UEFA Youth League

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UEFA Youth League
logo
Association UEFA
First edition 2013/14
Teams 64
Game mode double-track round tournament with subsequent knockout round (from 2015/16)
Title holder SpainSpain Real Madrid
(1st title)
Record winner SpainSpain FC Barcelona FC Chelsea (2 titles)
EnglandEngland
Record player BelgiumBelgium Samy Bourard Mykola Matvienko Yakou Méïté (23 games each)
UkraineUkraine
FranceFrance
Record scorer SpainSpain Borja Mayoral Roberto Núñez (15 goals each)
SpainSpain
Website de.uefa.com

The UEFA Youth League has been a football club competition for male football players under the age of 19 that has been under the care of UEFA since the 2013/14 season . The 32 junior teams of the clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League group stage and, since the 2015/16 season, the 32 youth champions of the strongest nations according to the UEFA club coefficient are eligible to start . The competition is, albeit with different access criteria, in the successor to the NextGen Series, which has already been held twice on private initiative, and is comparable to the Copa Libertadores Sub-20 , which has not been held annually in South America since 2011 , although the conditions of participation and the mode of competition are not identical.

history

season UEFA Youth League winner
2013/14 FC Barcelona
2014/15 Chelsea FC
2015/16 Chelsea FC
2016/17 FC Salzburg
2017/18 FC Barcelona
2018/19 FC Porto
2019/20 real Madrid

In early December 2012, UEFA announced that the UEFA Youth League would be introduced from the 2013/14 season. The association wants to offer the young players the opportunity to gain international experience. Initially, the competition was held for two years. In September 2014, shortly after the start of the second Youth League season, UEFA announced that the Youth League would establish itself as a permanent competition and will be played in a new format from the 2015/16 season. In addition, the number of participants has been increased from 32 to 64 and the tournament will be played in two tracks, with the UEFA Champions League and the national champions.

mode

2013/14 and 2014/15

Logo of the UEFA Youth League until 2015

For the group stage, the group division and the schedule of the UEFA Champions League will be adopted. The game is played in eight groups with four teams each in a return match. The first and second of the groups remain in the competition, while the third and fourth placed are eliminated from the European Cup.

If two or more teams are tied at the end of all group matches, the decision (in this order)

  1. Number of points in direct comparison
  2. Goal difference in direct comparison
  3. Number of goals in direct comparison
  4. Number of away goals in direct comparison
  5. If, after applying criteria 1-4, two teams still occupy the same place in the table, criteria 1-4 are reapplied for these teams. If this does not result in a definitive placement, criteria 6–9 will be applied.
  6. Goal difference from all group matches
  7. higher number of goals scored
  8. Lower number of points from yellow and red cards (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, yellow-red card = 3 points)
  9. Drawing of lots

The group matches are followed by the final round (in the knockout system). In contrast to the UEFA Champions League, games in the final tournament are only decided in one game. The matches will be drawn separately for the individual final rounds, with the group winners meeting the runners-up in the round of 16 and the former enjoying home rights. Teams that have already met in the preliminary round or belong to the same football association cannot meet in the round of 16. As of the quarter-finals, these restrictions no longer apply and the draw decides which team is the host. The semi-finals and the final will then be played in the form of a final tournament at a neutral location. There is no game for third place. This means that no team has to play more than ten games. If there is a tie after regular playing time, the game will be decided directly by a penalty shoot-out .

Since 2015/16

From the 2015/16 Youth League season, the competition will be held in a two-pronged system. On the one hand, there will be the UEFA Champions League route, in which the 32 senior youth teams of the clubs that have qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League compete in eight groups of four teams. The format of the previous seasons is retained, with the difference that only the first in each group qualifies directly for the round of 16.

If two or more teams are tied at the end of all group matches, the decision (in this order)

  1. Number of points in direct comparison
  2. Goal difference in direct comparison
  3. Number of goals in direct comparison
  4. Number of away goals in direct comparison
  5. If, after applying criteria 1-4, two teams still occupy the same place in the table, criteria 1-4 are reapplied for these two teams. If this does not result in a definitive placement, criteria 6–9 will be applied.
  6. Goal difference from all group matches
  7. Higher number of goals scored
  8. Lower number of points from yellow and red cards (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, yellow-red card = 3 points)
  9. Drawing of lots

The runners-up compete against eight teams from the national championship path in a newly introduced playoff round. For the championship path, the 32 youth champions of the strongest nations qualify according to the UEFA club coefficient . If associations are involved without a national youth championship, or if the national champions are already represented in the UEFA Champions League format, the next nation moves up in the UEFA ranking. These champions play in two qualifying rounds, each with a home and away leg, against a different champion (same as the UEFA Champions League qualifying round mode). The 16 winners of the first round play off the eight teams in a second qualifying round with a return game, which compete in the play-offs against the runners-up in the Champions League path, with the play-offs being decided in just one game. The eight winners of the play-offs qualify for the round of 16, in which the group winners of the Champions League path intervene again. In the knockout phase up to the final, all winners are determined in one game each. As in the previous format, the semi-finals and the final will continue to be played in a mini-tournament at a neutral location.

trophy

The UEFA Youth League trophy is named after UEFA Honorary President Lennart Johansson .

statistics

Highest victories

round season winner Result loser
Group stage 2015/16 Benfica Lisbon 11: 1 Galatasaray Istanbul
1st round 1 2019/20 ÍA Akranes 12: 1 FC Levadia Tallinn
2nd round 1 2017/18 FK Krasnodar 8-0 Honvéd Budapest
Play-Offs 1 2015/16 Middlesbrough FC 5-0 Dynamo Kiev
Round of 16 2016/17 FC Salzburg 5-0 Paris Saint-Germain
Quarter finals 2014/15 RSC Anderlecht 5-0 FC Porto
Semifinals 2013/14 Benfica Lisbon 4-0 real Madrid
2014/15 Chelsea FC 4-0 AS Roma
final 2013/14 FC Barcelona 3-0 Benfica Lisbon
2017/18 FC Barcelona 3-0 Chelsea FC

Most goalscoring games per season

season round winner Result loser
2013/14 Group stage Benfica Lisbon 6: 3 RSC Anderlecht
2014/15 Group stage Ajax Amsterdam 6: 3 Paris Saint-Germain
2015/16 Group stage Benfica Lisbon 11: 1 Galatasaray Istanbul
2016/17 2nd round 1 FC Salzburg 8: 1 FK Qairat Almaty
2017/18 Group stage real Madrid 10-0 APOEL Nicosia
2018/19 Group stage Chelsea FC 10: 1 Molde FK
2019/20 1 round ÍA Akranes 12: 1 FC Levadia Tallinn
1 since 2015/16

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c FC Red Bull Salzburg is listed as FC Salzburg by UEFA.
  2. ↑ a b UEFA Youth League comes in 2013/14. In: uefa.com. UEFA , December 7, 2012, accessed June 6, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Format of the UEFA Youth League renewed. In: uefa.com. UEFA , September 18, 2014, accessed September 18, 2014 .