UEFA Youth League

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Channels licensed to broadcast UEFA Youth League in United States

Benfica TV International » Seasons 2021-2024

The UEFA Youth League is an annual club competition that began in 2013 and is run by European football’s governing body. The tournament is contested by U-19 teams and is the younger sibling of the UEFA Champions League.

A total of 64 teams participate in this competition, 32 of which are the U-19 sides of teams contesting in the Champions League group stage in that same season. The other 32 qualify for the UEFA Youth League via the Domestic Champions Path. The youth domestic champions from the top 32 associations according to the UEFA country coefficients from the previous year enter the competition through this path. If the domestic youth champions of one of the 32 top associations already qualified via the Champions League Path, this vacancy is filled firstly by the defending UEFA Youth League champions, should they fail to qualify, followed by the next association as per UEFA’s rankings.

The 32 teams from the Champions League Path are drawn into eight groups of four, with the composition being identical to that of the UEFA Champions League draw of that same season. As expected, each team faces every other side in their group twice – both home and away – for a total of six group-stage Matchdays. The teams typically play on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On top of that, they often play on the same day as their respective senior teams.

As for the Domestic Champions Path, the teams must first go through two rounds of two-legged home-and-away ties. The match-ups are decided via a draw. After these two rounds are completed, the eight remaining teams from the Domestic Champions Path then enter a playoff against the eight group runners-up from the Champions League Path in a one-off tie. The Domestic Champions Path clubs are awarded the home advantage while a draw decides the match-ups. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other, and if the game ends in a tie, it heads straight for penalty shootouts.

After this comes the round of 16, where the eight playoff winners are joined by the eight Champions League Path group winners. This round, the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final are all single matches. For the last 16, teams from the same association and path can be drawn against each other but not teams from the same Champions League Path group. As for the quarter-finals, teams from the same association, same path, and same Champions League Path group can face off. Additionally, the draw decides which team hosts their respective fixture in the last 16 and last eight. The semi-finals and final are played at neutral venues.