2015–16 Premier League International Cup

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]

2015–16 Premier League International Cup
The Den in South Bermondsey, London hosted the final
Tournament details
Dates19 August 2015 – 4 May 2016
Teams16 (from 6 associations)
Final positions
Champions Villarreal (1st title)
Runners-up PSV Eindhoven
Tournament statistics
Matches played31
Goals scored98 (3.16 per match)
Top scorer(s) Kasey Palmer
(6 goals)

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
Benfica 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9
Chelsea 3 2 0 1 9 5 +4 6
Liverpool 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2 3
Celtic 3 0 0 3 1 9 −8 0
Source:
11 September 2015 Chelsea 4–2 Liverpool Aldershot
19:05 BST Swift  6'
Palmer  51', 63', 65'		 Report 1, 2 Sinclair  18', 36' Stadium: Recreation Ground
Attendance: 994
24 September 2015 Celtic 1–2 Benfica High Wycombe
19:00 BST McIlduff  90' Report Gonçalves  37'
Sarkic  54'		 Stadium: Adams Park
Attendance: 355
Referee: Carl Brook
16 October 2015 Chelsea 0–3 Benfica Aldershot
19:05 BST Report 1, 2 Gonçalves  45'
Carvalho  62'
Dias  64'		 Stadium: Recreation Ground
20 November 2015 Liverpool 0–2 Benfica Chester
19:00 GMT Report Gonçalves  39'
Carvalho  48'		 Stadium: Deva Stadium
4 December 2015 Chelsea 5–0 Celtic Aldershot
19:05 GMT Ali  4'
Wright  5'
Musonda  15'
Palmer  23'
Mitchell  90+1' (pen.)		 Report 1, 2 Stadium: Recreation Ground
12 December 2015 Liverpool 2–0 Celtic Chester
14:00 GMT Lennon  86'
Brannagan  88' (pen.)		 Report Stadium: Deva Stadium

Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Tottenham Hotspur 3 2 0 1 8 5 +3 6
Porto 3 2 0 1 4 6 −2 6
Everton 3 1 0 2 6 5 +1 3
Schalke 04 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
Source:
31 August 2015 Everton 4–1 Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool
14:00 BST Henen  15' (pen.)
Byrne  45+2', 50'		 Report Maghoma  52' Stadium: Goodison Park
25 September 2015 Porto 1–0 Schalke 04 High Wycombe
19:00 BST Díaz  61' Report Stadium: Adams Park
20 October 2015 Everton 0–1 Schalke 04 Liverpool
19:00 BST Report Pick  10' Stadium: Goodison Park
3 November 2015 Tottenham Hotspur 3–1 Schalke 04 Stevenage
19:00 GMT Amos  25'
Harrison  55' (pen.), 70'		 Report Pick  65' Stadium: Broadhall Way
Attendance: 217
Referee: Josh Smith
22 November 2015 Everton 2–3 Porto Liverpool
12:00 GMT Connolly  75'
Charsley  86'		 Report 1, 2 Silva  6'
Cláudio  12'
Díaz  81'		 Stadium: Goodison Park
23 December 2015 Tottenham Hotspur 4–0 Porto High Wycombe
12:00 GMT Coulthirst  31', 35'
Walkes  76'
Sonupe  89'		 Report 1, 2 Stadium: Adams Park
Referee: Josh Smith

Group C
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Villarreal 3 2 0 1 7 3 +4 6
PSV Eindhoven 3 2 0 1 5 4 +1 6
Leicester City 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2 3
Norwich City 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 3
Source:
2 September 2015 Norwich City 0–3 PSV Eindhoven Norwich
19:00 BST Report Pereiro  24'
Cmiljanić  86'
Locadia  88'		 Stadium: Carrow Road
Attendance: 2,415
7 October 2015 Norwich City 1–0 Villarreal Norwich
19:00 BST Ramsay  ?' Report 1, 2 Stadium: Carrow Road
Attendance: 3,508
20 October 2015 Leicester City 2–1 Norwich City Leicester
19:00 BST Dodoo  36', 77' Report Ashley-Seal  3' Stadium: King Power Stadium
Attendance: 2,026
27 October 2015 PSV Eindhoven 0–4 Villarreal High Wycombe
19:00 GMT Report Sol  31', 58'
Pedraza  57'
Suárez  81'		 Stadium: Adams Park
16 November 2015 Leicester City 0–2 PSV Eindhoven Leicester
19:00 GMT Report Pereiro  40', 62' Stadium: King Power Stadium
Attendance: 3,380
1 December 2015 Leicester City 2–3 Villarreal Leicester
19:00 GMT Cain  42'
Muskwe  55'		 Report Carlitos  25'
Guerra  38'
Pedraza  51'		 Stadium: King Power Stadium

