2018–19 Premier League International Cup

The 2018–19 Premier League International Cup was the fifth season of the Premier League International Cup, a European club football competition organised by the Premier League for under-23 players. Bayern won the title by defeating Dinamo Zagreb 2–0 in the final.

2018–19 Premier League International Cup

The Den in South Bermondsey, London hosted the final
Tournament details
Dates	14 August 2018 – 2 May 2019
Teams	24 (from 8 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Bayern Munich (1st title)
Runners-up	Dinamo Zagreb
Tournament statistics
Matches played	43
Goals scored	138 (3.21 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Danny Loader (5 goals)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

Porto were the defending champions, after beating Arsenal 1–0 in the previous season's final, but were eliminated in the group stage.

Format

The competition featured twenty-four teams: twelve from English league system and twelve invitees from other European countries. The teams were split into six groups of four - with two English league clubs per group. The group winners, and two best runners-up, progressed into the knockout phase of the tournament. The knockout matches were single leg fixtures.^[1]

All matches - including fixtures between non-English teams - were played in England and Wales.

Teams

Athletic Bilbao, Benfica, Everton, Leicester City, PSV Eindhoven, Porto and Villarreal made their fifth appearance in the competition. They are the only teams to take part in every season since the tournament was founded in 2014. Brighton & Hove Albion, Paris Saint-Germain and Southampton made their debuts.^[2]

English league system:   Brighton & Hove Albion   Derby County   Everton   Leicester City   Liverpool   Manchester United   Norwich City   Reading   Southampton   Tottenham Hotspur   West Ham United   Swansea City

Other countries:   Bayern Munich   VfL Wolfsburg   Hertha BSC   Athletic Bilbao   Villarreal   Porto   Benfica   PSV Eindhoven   Feyenoord   Paris Saint-Germain   Dinamo Zagreb   Sparta Prague

Group stage

Color key in group tables
Group winners and the two best runners-up advance to the quarterfinals

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Southampton	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	7
Dinamo Zagreb	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4	6
West Ham United	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4	3
Porto	3	0	1	2	3	7	−4	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Southampton   v   Dinamo Zagreb

14 August 2018	Southampton	1–0	Dinamo Zagreb	Marchwood
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Gallagher   20'	Report		Stadium: Staplewood Campus Referee: Adrian Quelch

Southampton   v   Porto

26 September 2018	Southampton	1–1	Porto	Marchwood
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Barnes   50'	Report Report	Rui Pedro   61' (pen.)	Stadium: Staplewood Campus Attendance: 180^[3] Referee: Joshua Smith

West Ham United   v   Porto

30 October 2018	West Ham United	2–1	Porto	Dagenham
19:00 GMT	Longelo   29' Hector-Ingram   87'	Report	Gleison   69'	Stadium: Victoria Road Referee: Paul Howard

West Ham United   v   Dinamo Zagreb

13 November 2018	West Ham United	0–2	Dinamo Zagreb	Dagenham
19:00 GMT		Report	Knežević   25', 64'	Stadium: Victoria Road

Porto   v   Dinamo Zagreb

24 November 2018	Porto	1–4	Dinamo Zagreb	Dagenham
16:00 GMT	Baró   16'	Report	Šipoš   30' Menalo   33', 70' Knežević   43'	Stadium: Victoria Road Referee: Sam Purkiss

Southampton   v   West Ham United

11 December 2018	Southampton	3–0	West Ham United	Marchwood
19:00 GMT	Johnson   27' Barnes   30' Ferry   66'	Report Report		Stadium: Staplewood Campus Attendance: 100^[4] Referee: Carl Brook

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Reading	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7
Leicester City	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
Feyenoord	3	1	0	2	9	5	+4	3
Sparta Prague	3	0	1	2	2	11	−9	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Leicester City   v   Reading

17 August 2018	Leicester City	0–2	Reading	Whetstone
19:00 BST (UTC+1)		Report	Coleman   25'* House   53'	Stadium: Holmes Park Referee: James Oldham

Reading   v   Sparta Prague

24 October 2018	Reading	2–2	Sparta Prague	Reading
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Loader   51', 90+5'	Report	Novotný   57' Patrák   67'	Stadium: Madejski Stadium Referee: Will Finnie

Sparta Prague   v   Feyenoord

27 November 2018	Sparta Prague	0–8	Feyenoord	Aldershot
19:00 GMT		Report	Zwarts   10', 39', 48', 75' Burger   16' Touré   22' Kökçü   35' St. Juste   51'	Stadium: Recreation Ground Referee: Will Finnie

