UEFA Youth League quarter-finals: AZ Alkmaar, Barcelona, Salzburg, Trabzonspor into finals

AZ Alkmaar will take on Barcelona and Salzburg will face Trabzonspor in the UEFA Youth League semi-finals in Nyon after their last-eight triumphs.

On Wednesday, two-time winners Barcelona came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Stuttgart. AZ Alkmaar, who beat Barcelona on their way to victory in 2022/23, set up a rematch with an added-time winner against Manchester City.

In Tuesday action, Trabzonspor went a third round further than any previous Turkish contender after defeating Inter 1-0 in front of a competition-record 40,368 crowd. Salzburg, the 2016/17 winners, will be Trabzonspor's last-four opponents after a 1-0 victory against holders Olympiacos.

Both semi-finals are on 25 April at Colovray Sports Centre in Nyon, Switzerland, with the final three days later.

Eight different associations and a record four past champions were represented in the quarter-finals. Five of the contenders came through the new league phase while AZ, Olympiacos and Trabzonspor emerged from the expanded domestic champions path (from which Olympiacos last season and AZ the year before came through to win the trophy).

Wednesday 2 April

Stuttgart 1-2 Barcelona 

Barcelona reached their record fifth Nyon finals to continue their bid to become the first team to win the title three times. They had the better of the early play, but Stuttgart struck first in front of a 9,500-strong home crowd, Lauri Penna playing through Matheos Tsigkas, who got past his defender and shot in on 29 minutes.

Arnau Pradas then equalised in the 40th minute after cutting out a pass by Stuttgart keeper Florian Hellstern (who not long before had denied the Barcelona forward with a fine stop). Barcelona goalkeeper Áron Yaakobishvili made a triple save at the start of the second half and his side took the lead in the 53rd minute when Jan Virgili finished off a quick team move. Yaakobishvili continued to keep out Stuttgart, bringing an end to their debut campaign.

AZ Alkmaar 1-0 Manchester City

Deacon van der Klaauw scored deep in added time to send 2022/23 winners AZ into a semi-final with Barcelona, who they beat on the way to that title two years ago. Man City had the better chances in a tight first half and were awarded a penalty early in the second when Saviola Saffoe fouled Michael Okeke, but Divine Mukasa's no run-up attempt was saved by Kiyani Zeggen.

The visitors continued to apply pressure, but AZ carved out several chances in the final ten minutes, and substitute Van der Klaauw's superb half-volley in added time took them through and extended their competition-record run of matches unbeaten (not counting penalty shoot-outs) to 24.

Tuesday 1 April

Salzburg 1-0 Olympiacos

The 2016/17 champions and 2021/22 runners-up Salzburg ended Olympiacos' reign as holders as the Austrian side kept up their perfect quarter-final record in their fourth appearance at this stage. Salzburg went ahead on 11 minutes through a stunning finish by Swiss youth international Enrique Aguilar.

Olympiacos goalkeeper Georgios Kouraklis made a double save from Alexander Murillo soon after, but Salzburg allowed few chances at the other end. However, by reaching the quarter-finals, Olympiacos had the best run by a defending champion since Barcelona in 2018/19.

Trabzonspor 1-0 Inter

Trabzonspor delighted the record-breaking crowd at Şenol Güneş Spor Kompleksi as substitute Ekrem Terzi scored with 13 minutes left to knock out league phase table-toppers Inter. On 38 minutes, Oğuzhan Yılmaz brought down Matteo Cocchi in the Trabzonspor box but Luka Topalović's penalty was blocked by the legs of Erol Can Çolak.

Gabriele Garonetti headed wide from a Cocchi cross midway through the second half but, just two minutes after being brought off the bench, Ekrem Terzi won the ball inside the Inter half, advanced on goal and scored with a deflected shot. Trabzonspor, already the first Turkish side to even get to the round of 16, have now knocked out three Italian clubs in a row after previously beating Juventus and Atalanta.

The UEFA Youth League record crowd at Şenol Güneş Spor KompleksiTrabzonspor