2023–24 UEFA Youth League
The Colovray Stadium in Nyon will host the semi-finals and the final.
Tournament details
Dates19 September 2023 – 22 April 2024
Teams64 (from 35 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played143
Goals scored425 (2.97 per match)
Attendance149,831 (1,048 per match)
Top scorer(s)Anhá Candé (Porto)
Amin Chiakha (Copenhagen)
Yannick Eduardo (RB Leipzig)
5 goals each

The 2023–24 UEFA Youth League is the tenth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.

The title holders are AZ, who defeated Hajduk Split 5–0 in the final.

Teams

A total of 64 teams from 35 of the 55 UEFA member associations 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 2023–24 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 2023 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.

Antwerp, Dinamo Minsk, Famalicão, İstanbul Başakşehir, Klaipėdos, Lazio, Lecce, Lens, Mainz, Newcastle, Pafos, Partizan, Sarajevo, Union Berlin, and Universitatea Craiova made their tournament debuts.[1]

Qualified teams for 2023–24 UEFA Youth League[1]
Rank Association Teams
UEFA Champions League Path Domestic Champions Path
1  England
2  Spain
3  Italy
Lecce (2022–23 Campionato Primavera 1)
4  Germany
Mainz 05 (2022–23 A-Junioren-Bundesliga)
5  France
Nantes (2022–23 Championnat National U19)
6  Portugal
Famalicão (2022–23 Campeonato Nacional Juniores S19)
7  Netherlands
AZ[TH][V-RUS]
8  Austria Red Bull Salzburg[YC] (2022–23 Jugendliga U18)[3]
9  Scotland Celtic Hamilton Academical (2022–23 Scottish U18 League)
11  Serbia Red Star Belgrade Partizan (2022–23 Serbian U19 League)
12  Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk Rukh Lviv (2022–23 Ukrainian Premier League Under-19)
13  Belgium Antwerp[PO] Gent (2022–23 Belgian U18 League)
14  Switzerland Young Boys[PO] Basel (2022–23 Swiss U18 League)
15  Greece Olympiacos (2022–23 Superleague K19)
16  Czech Republic Sparta Prague (2022–23 Czech U19 League)
17  Norway Molde (2022 Norwegian U19 Cup)
18  Denmark Copenhagen[PO] Midtjylland (2022–23 U19 Ligaen)
19  Croatia Dinamo Zagreb (2022–23 1. HNL Juniori U19)
20  Turkey Galatasaray[PO] İstanbul Başakşehir (2022–23 U19 Elit)
21  Cyprus Pafos (2022–23 Cypriot U19 League)
22  Israel Maccabi Haifa (2022–23 Israeli U19 Noar Premier League)
23  Sweden Malmö FF (2022 P17 Allsvenskan)
24  Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad (2022–23 U18 BFU Cup)
25  Romania Universitatea Craiova (2022–23 Liga de Tineret)
26  Azerbaijan Gabala (2022–23 Azerbaijani U19 League)
27  Hungary Puskás Akadémia (2022–23 Hungarian U19 League)
28  Poland Lech Poznań (2022–23 Polish U18 Central Junior League)
29  Kazakhstan Turan (2022 Kazakhstani U17 League)
30  Slovakia Žilina (2022–23 Slovak U19 League)
31  Slovenia Maribor (2022–23 Slovenian U19 League)
32  Belarus Dinamo Minsk (2022 Belarusian U18 League)
33  Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol[V-YC] (2022–23 Divizia Națională U19)
34  Lithuania Klaipėdos[V-YC] (2022 Lithuanian Elite Youth League U19 Division)
35  Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo[V-YC] (2022–23 Bosnia and Herzegovina U19 Junior League)
36  Finland HJK[V-PO] (2022 U17 B-Junior League)
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)
Rank Association
10  Russia[Note RUS]
37  Luxembourg
38  Latvia
39  Kosovo
40  Republic of Ireland
41  Armenia
42  Northern Ireland
Rank Association
43  Albania
44  Faroe Islands
45  Estonia
46  Malta
47  Georgia
48  North Macedonia
49  Liechtenstein
Rank Association
50  Wales
51  Gibraltar
52  Iceland
53  Montenegro
54  Andorra
55  San Marino
Notes
  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-RUS Team playing in the Domestic Champions Path through the vacancy of Russia (excluded from UEFA competitions).
  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. ^
    Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4] The tables reflect Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA competitions.[5]

