UEFA Youth League semi-final preview: Porto-Milan

The UEFA Youth League finals return to their traditional home of Colovray Sports Centre, opposite UEFA's Swiss headquarters in Nyon, as the tenth edition concludes with the last four on Friday and decider on Monday.

Olympiacos beat Nantes in the opening semi before former champions Porto meet AC Milan.

 Porto vs Milan

While Olympiacos and Nantes were new to this stage, this is more familiar territory for Porto and Milan. The Portuguese side are aiming to emulate Barcelona and Chelsea as two-time winners having previously triumphed in Nyon five years ago with a team including Diogo Costa, Fábio Vieira, João Mário and Vitinha.

Porto topped their group with a superb away record, winning all three games by scoring four goals including a group-deciding 4-0 victory at Barcelona. Their away form continued in the knockout phase as they equalised deep in added time at AZ Alkmaar before eliminating the holders on penalties, then winning 4-1 against a vocal sell-out crowd of more than 7,000 at Mainz.

Milan made the semis for the first time last year, losing 3-1 to Hajduk Split in Geneva, and the key to their progress this time, in contrast to Porto, was their home form. They totalled 11 goals in their Centro Sportivo Vismara defeats of Newcastle United, Paris and Borussia Dortmund in a tough group, and in their knockout games had home penalty shoot-out wins against Braga (who had equalised deep in added time) and Real Madrid.

Now Ignazio Abate's side aim to be the first Italian team to win a semi-final after defeats for themselves in 2022/23, Juventus in 2021/22 and Roma in 2014/15. Midfielder Victor Eletu has been ruled out of the finals due to a serious knee injury.

Ignazio Abate, Milan coach: "Porto have great quality. Usually, youth teams from Portugal have enormous talent – they love playing football. We also played against Braga's Under-23 team. They have been doing it for longer, so they got the hang of it already, they are bigger and have great football qualities.

"Our players also know how to play football, they are determined and enthusiastic. We are getting there with the right mindset. Will it be a good match? If so, may the best team win, and maybe it'll be us this time."

Nuno Capucho, Porto coach: "Milan have a great side and they have forwards that are truly Italian - they finish very easily. They create goalscoring opportunities from nothing. So they’re a dangerous team, they have no problem in waiting for their opponents.

"They like to construct their game and they also like to have the ball. They try to draw you in so they can create space in our back. They’re a dangerous team. So we have to be at our best so we can win."

Olympiacos 0-0 Nantes (3-1 pens) 

Olympiacos beat Nantes on penalties to earn a final spot.