UEFA Youth League

UEFA Youth League

Organising body	UEFA
Founded	2013;11 years ago (2013)
Region	Europe
Number of teams	64
Qualifier for	Under-20 Intercontinental Cup
Current champions	Olympiacos (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Barcelona Chelsea (2 titles each)
Website	uefa.com/uefayouthleague
2023–24 UEFA Youth League

The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League group stage, plus the domestic youth champions of the best-ranked national associations.

The semi-finals and final matches have been traditionally played at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland, although for the 2022–23 edition, they were moved to the Stade de Genève due to increased interest in the tournament from the supporters of the participating clubs. ^[1] The winners are awarded the Lennart Johansson Trophy, named in honour of the former UEFA president.

The most successful teams are Barcelona and Chelsea, with two titles each. Chelsea won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016, while Barcelona won the inaugural season of the competition and clinched their second trophy in 2018. The current champions are Greek side Olympiacos, who beat Milan 3–0 in the 2024 final.

History

In May 2010, UEFA organised a match, referred to as the "UEFA Under-18 Challenge", between the under-18 teams of Bayern Munich and Internazionale, three days prior to the UEFA Champions League Final between the respective senior sides. Internazionale won the match 2–0 with two goals from Denis Alibec. The match was part of "UEFA Grassroots Day", and acted as an inspiration for the UEFA Youth League. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

The teams in the first tournament, 2013–14 UEFA Youth League, played a group stage with the same composition and calendar as the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage, and was held on a 'trial basis'. ^[4]

The eight group-winners and eight runners-up from group stage then participated in a knockout phase. Unlike the UEFA Champions League, the knockout phase had single-leg ties, with the semi-finals and final played at neutral venues. ^[4]

British media commented that the competition was formed to displace the NextGen Series. ^{[5] [6]}

In April 2014, Barcelona became the first champion, beating Benfica by 3–0 in the final-four held in Nyon.

After a two-year trial period, the UEFA Youth League became a permanent UEFA competition starting from the 2015–16 season, with the tournament expanded from 32 to 64 teams to allow the youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations according to their UEFA country coefficients to also participate. The 32 UEFA Champions League group stage youth teams retain the group stage format, with the group winners advancing to the round of 16 and the runners-up advancing to the play-offs. The 32 youth domestic champions play two rounds of two-legged ties, with the eight winners advancing to the play-offs, where they play a single match at home against the Champions League path runners-up. The round of 16 onwards retain the same format of single-leg ties as before. ^[7]

From the 2024–25 season onwards, the format of the UEFA Youth League will change to accommodate the changes to be seen in the UEFA Champions League, with some differences: ^[8]

• The new 36 team group stage for the Champions League path will only mirror the first 6 matchdays of the senior competition, with the top 22 teams making the knockout stage
• The domestic champions path will be expanded to three rounds, with the remaining 10 clubs facing the teams ranked 7th to 16th in the group stage (The top 6 from the Champions League path will face the teams ranked 17th to 22nd)
• The Youth League champions from the previous season qualify for the domestic champions path unless their senior team makes the Champions League group stage, in which case they will participate in the Champions League path

Finals

List of UEFA Youth League finals

Ed.	Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Losing semi-finalists		Venue
1	2013–14	Barcelona	3–0	Benfica	Real Madrid and Schalke 04		Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland
2	2014–15	Chelsea	3–2	Shakhtar Donetsk	Anderlecht and Roma		Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland
3	2015–16	Chelsea	2–1	Paris Saint-Germain	Anderlecht and Real Madrid		Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland
4	2016–17	Red Bull Salzburg	2–1	Benfica	Barcelona and Real Madrid		Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland
5	2017–18	Barcelona	3–0	Chelsea	Manchester City and Porto		Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland
6	2018–19	Porto	3–1	Chelsea	Barcelona and 1899 Hoffenheim		Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland
7	2019–20	Real Madrid	3–2	Benfica	Ajax and Red Bull Salzburg		Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland
–	2020–21	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
8	2021–22	Benfica	6–0	Red Bull Salzburg	Atlético Madrid and Juventus		Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland
9	2022–23	AZ	5–0	Hajduk Split	Milan and Sporting CP		Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
10	2023–24	Olympiacos	3–0	Milan	Nantes and Porto		Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland

Winners

By club

List of winners by club

Club	Titles	Runners-up	Years won	Years runner-up
Chelsea	2	2	2015, 2016	2018, 2019
Barcelona	2	0	2014, 2018	—
Benfica	1	3	2022	2014, 2017, 2020
Red Bull Salzburg	1	1	2017	2022
Porto	1	0	2019	—
Real Madrid	1	0	2020	—
AZ	1	0	2023	—
Olympiacos	1	0	2024	—
Shakhtar Donetsk	0	1	—	2015
Paris Saint-Germain	0	1	—	2016
Hajduk Split	0	1	—	2023
Milan	0	1	—	2024

By country

List of winners by country

Country	Winners	Runners-up	Years won	Years runner-up
Spain	3	0	2014, 2018, 2020	—
Portugal	2	3	2019, 2022	2014, 2017, 2020
England	2	2	2015, 2016	2018, 2019
Austria	1	1	2017	2022
Netherlands	1	0	2023	—
Greece	1	0	2024	—
Ukraine	0	1	—	2015
France	0	1	—	2016
Croatia	0	1	—	2023
Italy	0	1	—	2024

References

1. "UEFA Youth League finals moved to Stade de Genève | UEFA Youth League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
2. "Young stars take centre stage". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 May 2010. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
3. "Inter take Under-18 honours". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 May 2010. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
4. "UEFA Youth League club competition launched". UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 7 December 2012. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
5. Herbert, Ian (17 September 2013). "Comment: Brilliant NextGen series sadly sidelined in favour of Uefa Youth Cup". The Independent. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
6. Twomey, Liam (14 April 2014). "NextGen eyes comeback as Uefa Youth League celebrates finale". goal.com. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
7. "UEFA Youth League retained and expanded". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
8. "UEFA Youth League: New format from 2024/25". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.

External links

• Official website