broke but was forced wide by Noah Raveyre; with the Milan goalkeeper committed the ball was squared to substitute Gil Martins only for Clinton Nsiala to block on the line and Anhá Candé to put the follow-up off target.

Milan celebrate going 1-0 upUEFA via Sportsfile

There were more chances for Porto but it did not look as if it would matter until added time, when Zeroli slalomed his way through the box and with Diogo Fernandes challenging, scooping the ball across for Simmelhack to turn into an unguarded net.

Jorge Meireles's first effort in the shoot-out was saved by Raveyre but Diogo Fernandes was to deny Jan-Carlo Simić. However, Gil Martins then put his penalty over and with no more misses, Zeroli was able to step up and convert the decider.

Key stat: Milan also beat Braga in the last 16 and Real Madrid in the quarter-finals on penalties, and in both those shoot-outs Zeroli also struck the winning kick. 

Ignazio Abate, Milan coach: "A little emotion is normal. There is still adrenaline, but it is a historic achievement, in a few years they will remember this squad. We returned here after a year [from the semi-final loss in Geneva to Hajduk Split], something difficult and incredible.

"Every detail makes the difference, like today. We conceded a goal from a dead ball, we recovered with the hearts of the boys, others would not have succeeded, and the squad took us to the final."

Nuno Capucho, Porto coach: "My feeling is sadness. What these kids did, even though they didn't start the game well... from the moment we got it together, we showed what we were worth. In the second half, we had a lot more chances to score. They have to realise that this is football. When you don't take chances with the final touch, this can happen. We felt we were better."

Filippo Scotti, Milan forward: "It was a great feeling to win like that. I'm over the moon, but we haven't achieved anything yet. We are going into the final with our heads held high and we are going to carry on, because this is who we are. I'm very happy.

"It's important for us to play as well as our coach wants us to, but at the same time, we've always played with our heart, and we've done that in the league and in the Youth League. I would like to thank all the fans who have supported us along the way. They were essential."

Gabriel Brás, Porto defender: "I think our side was pretty competitive during the game. We played well, showed a great team spirit, but missed out on certain details. This is how football is: it's on the details that these games are decided. It's so sad to leave this competition in the semi-finals, but we also go home with pride as we left everything on the pitch."