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2021–22 UEFA Youth League

The 2021–22 UEFA Youth League was the eighth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.

Real Madrid, having won the title in 2019–20, were the title holders, since the 2020–21 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and the title was not awarded. They were eliminated by city rivals Atlético Madrid in the round of 16.

Portuguese side Benfica won their first title, beating Red Bull Salzburg 6–0 in the final. This was a replay of the 2017 final, won by Salzburg by 2–1. It was also Benfica's first title in European football since the 1961–62 European Cup. In August, Benfica played the inaugural Under-20 Intercontinental Cup, beating the CONMEBOL champions, Peñarol, 1–0.

Teams

A total of 64 teams from at least 32 of the 55 UEFA member associations may enter the tournament. They are split into two sections, each with 32 teams.

Akademia e Futbollit, Angers, Deportivo La Coruña, Daugavpils, Empoli, Hajduk Split, 1. FC Köln, Miercurea Ciuc, Pogoń Szczecin, St Patrick's Athletic, Trabzonspor, Žalgiris and Zvijezda 09 will make their tournament debuts. Lithuania will be represented for the first time.[2]

Notes
  Potential: Youth domestic champions which may potentially enter the Domestic Champions Path only if there is a vacancy.
  1. TH Title holders.
  2. YC Teams playing in the UEFA Champions League Path which were also youth domestic champions.
  3. PO Teams playing in the UEFA Champions League Path after their senior team qualified for the Champions League group stage via play-offs.
  4. V-LIE Team playing in the Domestic Champions Path through the vacancy of Liechtenstein (no youth domestic competition).
  5. V-YC Teams playing in the Domestic Champions Path through the vacancies of teams which qualified for the Champions League group stage automatically.
  6. V-PO Teams playing in the Domestic Champions Path through the vacancies of teams which qualified for the Champions League group stage via play-offs.
  7. ^
    Belgium (BEL): The 2020–21 Belgian U18 League was abandoned and 2020–21 Belgium Youth Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium. Genk, which were originally selected to play in the 2020–21 UEFA Youth League (which was later cancelled) by the Royal Belgian Football Association in the Domestic Champions Path, were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League in the Domestic Champions Path.
  8. ^
    France (FRA): The 2020–21 Championnat National U19 was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France.[11] Angers, which were originally selected to play in the 2020–21 UEFA Youth League (which was later cancelled) by the French Football Federation in the Domestic Champions Path, were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League in the Domestic Champions Path.[12]
  9. ^
    Germany (GER): The 2020–21 U19 A-Junioren-Bundesliga was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.[13] 1. FC Köln, which were originally selected to play in the 2020–21 UEFA Youth League (which was later cancelled) by the German Football Association in the Domestic Champions Path, were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League in the Domestic Champions Path.[14]
  10. ^
    Netherlands (NED): The 2020–21 Eredivisie U19 was abandoned and the 2020–21 KNVB Youth Cup was not completed by the UEFA registration deadline due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. AZ, which were originally selected to play in the 2020–21 UEFA Youth League (which was later cancelled) by the Royal Dutch Football Association in the Domestic Champions Path, were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League in the Domestic Champions Path.
  11. ^
    Portugal (POR): The 2020–21 Campeonato Nacional Juniores S19 was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. Benfica, which were originally selected to play in the 2020–21 UEFA Youth League (which was later cancelled) by the Portuguese Football Federation in the Domestic Champions Path, would have been selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League in the Domestic Champions Path, but since their senior team qualified for the Champions League group stage via play-offs, they qualified for the UEFA Champions League Path, so no team was selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League in the Domestic Champions Path.

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[2]

UEFA Champions League Path

For the UEFA Champions League Path, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. There was no separate draw held, with the group compositions identical to the draw for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage, which was held on 26 August 2021, 18:00 CEST (19:00 TRT), in Istanbul, Turkey.[15]

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners advance to the round of 16, while the eight runners-up advance to the play-offs, where they will join by the eight second round winners from the Domestic Champions Path.