Leicester City   v   Sparta Prague

29 November 2018	Leicester City	1–0	Sparta Prague	Whetstone
19:00 GMT	Knight   85'	Report		Stadium: Holmes Park Attendance: 122^[5] Referee: Richard Hulme

Reading   v   Feyenoord

19 December 2018	Reading	2–0	Feyenoord	Reading
19:00 GMT	Edwards   18' House   83'	Report		Stadium: Madejski Stadium Referee: Adrian Quelch

Leicester City   v   Feyenoord

29 January 2019	Leicester City	3–1	Feyenoord	Whetstone
19:00 GMT	Muskwe   11'   75', 84' Knight   56'	Report	Vente   39'	Stadium: Holmes Park Referee: Simeon Lucas

• Leicester City's match against Feyenoord was originally scheduled for 30 October 2018, however on 27 October 2018, Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's helicopter crashed outside the King Power Stadium shortly after taking off from the pitch, killing Srivaddhanaprabha and all four other people on board.^[6] The Feyenoord match was one of the club fixtures postponed as a result.^[7]

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Tottenham Hotspur	3	2	1	0	9	7	+2	7
VfL Wolfsburg	3	1	1	1	7	4	+3	4
Athletic Bilbao	3	1	0	2	7	9	−2	3
Norwich City	3	0	2	1	4	7	−3	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Athletic Bilbao   v   VfL Wolfsburg

26 September 2018	Athletic Bilbao	0–4	VfL Wolfsburg	Aldershot
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Benito   78'	Report 1 Report 2	Herrmann   15', 39' Seguin   45+3' (pen.) Itter   90+3'	Stadium: Recreation Ground Referee: Samuel Allison

Norwich City   v   Athletic Bilbao

14 November 2018	Norwich City	0–3	Athletic Bilbao	Norwich
19:00 GMT		Report	Villalibre   30', 48' Rojo   75'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 1,130 Referee: David Rock

Tottenham Hotspur   v   VfL Wolfsburg

3 December 2018	Tottenham Hotspur	2–1	VfL Wolfsburg	Stevenage
19:00 GMT	Roles   45+2' Sterling   47'	ReportReport	Hanslik   82'	Stadium: Lamex Stadium Attendance: 433^[8] Referee: Savvas Yianni

Norwich City   v   VfL Wolfsburg

13 December 2018	Norwich City	2–2	VfL Wolfsburg	Norwich
19:00 GMT	Oliveira   34' Spyrou   79'	Report	Kramer   53' Hanslik   63'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 750 Estimated^[9] Referee: Alan Dale

Norwich City   v   Tottenham Hotspur

18 January 2019	Norwich City	2–2	Tottenham Hotspur	Colney
19:00 GMT	Spyrou   39' Þorvaldsson   81'	Report	Oakley-Boothe   36' Roles   70'	Stadium: Colney Training Centre

Tottenham Hotspur   v   Athletic Bilbao

23 January 2019	Tottenham Hotspur	5–4	Athletic Bilbao	Stevenage
19:00 GMT	Janssen   4' Roles   15', 66' Tracey   83' Georgiou   86'	Report 1 Report 2	Villalibre   38' Vicente   47'   59' San Bartolomé   64' Benito   90+2'	Stadium: Lamex Stadium Attendance: 465^[10] Referee: Tom Reeves

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Bayern Munich	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4	6
Brighton & Hove Albion	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
Everton	3	1	1	1	5	6	−1	4
Benfica	3	1	0	2	1	4	−3	3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Brighton & Hove Albion   v   Everton

20 September 2018	Brighton & Hove Albion	2–2	Everton	Lancing
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Barclay   59' Tilley   67'	Report	Sambou   25' (pen.) Simms   74'	Stadium: American Express Elite Football Performance Centre Referee: Carl Brook

Everton   v   Benfica

28 September 2018	Everton	2–0	Benfica	Southport
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Broadhead   26' Bowler   27'	Report		Stadium: Haig Avenue Referee: Glen Hart

Brighton & Hove Albion   v   Benfica

22 October 2019	Brighton & Hove Albion	2–0	Benfica	Lancing
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Gyökeres   11' (pen.) Connolly   25'	Report		Stadium: American Express Elite Football Performance Centre Referee: Gary Parsons