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[6]

  • For the UEFA Champions League Path group stage, in principle the teams play 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 are 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 2023–24 UEFA Youth League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
UEFA Champions League Path
Group stage		 Matchday 1 31 August 2023 19–20 September 2023
Matchday 2 3–4 October 2023
Matchday 3 24–25 October 2023
Matchday 4 7–8 November 2023
Matchday 5 28–29 November 2023
Matchday 6 12–13 December 2023
Domestic Champions Path First round 5 September 2023 4 October 2023 25 October 2023
Second round 8 November 2023 29 November 2023
Knockout phase Play-offs 19 December 2023 6–7 February 2024
Round of 16 9 February 2024 27–28 February 2024
Quarter-finals 12–13 March 2024
Semi-finals 19 April 2024 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon
Final 22 April 2024 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 2023–24 UEFA Champions League group stage, which was held on 31 August 2023.[7]

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

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CPH BAY GAL MUN
1 Denmark Copenhagen 6 4 1 1 18 7 +11 13 Advance to round of 16 — 3–2 6–0 2–2
2 Germany Bayern Munich 6 4 0 2 11 7 +4 12 Advance to play-offs 2–1 — 2–1 2–0
3 Turkey Galatasaray 6 2 0 4 5 17 −12 6 1–5 2–1 — 1–0
4 England Manchester United 6 1 1 4 5 8 −3 4 0–1 0–2 3–0 —
Source: UEFA

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LEN SEV PSV ARS
1 France Lens 6 4 1 1 7 4 +3 13 Advance to round of 16 — 1–1 2–1 1–0
2 Spain Sevilla 6 2 3 1 6 5 +1 9 Advance to play-offs 0–1 — 1–0 2–1
3 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 6 2 1 3 7 8 −1 7 2–0 1–1 — 1–3
4 England Arsenal 6 1 1 4 6 9 −3 4 0–2 1–1 1–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RMA BRA NAP UNB
1 Spain Real Madrid 6 4 2 0 14 1 +13 14 Advance to round of 16 — 0–0 6–0 2–1
2 Portugal Braga 6 3 3 0 8 3 +5 12 Advance to play-offs 0–0 — 1–0 1–0
3 Italy Napoli 6 1 1 4 4 17 −13 4 0–4 2–2 — 1–0
4 Germany Union Berlin 6 1 0 5 6 11 −5 3 0–2 1–4 4–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SAL INT BEN RSO
1 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 6 4 2 0 16 8 +8 14 Advance to round of 16 — 1–1 4–2 5–2
2 Italy Inter Milan 6 1 4 1 9 9 0 7 Advance to play-offs 2–3 — 1–1 1–0
3 Portugal Benfica 6 1 3 2 8 10 −2 6 1–1 1–1 — 2–1
4 Spain Real Sociedad 6 1 1 4 8 14 −6 4 0–2 3–3 2–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FEY ATM LAZ CEL
1 Netherlands Feyenoord 6 4 1 1 13 7 +6 13 Advance to round of 16 — 0–1 2–2 3–0
2 Spain Atlético Madrid 6 4 0 2 10 3 +7 12 Advance to play-offs 1–2 — 0–1 4–0
3 Italy Lazio 6 1 2 3 5 10 −5 5 1–3 0–2 — 0–2
4 Scotland Celtic 6 1 1 4 5 13 −8 4 2–3 0–2 1–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MIL DOR NEW PAR
1 Italy Milan 6 4 0 2 14 8 +6 12 Advance to round of 16 — 4–1 4–0 3–2
2 Germany Borussia Dortmund 6 3 1 2 9 9 0 10 Advance to play-offs 1–2 — 2–2 2–0
3 England Newcastle United 6 2 1 3 8 11 −3 7 3–1 1–2 — 0–1
4 France Paris Saint-Germain 6 2 0 4 5 8 −3 6 1–0 0–1 1–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group G

