2015–16 Premier League International Cup

2015–16 Premier League International Cup
Tournament details
Dates 19 August 2015 – 4 May 2016
Teams 16 (from 6 associations)
Final positions
Champions Spain Villarreal (1st title)
Runners-up Netherlands PSV Eindhoven
Tournament statistics
Matches played 31
Goals scored 98 (3.16 per match)
Top scorer(s) England Kasey Palmer
(6 goals)

The 2015–16 Premier League International Cup was the second season of the Premier League International Cup, a European club football competition organised by the Premier League for under-21 players.[1]

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

Qualification

For English sides, qualification was achieved via performance in the 2014–15 Barclays Under 21 Premier League, with the top eight sides securing a place in the competition. Manchester United U21s (champions) and Southampton U21s (8th place) did not take up the opportunity to enter the competition and were replaced by Tottenham Hotspur U21s and Everton U21s, who finished 9th and 10th respectively.[2] The participation of European sides was achieved through invitation and was influenced by the quality of each club's academy. All eight teams from the previous season returned to the competition.[1]

Group stage

Group stage matches were played between 19 August 2015 and 23 December 2015. The teams were drawn into four groups, each containing two English sides and two European sides.

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

Group A

Team Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Portugal Benfica 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9
England Chelsea 3 2 0 1 9 5 +4 6
England Liverpool 3 1 0 2 4 6 2 3
Scotland Celtic 3 0 0 3 1 9 8 0

Group B

Team Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
England Tottenham Hotspur 3 2 0 1 8 5 +3 6
Portugal Porto 3 2 0 1 4 6 2 6
England Everton 3 1 0 2 6 5 +1 3
Germany Schalke 04 3 1 0 2 2 4 2 3

Group C

Team Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Spain Villarreal 3 2 0 1 7 3 +4 6
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 3 2 0 1 5 4 +1 6
England Leicester City 3 1 0 2 4 6 2 3
England Norwich City 3 1 0 2 2 5 3 3

Group D

Team Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
England Sunderland 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7
Spain Athletic Bilbao 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach 3 0 2 1 3 5 2 2
England Manchester City 3 0 1 2 2 4 2 1

Knockout stages

The knockout stages comprised three rounds played as one-off matches: quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. In the quarter-finals, group stage winners played against the runners-up from another group.[3]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
Portugal Benfica 0
Portugal Porto 1
Portugal Porto 1
Spain Villarreal 2
Spain Villarreal 2
Spain Athletic Bilbao 1
Netherlands PSV 2
Spain Villarreal 4
England Tottenham Hotspur 2
England Chelsea 5
England Chelsea 1
Netherlands PSV 2
England Sunderland 0
Netherlands PSV 1

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Premier League International Cup confirmed for second season". Premier League. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  2. "2015/16 Premier League International Cup fixtures released". Premier League. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. "Fixtures: Premier League International Cup – Season 2015–16". Premier League. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
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