Group D
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Sunderland 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7
Athletic Bilbao 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
Borussia Mönchengladbach 3 0 2 1 3 5 −2 2
Manchester City 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1
Source:
19 August 2015 Manchester City 1–1 Borussia Mönchengladbach Manchester
19:00 BST Plummer  20' Report Lieder  9' Stadium: Academy Stadium
26 August 2015 Manchester City 0–1 Sunderland Manchester
19:00 BST Report Mandron  80' Stadium: Academy Stadium
9 September 2015 Borussia Mönchengladbach 1–3 Athletic Bilbao High Wycombe
19:00 BST Rizzo  55' Report Lozano  26'
Unai Bilbao  75'
Guruzeta  87'		 Stadium: Adams Park
Attendance: 183
12 October 2015 Sunderland 1–1 Borussia Mönchengladbach Sunderland
19:00 BST Mandron  54' Report Ritter  81' Stadium: Stadium of Light
11 November 2015 Sunderland 2–1 Athletic Bilbao Sunderland
19:00 GMT Graham  32'
Smith  83' (pen.)		 Report Guruzeta  44' Stadium: Stadium of Light
Attendance: 888
Referee: A. Greenwood (North Yorkshire)
2 December 2015 Manchester City 1–2 Athletic Bilbao Manchester
19:00 GMT Celina  52' Report Urcelay  48'
Guruzeta  77'		 Stadium: Academy Stadium

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
         
Benfica 0
Porto 1
Porto 1
Villarreal 2
Villarreal 2
Athletic Bilbao 1
Villarreal 4
PSV 2
Tottenham Hotspur 2
Chelsea 5
Chelsea 1
PSV 2
Sunderland 0
PSV 1

Quarter-finals
28 January 2016 Tottenham Hotspur 2–5 Chelsea Stevenage
19:05 GMT Walkes  54'
Miller  72'		 Report 1, 2 Mitchell  6'
Palmer  10'
Aina  35'
Abraham  87', 90+4'		 Stadium: Broadhall Way
Referee: Josh Smith
3 February 2016 Villarreal 2–1 Athletic Bilbao High Wycombe
19:00 GMT Sol  4'
Pedraza  47'		 Report 1, 2 Guruzeta  50' Stadium: Adams Park
Referee: Anthony Coggins
3 February 2016 Benfica 0–1 Porto South Bermondsey
19:00 GMT Report 1, 2 Gleison  34' Stadium: The Den
5 February 2016 Sunderland 0–1 PSV Sunderland
19:00 GMT Report 1, 2 Leemans  55' Stadium: Stadium of Light

Semi-finals
3 March 2016 Chelsea 1–2 PSV Aldershot
19:05 GMT Palmer  6' Report 1, 2 Chalobah  16' (o.g.)
Bergwijn  43'		 Stadium: Recreation Ground
Referee: Carl Brook
20 April 2016 Porto 1–2 Villarreal South Bermondsey
19:00 BST Diaz  74' Report 1, 2 Cantalapiedra  4'
Gutiérrez  87'		 Stadium: The Den

Final
4 May 2016 PSV 2–4 (a.e.t.) Villarreal South Bermondsey
19:00 BST Leemans  44' (pen.)
Koch  53'		 Report 1, 2 Suárez  26', 96'
Sol  85', 110'		 Stadium: The Den

See also

References
  1. "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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