Inter Milan coach Andrea Stramaccioni has paid tribute to the U18s after their elimination from the NextGen Series.

Arsenal defeated Inter yesterday in Italy.

Stramaccioni said: "I wanted to send my compliments to the Primavera team, which unfortunately was eliminated by Arsenal in a fantastic game. Unfortunately, due to the 1st team's situation, they had to make do without six players that we have here with us.

"But this demonstrates the quality of Inter's youth academy. I wanted to say this because I was the coach there last year, and to face such an important game missing six players with the 1st team, and then go toe-to-toe against Arsenal, is not an easy task. So I really want to applaud all the lads and the hard work done by our youth academy."