Meet the UEFA Youth League semi-finalists: Sporting CP vs AZ Alkmaar, Hajduk Split vs AC Milan | UEFA Youth League

New UEFA Youth League winners are guaranteed on April 24 as all four semi-finalists reached the Nyon showpiece for the first time.

Sporting CP meet AZ Alkmaar and Hajduk Split meet AC Milan in the semi-finals on 21 April, with kick-off order still to be confirmed. Not only are all four teams making their debuts at the Colovray Sports Centre, Sporting are also the only team from one nation to have a team reach the final; Benfica lost in 2013/14, 2016/17 and 2019/20 before lifting the title last season and Porto lifted the trophy in 2018/19.

Also for the first time, two teams from the domestic champions path, AZ and Hajduk, have reached the same final. The three clubs that previously made it this way to the semi-finals were Anderlecht in 2015/16, eventual champions Salzburg in 2016/17 and Chelsea in 2018/19.

We profile the four teams striving for glory to become the seventh different winner across the nine seasons of competition and join a list of honors which, alongside Benfica and Porto, also includes Barcelona (2013/14 and 2017/18), Chelsea (2014/15 and 2015) includes /16), Salzburg (2016/17) and Real Madrid (2019/20).

group stage: Group D winners (D1-1a v Eintracht Frankfurt, W2-0h v Tottenham Hotspur, W6-0a v Marseille, D1-1h v Marseille, W2-1a v Tottenham Hotspur, W1-0h v Eintracht Frankfurt)
round of 16: W5-1h against Ajax
quarter finals: W1-0h vs Liverpool
top scorer: Rodrigo Ribeiro6
Earlier best: Quarterfinals (2021/22)

• A year after reaching the quarterfinals for the first time, they have gone one step further and hope to be the third Portuguese winner after Porto (2019) and Benfica (2022).

National Masters Path Round 1: W6-1agg vs. Shamrock Rovers (W5-0h, D1-1a)
National Masters Path Round 2: W3-3 overall, 4-3 pins vs. Crvena zvezda (D2-2h, D1-1a)
playoffs: U5-0h against Eintracht Frankfurt
round of 16: W3-0a vs. Barcelona
quarter finals: W4-0h vs Real Madrid
top scorer: Mexx Meerdink 7
Earlier best: Round of 16 (2021/22)

• AZ have equaled the best run of the Netherlands, Ajax, in 2019/20. Previously, no team had advanced to the final with 12 unanswered goals in three wins.

National Masters Path Round 1: W5-1agg vs Gabala (W3-0h, W2-1a)
National Masters Path Round 2: W6-1agg vs. Apolonia (W3-0a, W3-1h)
playoffs: W1-0h vs Shakhtar Donetsk
round of 16: W2-1h vs. Manchester City
quarter finals: 1: 1, 9: 8 after penalty against Borussia Dortmund
top scorer: Jere Vrcić 4
Earlier best: Playoffs (2021/22)

• The first Croatian team to reach the semi-finals and the first Croatian team to finish in the last four in a UEFA football club competition since the seniors of Hajduk (Yugoslavia) in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup.

group stage: Group E winners (U1-1a v Salzburg, U3-0h v Dinamo Zagreb, U1-1a v Chelsea, U3-1h v Chelsea, U2-1a v Dinamo Zagreb, U2-1h v Salzburg)
round of 16: W1-0h against Ruh Lemberg
quarter finals: W2-0h against Atlético
top scorer: Gabriele Alesi4
Earlier best: Round of 16 (2013/14)

• Having reached the knockout stages for the first time since the first edition in 2013/14, they are now hoping to go a step further than previous Italian semi-finalists Roma (2014/15) and Juventus (2021/22) .