The Champions League for Europe's elite youth players
History
With UEFA’s Financial Fair Play legislation coming
into effect in 2014, clubs are under more pressure than ever before to
produce more players from their own youth academies rather than
splashing out £25 million on the world’s next best thing - apart from
Chelsea of course.
For many years now clubs have participated in
youth and reserve leagues at a domestic level, but it was suggested that
clubs from around Europe should play each other so that youth players
can experience continental competition before making the step up to
senior level.
A UEFA U21 Champions League was mooted but never
materialised. However, TV producer Justin Andrews and Brentford FC
director Mark Warburton had the idea of the NextGen Series - a
competition for Europe's top clubs expressly for players under the age
of 19.
Backing from investors was found and soon some big teams
had signed up. Trial games were held in November 2010 and the series was
born.
After its successful debut season last year, ESPN moved to
secure the TV rights of the competition for the next three years and
have already showed various games including Barcelona’s 2-0 win over
Tottenham.
Who's in it?
In the 2011/12 campaign, just 16
teams took part in the NextGen Series, which included the famed youth
academies of Liverpool, Celtic, Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon. However,
that figure has now grown to 24 for the 2012/13 competition, and could
hit 32 by 2014.
The major additions to this season’s tournament are of course Champions League winners Chelsea.
The Blues are hell-bent on producing a world-class array of talent in
their luxurious academy in Cobham, and with FFP set to hit the West
London club rather hard, they need to start producing some first-team
worthy starlets sharpish.
Also taking part is the world-renowned
youth side of Arsenal, who possess arguably one of the finest academies
in the world and finally have a competition in which to show it off.
Paris
Saint-Germain, the club whose reputation has sky-rocketed since being
taken over by Qatari investors, also seem keen to nurture their talented
youngsters by entering the competition.
Bundesliga champions
Borussia Dortmund, who have in recent years produced the likes of Nuri
Sahin and Mario Gotze from their youth set-up, have opted to hop on the
bandwagon, as have Serie A giants Juventus.
Joining Barcelona from
the Spain corner are Europa League finalists Athletic Bilbao, who are a
remarkable success in La Liga despite using only Basque-born players.
Other new entries are Russian side CSKA Moscow, Belgian outfit Anderlecht and Greek champions Olympiakos.
How does it work?
The
format of the competition is identical to the UEFA Champions League.
Games are played in midweek, with the clubs all playing domestic matches
on a Saturday.
The dates may be different as NextGen teams such
as Tottenham sometimes play their matches at White Hart Lane, when the
senior club is involved in the Europa League.
Groups
There
are six groups each containing four teams. The amount of groups has
increased this year to allow the expansion of the competition.
Here are all 24 teams in their respective groups:
Group 1:
Barcelona, Tottenham, Anderlecht, Wolfsburg
Group 2:
Manchester City, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Fenerbahce
Group 3:
Chelsea, Ajax, Molde, CSKA Moscow
Group 4:
Aston Villa, Celtic, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting CP
Group 5:
Borussia Dortmund, Internazionale (holders), Liverpool, Rosenberg
Group 6:
Arsenal, Athletic Bilbao, Olympique Marseille, Olympiakos
source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-nextgen-1341794
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