Chelsea
retained the UEFA Youth League with a 2-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain
in Nyon on Monday.
Goals from Fikayo Tomori and Kasey Palmer, either side of Yakou Meite's
equaliser for PSG, proved decisive as the Blues became the first club to win
back-to-back titles since the tournament's inception in 2013.
With first-team captain John Terry in attendance, Chelsea did not suffer the
same fate as the senior side, who were dumped out of Europe's elite-club
competition at the last-16 stage to the Ligue 1 champions.
Instead, Adrian Viveash's side stood firm against a strong PSG side to seal
a second successive European title, and sparked mass celebrations in
Switzerland.
Fresh from their 3-0 semi-final victory over Anderlecht, Chelsea flew out of
the traps at the Colovray Stadium, with Tomori tapping home from close range
on nine minutes after Jake Clarke-Salter's header was saved by PSG 'keeper
Remy Descamps.
Tomori almost turned from hero to villain, bundling over Christopher Nkunku
in the area just two minutes later, but the Parisians missed the chance to
level the tie, with Jean-Kevin Augustin unable to beat Chelsea 'keeper Brad
Collins from the penalty spot.
Having controlled much of the first half, Chelsea were eventually pegged
back when Meite notched his fourth goal in six games in style, cutting in
off the right flank and beating Collins with a sublime finish 13 minutes
after the interval.
But parity was short-lived. Mukhtar Ali's precise through ball was picked up
Palmer, who bundled his way to the PSG area before clipping the ball past
Descamps on the hour-mark.
That goal set up a tense finale as PSG mounted a late assault on the Chelsea
goal, but the holders defended valiantly to keep their hands firmly on
Europe's top U19 prize.
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