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
ChampionsSpain Villarreal (1st title)
Runners-upNetherlands PSV Eindhoven
Tournament statistics
Matches played31
Goals scored98 (3.16 per match)
Top scorer(s)Jamaica 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
Source:
11 September 2015 Chelsea England 4–2 England 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 Scotland 1–2 Portugal 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 England 0–3 Portugal Benfica Aldershot
19:05 BST Report 1, 2 Gonçalves 45'
Carvalho 62'
Dias 64'		 Stadium: Recreation Ground
20 November 2015 Liverpool England 0–2 Portugal Benfica Chester
19:00 GMT Report Gonçalves 39'
Carvalho 48'		 Stadium: Deva Stadium
4 December 2015 Chelsea England 5–0 Scotland 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 England 2–0 Scotland 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
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
Source:
31 August 2015 Everton England 4–1 England Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool
14:00 BST Henen 15' (pen.)
Byrne 45+2', 50'		 Report Maghoma 52' Stadium: Goodison Park
25 September 2015 Porto Portugal 1–0 Germany Schalke 04 High Wycombe
19:00 BST Díaz 61' Report Stadium: Adams Park
20 October 2015 Everton England 0–1 Germany Schalke 04 Liverpool
19:00 BST Report Pick 10' Stadium: Goodison Park
3 November 2015 Tottenham Hotspur England 3–1 Germany 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 England 2–3 Portugal 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 England 4–0 Portugal 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
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
Source:
2 September 2015 Norwich City England 0–3 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven Norwich
19:00 BST Report Pereiro 24'
Cmiljanić 86'
Locadia 88'		 Stadium: Carrow Road
Attendance: 2,415
7 October 2015 Norwich City England 1–0 Spain Villarreal Norwich
19:00 BST Ramsay ?' Report 1, 2 Stadium: Carrow Road
Attendance: 3,508
20 October 2015 Leicester City England 2–1 England 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 Netherlands 0–4 Spain Villarreal High Wycombe
19:00 GMT Report Sol 31', 58'
Pedraza 57'
Suárez 81'		 Stadium: Adams Park
16 November 2015 Leicester City England 0–2 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven Leicester
19:00 GMT Report Pereiro 40', 62' Stadium: King Power Stadium
Attendance: 3,380
1 December 2015 Leicester City England 2–3 Spain Villarreal Leicester
19:00 GMT Cain 42'
Muskwe 55'		 Report Report Carlitos 25'
Guerra 38'
Pedraza 51'		 Stadium: King Power Stadium
Attendance: 2,847[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
Source:
12 October 2015 Sunderland England 1–1 Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach Sunderland
19:00 BST Mandron 54' Report Ritter 81' Stadium: Stadium of Light
Attendance: 836[4]
Referee: G Hart
11 November 2015 Sunderland England 2–1 Spain 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)

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.[5]

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

Quarter-finals

28 January 2016 Tottenham Hotspur England 2–5 England 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 Spain 2–1 Spain 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 Portugal 0–1 Portugal Porto South Bermondsey
19:00 GMT Report 1, 2 Gleison 34' Stadium: The Den
5 February 2016 Sunderland England 0–1 Netherlands PSV Sunderland
19:00 GMT Report 1, 2 Leemans 55' Stadium: Stadium of Light
Attendance: 905

Semi-finals

3 March 2016 Chelsea England 1–2 Netherlands PSV Aldershot
19:05 GMT Palmer 6' Report 1, 2 Chalobah 16' (o.g.)
Bergwijn 43'		 Stadium: Recreation Ground
Referee: Carl Brook

Final

4 May 2016 PSV Netherlands 2–4 (a.e.t.) Spain 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. 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. ↑ "U21s Report: Leicester City 2 Villarreal 3". Leicester City FC.
  4. ↑ "Sunderland U21 1-1 Borussia Monchengladbach U21 report: Mikael Mandron on target". ChronicleLive. 12 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Fixtures: Premier League International Cup – Season 2015–16". Premier League. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
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