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2019–20 UEFA Youth League

International football competition From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2019–20 UEFA Youth League was the seventh season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.

Dates17 September 2019 – 25 August 2020
Teams64 (from 41 associations)
ChampionsSpain Real Madrid (1st title)
Runners-upPortugal Benfica
Quick facts Tournament details, Dates ...
2019–20 UEFA Youth League
The Colovray Stadium in Nyon hosted the final.
Tournament details
Dates17 September 2019 – 25 August 2020
Teams64 (from 41 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Real Madrid (1st title)
Runners-upPortugal Benfica
Tournament statistics
Matches played167
Goals scored554 (3.32 per match)
Top scorer(s)Italy Roberto Piccoli (Atalanta)
Portugal Gonçalo Ramos (Benfica)
8 goals each
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Following the round of 16, the competition was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[1][2] The final tournament consisting of the semi-finals and final, originally scheduled to be played on 17 and 20 April 2020 at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland, were officially postponed on 18 March 2020.[3] On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced that the remaining matches, including two round of 16 matches, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, would be played between 16 and 25 August at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland behind closed doors.[4][5][6]

Real Madrid defeated Benfica in the final 3–2 to win their first title.[7] Porto were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Red Bull Salzburg in the play-offs.

Teams

A total of 64 teams from at least 32 of the 55 UEFA member associations could enter the tournament. They were split into two sections, each with 32 teams:[8]

  • UEFA Champions League Path: The youth teams of the 32 clubs which qualified for the 2019–20 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 2018 UEFA country coefficients entered the Domestic Champions Path.[9] 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.

For this season, 41 associations were represented, with Estonia being represented for the first time.[10]

More information Rank, Association ...
Qualified teams for 2019–20 UEFA Youth League
Rank Association Teams
UEFA Champions League Path Domestic Champions Path
1  Spain Zaragoza (2018–19 División de Honor Juvenil U-19)[11]
2  England Derby County (2018–19 U18 Premier League)[12]
3  Italy
4  Germany
5  France Rennes (2018–19 Championnat National U19)[15]
6  Russia
7  Portugal Benfica Porto[TH] (2018–19 Campeonato Nacional Juniores S19)[17]
8  Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk Dynamo Kyiv (2018–19 Ukrainian U19 League)[18]
9  Belgium
10  Turkey Galatasaray[YC] (2019 U19 Süper Kupa)[20]
11  Austria Red Bull Salzburg[YC] (2018–19 Jugendliga U18)[21]
12  Switzerland Young Boys (2018–19 Swiss U18 League)[22]
13  Czech Republic Slavia Prague[PO][YC] (2018–19 Czech U19 League)[23]
14  Netherlands Ajax[PO][YC] (2018–19 Eredivisie U19)[24]
15  Greece Olympiacos[PO] PAOK (2018–19 Superleague K19)[25]
16  Croatia Dinamo Zagreb[PO][YC] (2018–19 1. HNL Juniori U19)[26]
17  Denmark Midtjylland (2018–19 U19 Ligaen)[27]
18  Israel Maccabi Petah Tikva (2018–19 Israeli Noar Premier League)[28]
19  Cyprus APOEL (2018–19 Cypriot U19 League)[29]
20  Romania Viitorul Constanța (2018–19 Liga Elitelor U19)[30]
21  Poland Korona Kielce (2018–19 Polish U18 Central Junior League)[31]
22  Sweden IF Elfsborg (2018 Swedish U17 League)[32]
23  Azerbaijan Gabala (2018–19 Azerbaijani U19 League)[33]
24  Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad (2018–19 U18 BFU Cup)[34]
25  Serbia Red Star Belgrade[PO] Brodarac (2018–19 Serbian U19 League)[35]
26  Scotland Rangers (2018–19 Scottish U18 League)[36]
27  Belarus Minsk (2018–19 Belarusian U18 League)[37][Note BLR]
28  Kazakhstan Astana (2018 Kazakhstani U17 League)[38]
29  Norway Sogndal (2018 Norwegian U19 Cup)[39]
30  Slovenia Domžale (2018–19 Slovenian U19 League)[40]
32  Slovakia Slovan Bratislava (2018–19 Slovak U19 League)[41]
33  Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol[V-LIE] (2018–19 Divizia Națională U19)[42]
34  Albania Shkëndija Tiranë[V-YC] (2018–19 Albanian U19 League)[43]
35  Iceland ÍA[V-YC] (2018 Icelandic U19 League)[44]
36  Hungary MTK Budapest[V-YC] (2018–19 Hungarian U19 League)[45]
37  North Macedonia Shkëndija[V-YC] (2018–19 Macedonian U19 League)[46]
38  Finland Honka[V-YC] (2018 U17 B-Junior League)[47]
39  Republic of Ireland Bohemians[V-YC] (2018 League of Ireland U19 Division)[48]
40  Bosnia and Herzegovina Zrinjski Mostar[V-PO] (2018–19 Bosnia and Herzegovina U19 Junior League)[49]
41  Latvia Liepāja[V-PO] (2018 Latvian U18 League)[50]
42  Estonia FCI Levadia[V-PO] (2018 Estonian U19 League)[51]
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Notes
  1. YC Teams playing in the UEFA Champions League Path which were also youth domestic champions.
  2. PO Teams playing in the UEFA Champions League Path after their senior team qualified for the Champions League group stage via play-offs.
  3. V-LIE Team playing in the Domestic Champions Path through the vacancy of Liechtenstein (no youth domestic competition).
  4. V-YC Teams playing in the Domestic Champions Path through the vacancies of teams which qualified for the Champions League group stage automatically.
  5. V-PO Teams playing in the Domestic Champions Path through the vacancy of teams which qualified for the Champions League group stage via play-offs.
  6. ^
    Belarus (BLR): The Belarusian youth domestic champions RGUOR did not meet the entry criteria, so the berth was given to the runners-up Minsk.[52]
More information Rank, Association ...
Associations without any participating teams
(no teams qualified for UEFA Champions League group stage, and either with no youth domestic competition or not ranked high enough for a vacancy)
Rank Association
31  Liechtenstein
43  Lithuania
44  Montenegro
45  Georgia
46  Armenia
Rank Association
47  Malta
48  Luxembourg
49  Northern Ireland
50  Wales
51  Faroe Islands
Rank Association
52  Gibraltar
53  Andorra
54  San Marino
55  Kosovo
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Squads