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MCI RBL CZV YB
1 England Manchester City 6 4 2 0 17 6 +11 14 Advance to round of 16 — 2–1 5–2 3–0
2 Germany RB Leipzig 6 3 2 1 8 5 +3 11 Advance to play-offs 1–1 — 2–1 0–0
3 Serbia Red Star Belgrade 6 1 1 4 8 13 −5 4[lower-alpha 1] 2–2 0–1 — 2–1
4 Switzerland Young Boys 6 1 1 4 4 13 −9 4[lower-alpha 1] 0–4 1–3 2–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Tied on head-to head record.

Group H

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification POR BAR SHK ANT
1 Portugal Porto 6 5 0 1 17 5 +12 15[lower-alpha 1] Advance to round of 16 — 0–2 2–0 3–1
2 Spain Barcelona 6 5 0 1 12 5 +7 15[lower-alpha 1] Advance to play-offs 0–4 — 2–0 2–1
3 Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 6 2 0 4 6 13 −7 6 1–4 0–3 — 3–1
4 Belgium Antwerp 6 0 0 6 5 17 −12 0 1–4 0–3 1–2 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head points: Porto 3, Barcelona 3. Head-to-head goal difference: Porto +2, Barcelona –2.

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 5 September 2023.

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

First round

The first legs were played on 3 and 4 October and the second legs were played on 8, 24, and 25 October 2023.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Lech Poznań Poland 1–1 (2–4 p) France Nantes 1–1 0–0
Pafos Cyprus 0–6 Slovakia Žilina 0–1 0–5
Rukh Lviv Ukraine 4–2 Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo 1–1 3–1
Sparta Prague Czech Republic 1–1 (w/o)[note 1] Israel Maccabi Haifa 1–1 Cancelled
AZ Netherlands 14–0 Lithuania Klaipėda 12–0 2–0
Malmö FF Sweden 3–5 Finland HJK 1–4 2–1
Molde Norway 5–4 Scotland Hamilton Academical 3–0 2–4
Famalicão Portugal 2–2 (6–7 p) Denmark Midtjylland 2–2 0–0
Turan Kazakhstan 0–6 Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol 0–1 0–5
Universitatea Craiova Romania 0–5 Serbia Partizan 0–1 0–4
Olympiacos Greece 6–2 Italy Lecce 3–1 3–1
Dinamo Minsk Belarus 2–1 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad 0–1 2–0
Maribor Slovenia 1–3 Germany Mainz 05 0–2 1–1
Gent Belgium 0–3 Switzerland Basel 0–1 0–2
Dinamo Zagreb Croatia 5–2 Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir 2–1 3–1
Gabala Azerbaijan 2–1 Hungary Puskás Akadémia 1–1 1–0
Notes
  1. ↑ Due to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Maccabi Haifa withdrew from the competition.[8]

Second round

The first legs were played on 7, 8, and 29 November and the second legs were played on 22, 28, 29 November, and 3 December 2023.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Rukh Lviv Ukraine 1–4 Denmark Midtjylland 0–4 1–0
Nantes France 1–1 (4–3 p) Finland HJK 1–0 0–1
Molde Norway 3–6 Netherlands AZ 3–4 0–2
Sparta Prague Czech Republic 6–6 (2–4 p) Slovakia Žilina 2–2 4–4
Basel Switzerland 2–0 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 2–0 0–0
Gabala Azerbaijan 0–7 Greece Olympiacos 0–3 0–4
Mainz 05 Germany 3–2 Belarus Dinamo Minsk 1–1 2–1
Sheriff Tiraspol Moldova 4–5 Serbia Partizan 2–0 2–5