Group A

Source: UEFA

Group B

Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head: Atlético Madrid 3 pts (0 GD, 3 GF), Porto 3 pts (0 GD, 3 GF). Goal difference in all group matches: Atlético Madrid +3, Porto –1.

Group C

Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Borussia Dortmund 3, Ajax 3. Head-to-head goal difference: Borussia Dortmund +3, Ajax –3.

Group D

Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Real Madrid 4, Inter Milan 1.

Group E

Source: UEFA

Group F

Source: UEFA

Group G

Source: UEFA

Group H

Source: UEFA

Domestic Champions Path

For the Domestic Champions Path, the 32 teams were drawn into two rounds of two-legged home-and-away ties. The draw for both the first round and second round was held on 31 August 2021.

The eight second round winners advance to the play-offs, where they will join by the eight group runners-up from the UEFA Champions League Path (group stage).

First round

Second round

Notes

  1. ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Knockout phase

Bracket

Play-offs

The eight second round winners from the Domestic Champions Path were drawn against the eight group runners-up from the UEFA Champions League Path, with the teams from the Domestic Champions Path hosting the match. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.

The draw was conducted on 14 December 2021 12:00 CET at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The play-offs were played over one leg on 8 and 9 February 2022.

Round of 16

The draw was conducted on 14 February 2022 12:00 CET at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The round of 16 should have been played over one leg on 1 and 2 March 2022.[16] The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:

Quarter-finals

The draw was conducted on 14 February 2022 12:00 CET at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The quarter-finals were played over one leg from 15 March to 13 April 2022.[16]

Semi-finals

The draw was conducted on 14 February 2022 12:00 CET at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The semi-finals were played over one leg on 22 April 2022 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[16]

Final

The draw was conducted on 14 February 2022 12:00 CET at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The final was played on 25 April 2022 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[16]

This was a replay of the 2017 UEFA Youth League Final, which Salzburg won 2–1. Benfica won 6–0 to win their first Youth League title, and their first title in European football since the 1961–62 European Cup.

Colovray Stadium, Nyon
Attendance: 4,000[17]
Referee: Harm Osmers (Germany)

Top goalscorers

U-20 Intercontinental Cup

The UEFA champions, Benfica, played against the CONMEBOL champion, Peñarol, for the new U-20 Intercontinental Cup, a youth team equivalent to the former Intercontinental Cup, which featured the senior club champions of Europe and South America. Benfica won 1–0.

Notes

References

  1. ^ "Country coefficients 2021/22". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
  2. ^ a b c "2021/22 UEFA Youth League dates, format, contenders". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Borges helps Man City claim Under-18 title". Premier League. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  4. ^ "RESUMEN El RC Deportivo de La Coruña se corona como el mejor juvenil de España (3-1)". Royal Spanish Football Federation. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Calcio: Empoli campione d'Italia Primavera". corrieredellosport.it. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Zenit U17s and U18s win both the YFL championships". Zenit Football Club. 23 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Чемпіонат України U-19: «Шахтар» виграв золоті нагороди в особистих зустрічах із «Динамо»". Українська асоціація футболу. 16 May 2021.
  8. ^ "U19 şampiyonu Trabzonspor! Galatasaray - Trabzonspor U19 finali maç sonucu: 0-1". fanatik.com.tr. 14 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Wir sind U18-Meister!". FC Liefering. 1 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Darragh Burns hits the winner as Saints claim U19 League of Ireland crown". 22 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Décisions concernant les compétitions amateurs". Fédération Française de Football. 24 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Football. Privé de Youth League cette saison, le SCO qualifié directement pour la prochaine édition". ouest-france.fr. 26 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Abbruch der bundesweiten Junior*innen-Wettbewerbe beschlossen". Deutscher Fußball-Bund. 23 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Fünf deutsche Teams in der UEFA Youth League". Deutscher Fußball-Bund. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  15. ^ "UEFA Champions League group stage draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021.
  16. ^ a b c d "UEFA Youth League knockout draw: Madrid derby, home games for Liverpool and Manchester United". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Red Bull Salzburg v Benfica" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 3 September 2022.

External links