Teams could name a squad of no more than forty players. A maximum of five players could be born between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2000, with no more than three of these players in a matchday squad, while the remainder had to be born on or after 1 January 2001.[8]

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).[10][5]

  • 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.
  • For the play-offs, round of 16 and quarter-finals, in principle matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays of the matchdays as scheduled; however, matches could also be played on other dates, provided they were completed before the following dates:
    • Play-offs: 13 February 2020
    • Round of 16: 6 March 2020
    • Quarter-finals: 20 March 2020

The competition was suspended on 17 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[2] The final tournament consisting of the semi-finals and final, originally scheduled to be played on 17 and 20 April 2020 at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland, wad officially postponed on 18 March 2020.[3] A working group was set up by UEFA to decide the calendar of the remainder of the season,[53] with the final decision made at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 17 June 2020.[54][4]

More information Phase, Round ...
Schedule for 2019–20 UEFA Youth League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
UEFA Champions League Path
Group stage
Matchday 1 29 August 2019
(Monaco)
17–18 September 2019
Matchday 2 1–2 October 2019
Matchday 3 22–23 October 2019
Matchday 4 5–6 November 2019
Matchday 5 26–27 November 2019
Matchday 6 10–11 December 2019
Domestic Champions Path First round 3 September 2019 2 October 2019 23 October 2019
Second round 6 November 2019 27 November 2019
Knockout phase Knockout round play-offs 16 December 2019 11–12 February 2020
Round of 16 14 February 2020 3–4 March 2020
10 March 2020[a]
16 August 2020 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon[b]
Quarter-finals 18–19 August 2020 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon[c]
Semi-finals 22 August 2020 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon[d]
Final 25 August 2020 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon[e]
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  1. One round of 16 match postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  2. Two round of 16 matches postponed and relocated due to COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  3. Quarter-finals originally scheduled for 17–18 March 2020, but postponed and relocated due to COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  4. Semi-finals originally scheduled for 17 April 2020, but postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  5. Final originally scheduled for 20 April 2020, but postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

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 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage, which was held on 29 August 2019, 18:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.[55]

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 were joined by the eight second round winners from the Domestic Champions Path. The matchdays were 17–18 September, 1–2 October, 22–23 October, 5–6 November, 26–27 November, and 10–11 December 2019.

More information Tiebreakers ...
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Group A

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RMA BRU PAR GAL
1 Spain Real Madrid 6 4 1 1 16 10 +6 13 Round of 16 — 3–0 6–3 2–4
2 Belgium Club Brugge 6 3 1 2 12 9 +3 10 Play-offs 2–2 — 2–0 3–2
3 France Paris Saint-Germain 6 2 0 4 10 15 −5 6[a] 1–2 0–4 — 1–0
4 Turkey Galatasaray 6 2 0 4 9 13 −4 6[a] 0–1 2–1 1–5 —
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Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked on head-to-head points: Paris Saint-Germain 6, Galatasaray 0.

