Cardiff Met became the first ever Welsh side to reach Round Two of the UEFA Youth League by triumphing 4-1 on aggregate over UNA Strassen of Luxembourg in the first round.
The Young Archers were 4-0 winners in the first leg at Cyncoed last month, as a header from Mitch Ford, Harrison Matthews’ penalty, Caleb Finlayson’s close-range finish and Myles McKenzie’s late strike earned a healthy advantage.
Met headed to Luxembourg for the second leg on Wednesday evening and there was complacency in their performance. Despite Tijan Ibisi scoring for UNA Strassen midway through the second half, the hosts could not complete a comeback – with defender Fabio Barbagallo sent off late on – as the Young Archers made history.
Met will now take on Norwegian side Stabæk in Round Two, travelling away for the first leg on Wednesday 28 October before returning to Cardiff for the second leg on Wednesday 4 October.
“It’s a surreal, special feeling,” Cardiff Met U19s head coach Jack Lyons said. “The lads, once again, were outstanding. Every single player, staff behind the scenes who make it happen. We’ve just made history and that was the objective over the two legs. I could not be prouder.
“The whole European experience has been incredible so far. What makes this special is we’ve now got another adventure in two weeks time as we got out to Norway.
“These players are special individuals and deserve all the credit they get. I think we had around 40 parents, spectators, supporters, players not in the squad coming out to watch. That shows what this football club is all about – outstanding people.”
