The Aberdeen FC Youth Academy has been doing the club proud in Europe this weekend, taking on some of the biggest sides on the continent as teams from three different age groups travelled to the Netherlands, Germany, and Norway.

Here is how they got on…

2008s

Aberdeen youngsters from the 2008 and 2009 age groups travelled to Tønsberg, Norway to play in the prestigious Flint Micasa Cup.

The tournament was made up of 64 U14 teams from across Europe and it was the young Dons, led by coaches Derek Young and Greg Moir along with Kevin Stewart, Rob Crimin and Richard Taylor, who came home with the trophy!

On day one, as one of the seeded teams, they came through their qualification undefeated, scoring 12 goals without reply. On Sunday, they progressed to finals day after six wins and a draw.

The business end of the competition took place today (Monday), with Aberdeen meeting Liverpool at the semi-final stage. Cayden McGuinness scored the only goal of the game as the English Premiership side were defeated in a thrilling match.

In the final, Aberdeen played Red Bull Leipzig and produced another outstanding performance. With five minutes to play, Jack Searle scored for the young Dons, but the German giants equalised in the final minute.

The match went to spot kicks and it was Joseph Teasdale who had the honour of finding the net to give Aberdeen a 5-4 win on penalties.

2010s

Elsewhere, the Aberdeen 2010s were in Germany for the Pfingst Cup, one of the largest youth tournaments in Europe.

Academy Director Gavin Levey saw the side coached by Calum McDonald, Mark Slater and Kris Mavor play a total of ten matches and registered seven wins and two draws – their only defeat came against eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt.

After going down 2-0 to the Germans, the boys regrouped and beat Mainz 05 to finish in a very impressive fifth place.

2011s

The 2011 age group travelled to the Netherlands to take part in the Jorrit Hendrix Tournament where they finished third. The coaching party was made up of Liam McGarry, Stephen Brodie, Matthew Mackie and Aberdeen first team player Jonny Hayes.

With top European clubs from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany involved, it was some achievement for our U11s make it to the semi-final stage, where they lost narrowly to Borussia Monchengladbach, 1-0, before beating AZ Alkmaar 2-1 in the 3rd/4th place play-off.

Borussia won the competition by beating Ajax 5-0 in the final. Aberdeen had made it through from a group that had included FC Koln, Ajax and PSV.

Congratulations go to all our young players and to the coaches and staff who accompanied the team’s.

We are grateful to the parents who travelled to lend their vocal support throughout the games.

The three teams are currently travelling back to Scotland this afternoon, so we will get some reaction later in the week.