Arsenal’s academy side ended their pre-season trip to Germany with one win and one defeat on the final day of the u17 Bundesliga Cup.

Arsenal were competing in the competition this weekend as the sole English club alongside seven German sides. They played a group stage followed by a knockout match, with every game lasting 40 minutes and taking place on either Saturday or Sunday.

We covered the opening day of action here if you’re interested in checking that out. Now let’s have a look at how they did on day two.

Arsenal 1-0 FC Köln

Arsenal playing in the u17 Bundesliga Cup against FC Köln (Photo via Facebook / u17-Bundesliga Cup)
Arsenal playing in the u17 Bundesliga Cup against FC Köln (Photo via Facebook / u17-Bundesliga Cup)

After the results on day one, Arsenal needed a good win against group leaders FC Köln and for results to go their way in the other match between Bayern Munich and Stuttgart.

The young Gunners got off to a good start through Khayon Edwards, who scored in the seventh minute. Unfortunately, they couldn’t add to their lead, and Bayern lost their match anyway.

That left the group table looking like this, with Arsenal just missing out on the semi-final stage.

Team P GF GA GD Pts
FC Köln 3 3 2 1 6
Stuttgart 3 6 3 3 6
Arsenal 3 2 3 -1 4
Bayern 3 2 5 -3 1

Key: P – Played, GF – Goals for, GA – Goals against, GD – Goal difference, Pts – Points.

As a result, Arsenal were matched up with Hoffenheim in a fifth-place match.

Arsenal 1-3 Hoffenheim

Arsenal playing in the u17 Bundesliga Cup against TSG Hoffenheim 1899 (Photo via Facebook / u17-Bundesliga Cup)
Arsenal playing in the u17 Bundesliga Cup against TSG Hoffenheim 1899 (Photo via Facebook / u17-Bundesliga Cup)

Hoffenheim were unlucky enough to miss out on the semi-finals on goal difference despite being level on points with both first and second place in their group, so this was never going to be an easy match.

Rolands Bocs gave Hoffenheim the lead in the 11th minute before Turan Calhanoglu doubled their advantage another 11 minutes later.

With five minutes to go, Omari Hutchinson pulled one back for Arsenal, but as they pushed for an equaliser Calhanoglu killed the game with a third goal.

Final Thoughts

Though Arsenal will undoubtedly be a bit disappointed with where they ended up finishing, this was still a great experience for the young side.

For an u15/16 side to play in an u17 tournament against some of the top teams in Germany was always going to be difficult, especially at the start of pre-season, but that’s how you test yourself.

We’ll leave you with Malcolm Ebiowei’s goal against Bayern Munich from the opening day of the action.