Knockout phase

Bracket

Play-offsRound of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
                  
7 February
Switzerland Basel
February
Germany Bayern Munich
March
7 February
Serbia Partizan
February
Portugal Braga
19 April – Colovray Stadium
7 February
Greece Olympiacos
February
Italy Inter Milan
March
7 February
Slovakia Žilina
February
Germany Borussia Dortmund
22 April – Colovray Stadium
7 February
France Nantes
February
Spain Sevilla
March
6 February
Germany Mainz 05
February
Spain Barcelona
19 April – Colovray Stadium
6 February
Denmark Midtjylland
February
Germany RB Leipzig
March
7 February
Netherlands AZ
February
Spain Atlético Madrid

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 19 December 2023 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.[9] The play-offs will be played over one leg on 6 and 7 February 2024.[10]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Basel Switzerland 7 Feb Germany Bayern Munich
Partizan Serbia 7 Feb Portugal Braga
Olympiacos Greece 7 Feb Italy Inter Milan
Žilina Slovakia 7 Feb Germany Borussia Dortmund
Nantes France 7 Feb Spain Sevilla
Mainz 05 Germany 6 Feb Spain Barcelona
Midtjylland Denmark 6 Feb Germany RB Leipzig
AZ Netherlands 7 Feb Spain Atlético Madrid

Round of 16

The draw will be conducted on 9 February 2024 at 13:00 CET in the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The round of 16 will be played over one leg on 27 and 28 February 2024.[9]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
27–28 Feb
27–28 Feb
27–28 Feb
27–28 Feb
27–28 Feb
27–28 Feb
27–28 Feb
27–28 Feb

Quarter-finals

The draw will be conducted on 9 February 2024 at 13:00 CET in the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The quarter-finals will be played over one leg on 12 and 13 March 2024.[9]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
12–13 Mar
12–13 Mar
12–13 Mar
12–13 Mar

Semi-finals

The draw will be conducted on 9 February 2024 at 13:00 CET in the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The semi-finals will be played over one leg on 19 April 2024.[9]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
19 Apr
19 Apr

Final

The final will be played on 22 April 2024 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[9]

v

Top goalscorers

As of 13 December 2023
Rank[11]PlayerTeamGoalsMatches played
1 Portugal Anhá Candé Portugal Porto 5 6
Denmark Amin Chiakha Denmark Copenhagen 6
Netherlands Yannick Eduardo Germany RB Leipzig 5
4 Spain Rayane Belid Spain Atlético Madrid 4 5
Spain Hugo De Llanos Spain Real Madrid 5
Denmark Adam Daghim Austria Red Bull Salzburg 6
Moldova Artiom Dijinari Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol 4
Portugal João Gonçalves Portugal Braga 5
Portugal Rodrigo Mora Portugal Porto 6
Greece Christos Mouzakitis Greece Olympiacos 4
Spain Adrián Niño Spain Atlético Madrid 6
Netherlands Julian Rijkhoff Germany Borussia Dortmund 6
England Kane Taylor England Manchester City 5
Slovakia Vladimír Vaľko Slovakia Žilina 3

References

  1. 1 2 "Which teams are in the 2023/24 Youth League?". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Man City secure fourth successive under-18 Premier League title with dominant win at Sunderland". manchestereveningnews.co.uk. Manchester Evening News. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Akademie-Ligen: So lief die Saison". laola1.at (in German). Laola1. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "Ukraine crisis: Fifa and Uefa suspend all Russian clubs and national teams". BBC.co.uk. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  5. ↑ "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs" (Press release). Nyon: UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "2023/24 UEFA Youth League dates, format". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "UEFA Champions League group stage draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  8. ↑ "European Qualifier match between Belgium and Sweden declared abandoned with half-time result confirmed as final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023. Due to the current situation, Maccabi Haifa Youth team has withdrawn its participation from the domestic champions path of this season's UEFA Youth League. UEFA has taken note and confirmed that AC Sparta Praha Youth team is therefore qualified to the Round 2 of the domestic champions path.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5
  10. ↑ "2023/24 UEFA Youth League play-off ties". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "UEFA Youth League – Top Scorers". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
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