Group B

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAY RSB TOT OLY
1 Germany Bayern Munich 6 4 2 0 18 2 +16 14 Round of 16 — 0–0 3–0 6–0
2 Serbia Red Star Belgrade 6 3 2 1 8 11 −3 11 Play-offs 1–1 — 2–0 2–1
3 England Tottenham Hotspur 6 2 1 3 12 12 0 7 1–4 9–2 — 1–0
4 Greece Olympiacos 6 0 1 5 2 15 −13 1 0–4 0–1 1–1 —
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Source: UEFA

Group C

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ATA DZG MCI SHK
1 Italy Atalanta 6 4 1 1 10 5 +5 13 Round of 16 — 2–0 1–0 2–2
2 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 6 3 2 1 6 5 +1 11 Play-offs 1–0 — 1–0 1–0
3 England Manchester City 6 2 1 3 11 8 +3 7 1–3 2–2 — 5–0
4 Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 6 0 2 4 5 14 −9 2 1–2 1–1 1–3 —
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Source: UEFA

Group D

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification JUV ATM LEV LMO
1 Italy Juventus 6 5 0 1 17 4 +13 15 Round of 16 — 2–1 4–1 1–2
2 Spain Atlético Madrid 6 4 0 2 11 8 +3 12 Play-offs 0–4 — 2–0 3–0
3 Germany Bayer Leverkusen 6 1 1 4 6 16 −10 4[a] 0–5 0–2 — 2–2
4 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 6 1 1 4 7 13 −6 4[a] 0–1 2–3 1–3 —
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Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked on head-to-head points: Bayer Leverkusen 4, Lokomotiv Moscow 1.

Group E

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LIV SAL GNK NAP
1 England Liverpool 6 4 1 1 17 6 +11 13 Round of 16 — 4–2 0–1 7–0
2 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 6 3 1 2 19 11 +8 10 Play-offs 2–3 — 1–1 7–2
3 Belgium Genk 6 2 2 2 5 6 −1 8 0–2 0–2 — 3–1
4 Italy Napoli 6 0 2 4 5 23 −18 2 1–1 1–5 0–0 —
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Source: UEFA

Group F

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification INT DOR SLP BAR
1 Italy Inter Milan 6 4 0 2 15 7 +8 12[a] Round of 16 — 4–1 4–0 2–0
2 Germany Borussia Dortmund 6 4 0 2 12 9 +3 12[a] Play-offs 2–1 — 5–1 2–1
3 Czech Republic Slavia Prague 6 3 0 3 9 16 −7 9 4–1 1–0 — 0–4
4 Spain Barcelona 6 1 0 5 8 12 −4 3 0–3 1–2 2–3 —
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Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Tied on head-to-head points (3). Ranked on head-to-head goal difference: Inter Milan +2, Borussia Dortmund −2.

Group G

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BEN LYO RBL ZEN
1 Portugal Benfica 6 5 0 1 17 6 +11 15 Round of 16 — 1–2 2–1 1–0
2 France Lyon 6 4 0 2 13 10 +3 12 Play-offs 2–3 — 1–0 4–2
3 Germany RB Leipzig 6 1 1 4 5 10 −5 4[a] 0–3 1–3 — 1–1
4 Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg 6 1 1 4 7 16 −9 4[a] 1–7 3–1 0–2 —
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Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked on head-to-head points: RB Leipzig 4, Zenit Saint Petersburg 1.

Group H

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AJX LIL CHE VAL
1 Netherlands Ajax 6 3 2 1 13 7 +6 11 Round of 16 — 4–0 0–1 1–1
2 France Lille 6 3 1 2 7 8 −1 10 Play-offs 1–2 — 2–0 1–0
3 England Chelsea 6 1 3 2 7 9 −2 6 1–1 1–1 — 3–3
4 Spain Valencia 6 1 2 3 10 13 −3 5 3–5 1–2 2–1 —
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Source: UEFA

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 3 September 2019, 14:00 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[56] There were no seedings, but the 32 teams were split into groups defined by sporting and geographical criteria prior to the draw.

In both rounds, if the aggregate score was tied after full-time of the second leg, the away goals rule was used to decide the winner. If still tied, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played). The eight second round winners advanced to the play-offs, where they were joined by the eight group runners-up from the UEFA Champions League Path (group stage).[8]

First round

The first legs were played on 2, 3, 5 and 9 October, and the second legs were played from 22–24 October 2019.

Notes:
  1. Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Second round

The first legs were played on 4 and 6 November, and the second legs were played from 26–27 November and 4 December 2019.

