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 FC 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.
As 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 the match 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. UEFA Champions League Path: The youth teams of the 32 clubs which qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage entered the UEFA Champions League Path. If there was a vacancy (youth teams not entering), it was filled by a team defined by UEFA. Domestic Champions Path: The youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations according to their 2021 UEFA country coefficients entered the Domestic Champions Path. If there was a vacancy (associations with no youth domestic competition, as well as youth domestic champions already included in the UEFA Champions League path), it was first filled by the title holders should they have not yet qualified, and then by the youth domestic champions of the next association in the UEFA ranking.
Akademia e Futbollit, Angers, Deportivo La Coruña, Daugavpils, Empoli, Hajduk Split, 1. FC Köln, Csíkszereda, Pogoń Szczecin, St Patrick's Athletic, Trabzonspor, Žalgiris and Zvijezda 09 will make their tournament debuts. Lithuania will be represented for the first time.
+Qualified teams for 2021–22 UEFA Youth LeagueRankAssociationTeamsUEFA Champions League PathDomestic Champions Path12Deportivo La Coruña 31. FC Köln 4Empoli 5Angers 67Zenit Saint Petersburg 8Club BruggeGenk 910AjaxAZ 11BeşiktaşTrabzonspor 12FC Salzburg 13Midtjylland 14Rangers 15Sparta Prague 16APOEL 17Young Boys 18PAOK 19Red Star Belgrade 20Hajduk Split 21Malmö FFHammarby IF 22Rosenborg 23Maccabi Haifa 24Kairat 25Minsk 26Gabala 27Septemvri Sofia 28Csíkszereda 29Pogoń Szczecin 30Žilina 32Domžale 33MTK Budapest 35Žalgiris 37Daugavpils 38Akademia e Futbollit 39Shkëndija 40Zvijezda 09 41Sheriff Tiraspol 42St Patrick's Athletic +Associations without any participating teams(no teams qualify for UEFA Champions League group stage, and either with no youth domestic competition or not ranked high enough for a vacancy)RankAssociation313436434445RankAssociation4647484950RankAssociation5152535455 Notes
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise). For the UEFA Champions League Path group stage, in principle the teams played their matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays of the matchdays as scheduled for UEFA Champions League, and on the same day as the corresponding senior teams; however, matches could also be played on other dates, including Mondays and Thursdays. For the Domestic Champions Path first and second rounds, in principle matches were played on Wednesdays (first round on matchdays 2 and 3, second round on matchdays 4 and 5, as scheduled for UEFA Champions League); however, matches could also be played on other dates, including Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
+Schedule for 2021–22 UEFA Youth LeaguePhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legUEFA Champions League PathGroup stageMatchday 126 August 2021(Istanbul)14–15 September 2021Matchday 228–29 September 2021Matchday 319–20 October 2021Matchday 42–3 November 2021Matchday 523–24 November 2021Matchday 67–8 December 2021Domestic Champions PathFirst round31 August 202129 September 202120 October 2021Second round3 November 202124 November 2021Knockout phaseKnockout round play-offs14 December 20218–9 February 2022Round of 1614 February 20221–2 March 2022Quarter-finals15–16 March 2022 Semi-finals22 April 2022 at Colovray Stadium, NyonFinal25 April 2022 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon
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.
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
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
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
Knockout phase
Bracket
Knockout round play-offs
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Top goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Mads Hansen Midtjylland7 Aral Şimşir Midtjylland Roko Šimić FC Salzburg4 Jamie Bynoe-Gittens Borussia Dortmund6 Filip Čuić Hajduk Split6 Samba Diallo Dynamo Kyiv5 Bradley Fink Borussia Dortmund Oscar Fraulo Midtjylland Djeidi Gassama Paris Saint-Germain Timotej Jambor Žilina James McAtee Manchester City Cisse Sandra Club Brugge Luís Semedo Benfica Zalán Vancsa MTK Budapest
References
External links
UEFA Youth League matches 2021–22, UEFA.com