Alex Iwobi says playing regularly in the UEFA Youth League helped smooth his transition into the Arsenal first team.
The competition was launched three years ago as an official alternative to the NextGen Series and is open to all 32 senior men’s sides that qualify for the group stages of the Champions League plus 32 domestic youth champions.
Thanks to the consistency of Arsene Wenger’s first team, Arsenal’s under-19s have been ever-presents in the tournament so far giving prime-time opportunities to the likes of Hector Bellerin and Alex Iwobi to make their mark in the spotlight.
“It taught me quite a bit because you’re not only playing against English teams,” Iwobi told UEFA.com.
“You’re playing against foreign teams and you’re learning their tactics and how they play.
“It was such an experience for me because when I stepped into the first team it almost felt the same, even though the level is a bit higher. There’s the same organisation, the preparations are almost the same, so it did prepare me for when I was involved with the first team.”
The Nigeria international, who has since featured in the Champions League seven times, added:
“It certainly helps – it helped me and I’m sure it helps other players to feel like they’re in the Champions League, even though it’s just youth level. It’s still a very high competition. And for us at Under-19 level, the games are very hard and you do learn. It’s always a learning experience for the youngsters.”
The current crop of Arsenal youngsters will be hoping to secure safe passage to the knockout stages by beating Basel in their final group game. The Gunners are currently three points behind the second-place Swiss and know they must achieve a win that betters the 2-1 scoreline inflicted on them in London.
It’s a tall order for Andries Jonkers’ boys who would have been out were it not for a last-gasp equaliser by Stephy Mavididi against PSG on Matchday 4.
I wish there’s a live stream available to watch during matches. If there’s, pls I need a heads up. The youth teams always appeals to me. It’d be great fun to always follow out ‘next big thing’ from the academy.
They’re sometimes shown on BT, on same day as seniors at about 2pm.
Not sure how they pick which ones to show but doesn’t seem to be all of them
most of the youth league games are available to stream online. there are lots of sites that offer that kind of content. i always go for vipboxtv.co. go to football section and choose the match you want to see .some of the premier league 2 games are also streamed there.