City Under-19s Set For Junior Cup Test In Germany

- Leicester City U19s will this week travel to Germany to compete in the Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup

- Trevor Peake's men will come up against Schalke, Rosenborg and RB Leipzig on the opening day

- Matches will consist of two nine-minute halves and six-a-side teams at the Glaspalast Sindelfingen

- Peake says the young Foxes are determined to do the Club proud against their illustrious opponents

Under the guidance of Trevor Peake, the young Foxes will represent the Club in a gruelling two-day competition (6-7 January) which will see them line-up against the likes of FC Schalke, RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart, Rapid Wien and the South Korea Under-19s. 

Across the tournament’s seven-year history, won by European giants Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain in recent seasons, 99 teams from 39 countries have been represented in Stuttgart with the holders Rapid Wien hoping to overcome City this time around and retain their crown. 

With Leicester set to face Schalke on the opening day at the state-of-the-art Glaspalast Sindelfingen Arena on Friday 6 January, Peake’s men will then line-up against Rosenborg later in the afternoon before an intriguing clash with RB Leipzig  – all on the first day of action.

Peake, speaking before the squad fly out to Germany on Thursday afternoon, said: “We’re expecting the standard to be very high. We’ve managed to look at some clips from years gone by and some of the quality we’ve seen has been very impressive. 

“It’ll be a real test for us but we are confident we can make an impact on the competition. There are so many different variables with trips like these and playing against opposition from across the continent.” 

The City Academy manager also stressed the importance of learning lessons from the competition’s unique set-up with recovery times and game management set to be pivotal if the Foxes are to be successful later this week. 

He added: “It’s the first time we’ve been invited to a tournament with this kind of format but it is similar to the Hong Kong Sevens in some respects. By the looks of the intensity of the matches, this will be a great test.

“We will need to be a lot cleverer about the way we approach the matches and we will have to look at recovery times between them because it’s so fast and furious.” 

The Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup is just the latest international competition which the Club has been invited to this season and Peake, whose players have already benefitted from experience in the UEFA Youth League and a trip to Doha last year, acknowledged Leicester City's growing stature.

“For us, at Under-18s level, we do owe a big thank you to the First-Team for winning the Premier League last season,” Peake continued. 

“We’ve been able to enjoy a host of wonderful opportunities both at home and abroad on the back of that success. We have to try and make the most of these opportunities and learn as much as we can from them.” 

Competition information

- U19 indoor football tournament 

- Participants: 8 x U19 teams (4 x national / 4 x international).

- Group A: Schalke 04, RB Leipzig, Rosenborg Trondheim, Leicester City.

- Group B: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart, Rapid Wien, U19 South Korea.

Day one schedule*

Preliminary round fixtures:

14.32 - Schalke vs Leicester City 

14.55 - Leicester City vs Rosenborg

16.04 - Leicester City vs RB Leipzig 

18.00 – Intermediate round fixtures begin

* Local time (GMT +1 hour)

Make sure to keep informed of all the action from Germany on LCFC.com and LCFC TV over the coming days with reports, reaction and interviews set to follow.