Everton   v   Bayern Munich

12 December 2018	Everton	1–4	Bayern Munich	Liverpool
19:00 GMT	Broadhead   78'	Report	Browning   27' (o.g.) Çuni   81' Jeong   84' Wriedt   90+3'	Stadium: Goodison Park Referee: Joe Joseph

Bayern Munich   v   Benfica

27 January 2019	Bayern Munich	0–1	Benfica	Aldershot
13:00 GMT	Wriedt   90'	Report	Santos   70'	Stadium: Recreation Ground Referee: Sam Purkiss

Brighton & Hove Albion   v   Bayern Munich

30 January 2019	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–2	Bayern Munich	Lancing
19:00 GMT		Report	Nollenberger   78' Jelisić   90+3'	Stadium: American Express Elite Football Performance Centre Referee: Gary Parsons

Group E

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Villarreal	3	2	1	0	9	1	+8	7
Liverpool	3	2	0	1	5	8	−3	6
Hertha BSC	3	1	0	2	5	5	0	3
Swansea City	3	0	1	2	2	7	−5	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Swansea City   v   Villarreal

26 September 2018	Swansea City	1–1	Villarreal	Swansea
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Marić   90+7'	Report	Akale   65' (pen.)	Stadium: Landore Training Centre Referee: Tom Reeves

Hertha BSC   v   Villarreal

17 October 2018	Hertha BSC	0–1	Villarreal	Aldershot
19:00 BST (UTC+1)		Report	González   73'	Stadium: Recreation Ground Referee: Richard Hulme

Liverpool   v   Villarreal

21 November 2018	Liverpool	0–7	Villarreal	Kirkby
19:00 GMT		Report	González   4', 15' Lozano   6' Vujnović   25' (pen.) Riera   53' Akale   90+3'	Stadium: The Academy Referee: Peter Gibbons

Liverpool   v   Hertha BSC

5 December 2018	Liverpool	3–1	Hertha BSC	Kirkby
19:00 GMT	McAuley   10' Larouci   31' Millar   46'	Report	Covic   4'	Stadium: The Academy Referee: Simeon Lucas

Swansea City   v   Hertha BSC

13 December 2018	Swansea City	1–4	Hertha BSC	Swansea
19:00 GMT	Evans   36'	Report	Siakam-Tchokoten   27' Covic   43' Friede   75', 90+3'	Stadium: Landore Training Centre Referee: Samuel Allison

Liverpool   v   Swansea City

24 January 2019	Liverpool	2–0	Swansea City	Kirkby
19:00 GMT	Marković   16' McAuley   77'	Report		Stadium: The Academy Referee: Andrew Miller

Group F

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Manchester United	3	1	2	0	4	1	+3	5
Derby County	3	1	2	0	5	3	+2	5
PSV Eindhoven	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4
Paris Saint-Germain	3	0	1	2	3	8	−5	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Derby County   v   Paris Saint-Germain

28 September 2018	Derby County	1–1	Paris Saint-Germain	Loughborough
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Cresswell   56'	Report	Luzayadio   25'	Stadium: Loughborough University Stadium Referee: Gareth Rhodes

Derby County   v   PSV Eindhoven

31 October 2018	Derby County	3–1	PSV Eindhoven	Loughborough
19:00 GMT	Cresswell   11' Butterfield   50' (pen.) Mitchell-Lawson   79'	Report	Piroe   74'	Stadium: Loughborough University Stadium Referee: Leigh Doughty

Paris Saint-Germain   v   PSV Eindhoven

6 December 2018	Paris Saint-Germain	2–4	PSV Eindhoven	Woking
19:00 GMT	Toufiqui   77' Adli   78'	Report	Piroe   9', 17' Lundqvist   77' (pen.) Aboukhlal   90'	Stadium: Kingfield Stadium

Derby County   v   Manchester United

20 December 2018	Derby County	1–1	Manchester United	Loughborough
19:00 GMT	Sibley   65'	Report	Burkart   18'	Stadium: Loughborough University Stadium Referee: Matthew Dicicco

Manchester United   v   PSV Eindhoven

17 January 2019	Manchester United	0–0	PSV Eindhoven	Leigh
19:00 GMT		Report		Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 652^[11] Referee: James Oldman

Manchester United   v   Paris Saint-Germain

25 January 2019	Manchester United	3–0	Paris Saint-Germain	Leigh
19:00 GMT	McTominay   2' Chong   6', 17'	Report		Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 1,019