More information Team 1, Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score ...
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Knockout phase

The draw for the round of 16 onwards was held on 14 February 2020, 13:00 CET (UTC+1), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[57] The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:

  • In the draw for the round of 16, there were no seedings, and the sixteen teams (eight UEFA Champions League Path group winners and eight play-off winners) were drawn into eight ties. Teams from the same UEFA Champions League Path group could not be drawn against each other, but teams from the same association could be drawn against each other. The draw also decided the home team for each round of 16 match.
  • In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same UEFA Champions League Path group or the same association could be drawn against each other (the identity of the quarter-final winners and onwards was not known at the time of the draws). The draws also decided the home team for each quarter-final, and which quarter-final and semi-final winners were designated as the "home" team for each semi-final and final (for administrative purposes as they were played at a neutral venue).

Each tie was played over a single match. If the score was level after full-time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).[8]

Bracket

Knockout round play-offsRound of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
                  
Germany Bayern Munich2 (5)
Croatia Dinamo Zagreb (p)2 (6)
Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv0 (3)
18 August – Nyon
Croatia Dinamo Zagreb (p)0 (4)
Croatia Dinamo Zagreb1
Portugal Benfica3
Portugal Benfica4
England Liverpool1
22 August – Nyon
Portugal Benfica3
Netherlands Ajax0
Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol0 (2)
Serbia Red Star Belgrade (p)0 (4)
Serbia Red Star Belgrade0
Denmark Midtjylland3
Denmark Midtjylland (p)1 (7)
18 August – Nyon
France Lille1 (6)
Denmark Midtjylland1
Netherlands Ajax3
Netherlands Ajax (p)0 (6)
Spain Atlético Madrid0 (5)
Scotland Rangers0
25 August – Nyon
Spain Atlético Madrid4
Portugal Benfica2
Spain Real Madrid3
Portugal Porto1 (6)
Austria Red Bull Salzburg (p)1 (7)
Austria Red Bull Salzburg4
England Derby County1
England Derby County3
19 August – Nyon
Germany Borussia Dortmund1
Austria Red Bull Salzburg4
France Lyon3
Italy Atalanta3 (3)
France Lyon (p)3 (5)
Spain Zaragoza1
22 August – Nyon
France Lyon3
Austria Red Bull Salzburg1
Spain Real Madrid2
Italy Inter Milan1
France Rennes0
France Rennes (p)1 (5)
19 August – Nyon
Belgium Club Brugge1 (3)
Italy Inter Milan0
Spain Real Madrid3
Italy Juventus1
Spain Real Madrid3

Knockout round play-offs

The draw for the knockout round play-offs was held on 16 December 2019, 14:00 CET (UTC+1), at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[58] 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. Each tie was played over a single match. If the score was level after full-time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).[8] The matches were played on 11 and 12 February 2020. The eight play-off winners advanced to the round of 16, where they were joined by the eight group winners from the UEFA Champions League Path.

Round of 16

Six of the eight round of 16 matches were played on 3, 4 and 10 March 2020, while the remaining two matches could not be played as scheduled due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[1] They were rescheduled to 16 August 2020 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[59]

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals, originally scheduled to be played on 17 and 18 March 2020, were postponed due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[60][1] They were rescheduled to 18 and 19 August 2020 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[59]

More information Team 1, Score ...
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Semi-finals

The semi-finals, originally scheduled to be played on 17 April 2020 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon, were postponed due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. They were rescheduled to 22 August 2020.[59]

More information Team 1, Score ...
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Final

The final, originally scheduled to be played on 20 April 2020 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon, was postponed due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. It was rescheduled to 25 August 2020.[59]

More information Benfica, 2–3 ...
Benfica Portugal2–3Spain Real Madrid
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Statistics

Top goalscorers

There were 554 goals scored in 167 matches, for an average of 3.32 goals per match.[62]

More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player Team Goals
GS DC KO Total
1 Italy Roberto Piccoli Italy Atalanta 6—2 8
Portugal Gonçalo Ramos Portugal Benfica 2—6
3 Austria Chukwubuike Adamu Austria Red Bull Salzburg 1—5 6
Republic of Ireland Troy Parrott England Tottenham Hotspur 6——
Croatia Luka Sučić Austria Red Bull Salzburg 4—2
6 France Rayan Cherki France Lyon 4—1 5
Portugal Tiago Dantas Portugal Benfica 3—2
England Curtis Jones England Liverpool 5—0
Netherlands Youri Regeer Netherlands Ajax 5—0
England Morgan Whittaker England Derby County —50
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Notes
  • — denotes the team did not participate in this stage.

Notes

  1. The remainder of the competition, held in August 2020, was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[61]

References

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