Ranking of second-placed teams

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Dinamo Zagreb	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4	6
Leicester City	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
Liverpool	3	2	0	1	5	8	−3	6
Derby County	3	1	2	0	5	3	+2	5
VfL Wolfsburg	3	1	1	1	7	4	+3	4
Everton	3	1	1	1	5	6	−1	4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knockout stages

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	25 February
	Manchester United	1
					1 April – Madejski Stadium
	Reading	3
					Reading	1
	13 March
					Bayern Munich	3
	Leicester City	1 (4)
									2 May – The Den
	Bayern Munich (p)	1 (5)
									Bayern Munich	2
	6 March
									Dinamo Zagreb	0
	Southampton	2
					10 April – St. Mary's Stadium
	Villarreal	1
					Southampton	1
	26 February
					Dinamo Zagreb	3
	Tottenham Hotspur	0
	Dinamo Zagreb	1

Quarter-finals

Manchester United   v   Reading

25 February 2019	Manchester United	1–3	Reading	Leigh
19:00 GMT	Levitt   42' (pen.)	Report	Loader   13', 27', 79' (pen.)	Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 654 Referee: Peter Gibbons

Tottenham Hotspur   v   Dinamo Zagreb

26 February 2019	Tottenham Hotspur	0–1	Dinamo Zagreb	Stevenage
19:00 GMT	Tracey   90+3'	Report Report	Ćuže   62' Čalušić   90+2'	Stadium: Lamex Stadium Attendance: 438^[12] Referee: Will Finnie

Southampton   v   Villarreal

6 March 2019	Southampton	2–1	Villarreal	Marchwood
19:00 GMT	Smallbone   31' (pen.) O'Connor   61' Norton   90+3' Johnson   90+6'	Report Report	Álvarez   59' Blanco   90+6'	Stadium: Staplewood Campus Attendance: 0^[13] Referee: Joshua Smith

Leicester City   v   Bayern Munich

13 March 2019	Leicester City	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)	Bayern Munich	Whetstone
19:00 GMT	Pașcanu   90+5'	Report	Wriedt   13'	Stadium: Holmes Park Attendance: 465 Referee: Lloyd Wood
	Penalties
	Wright   Muskwe   Sherif   Ndukwu   Dewsbury-Hall		Wriedt   Rochelt   Feldhahn   Lange   Köhn

Semi-finals

Reading   v   Bayern Munich

1 April 2019	Reading	1–3	Bayern Munich	Reading
19:00 BST	Frost   90+3'	Report	Wriedt   29' Shabani   50' Nollenberger   88' Köhn   90+6'	Stadium: Madejski Stadium Attendance: 2,157 Referee: Paul Howard

Southampton   v   Dinamo Zagreb

10 April 2019	Southampton	1–3	Dinamo Zagreb	Southampton
19:45 BST	Hamblin   22'   36'	Report	Šipoš   10' Gjira   54' Čuić   82'	Stadium: St. Mary's Stadium Attendance: 3,605 Referee: Joshua Smith

Final

Bayern Munich   v   Dinamo Zagreb

2 May 2019	Bayern Munich	2–0	Dinamo Zagreb	South Bermondsey
19:00 BST	Wriedt   46' Shabani   90+1'	Report		Stadium: The Den Referee: David Rock

References

1. "Premier League International Cup explained". Premier League. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
2. "Premier League International Cup groups announced". Premier League. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
3. "Southampton U23s vs FC Porto U23s 2018-09-26".
4. "Southampton U23s vs West Ham United U23s 2018-12-11".
5. "Late Success Over Sparta Prague For City's Under-23s". Leicester City FC.
6. "LIVE: Leicester City owner confirmed dead in helicopter crash". Sky News.
7. Blackwell, Jordan (29 October 2018). "City confirm postponement of Southampton and U23s fixtures". Retrieved 30 October 2018.
8. "Wolfsburg beaten by Under-23s". Tottenham Hotspur.
9. "Spyrou salvages draw for Norwich U23s as McLean and Jarvis return against Wolfsburg". Eastern Daily Press.
10. "Under-23s progress after nine-goal thriller". Tottenham Hotspur.
11. @lsvstadium (January 17, 2019). "FULL TIME: @ManUtd U23s 0 @psveindhoven 0" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
12. "Under-23s bow out of Premier League International Cup". Tottenham Hotspur.
13. "Southampton U23s vs Villarreal CF U23s 2019-03-06".