2022–23 UEFA Youth League

The 2022–23 UEFA Youth League was the ninth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.

2022–23 UEFA Youth League
The Stade de Genève in Geneva hosted the semi-finals and final
Tournament details
Dates6 September 2022 – 24 April 2023
Teams64 (from 39 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsNetherlands AZ (1st title)
Runners-upCroatia Hajduk Split
Tournament statistics
Matches played167
Goals scored575 (3.44 per match)
Top scorer(s)Bilal Mazhar (Panathinaikos)
Mexx Meerdink (AZ)
9 goals each

The title holders were Benfica, who defeated Salzburg 6–0 in the previous season's final. Benfica were eliminated in the group stage, while AZ won their first title by beating Hajduk Split 5–0 in the final.

Teams

A total of 64 teams from 39 of the 55 UEFA member associations entered the tournament. They were split into two sections, each with 32 teams.

  • UEFA Champions League Path: The youth teams of the 32 clubs which qualified for the 2022–23 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 2022 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.

Apolonia, Ashdod, Borac Banja Luka, Coleraine, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hibernian, Jelgava, Nantes, Omonia, Pobeda, Pyunik, Racing Union, Rukh Lviv, Shamrock Rovers, Trenčín and Zagłębie Lubin made their tournament debuts. Armenia and Northern Ireland were represented for the first time.[1]

Qualified teams for 2022–23 UEFA Youth League[1]
Rank Association Teams
UEFA Champions League Path Domestic Champions Path
1  England
2  Spain
3  Italy
4  Germany
5  France Nantes (2021–22 Championnat National U19)
6  Portugal
7  Netherlands Ajax AZ (2021–22 Eredivisie U18)
9  Belgium Club Brugge Genk (2021–22 Belgian U18 League)
10  Austria Red Bull Salzburg[YC] (2021–22 Jugendliga U18)[6]
11  Scotland Hibernian (2021–22 Scottish U18 League)
12  Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk[Note UKR] Rukh Lviv[Note UKR] (2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League Youth)
13  Turkey Galatasaray (2021–22 U19 Elite)
14  Denmark Copenhagen[PO][YC] (2021–22 U19 Ligaen)
15  Cyprus Omonia (2021–22 Cypriot U19 League)
16  Serbia Red Star Belgrade (2021–22 Serbian U19 League)
17  Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň[PO] Slavia Prague (2021–22 Czech U19 League)
18  Croatia Dinamo Zagreb[PO] Hajduk Split (2021–22 1. HNL Juniori U19)
19  Switzerland Young Boys (2021–22 Swiss U18 League)
20  Greece Panathinaikos (2021–22 Superleague K19)
21  Israel Maccabi Haifa[PO] Ashdod (2021–22 Israeli U19 Noar Premier League)
22  Norway Molde (2021 Norwegian U19 Cup)
23  Sweden AIK (2021 P17 Allsvenskan)
24  Bulgaria Slavia Sofia (2021–22 U18 BFU Cup)
25  Romania Csíkszereda Miercurea Ciuc (2021–22 Liga Elitelor U19)
26  Azerbaijan Gabala (2021–22 Azerbaijani U19 League)
27  Kazakhstan Astana[Note KAZ] (2021 Kazakhstani U17 League)
28  Hungary MTK Budapest (2021–22 Hungarian U19 League)
30  Poland Zagłębie Lubin (2021–22 Polish U18 Central Junior League)
31  Slovenia Domžale (2021–22 Slovenian U19 League)
32  Slovakia Trenčín (2021–22 Slovak U19 League)
34  Lithuania Žalgiris[V-RUS] (2021 Lithuanian Elite Youth League U19 Division)
35  Luxembourg Racing Union[V-BLR] (2021–22 Luxembourg U19 Junior Championship)
36  Bosnia and Herzegovina Borac Banja Luka[V-YC] (2021–22 Bosnia and Herzegovina U19 Junior League)
37  Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers[V-YC] (2021 League of Ireland U19 Division)
38  North Macedonia Pobeda[V-YC] (2021–22 Macedonian U19 League)
39  Armenia Pyunik[V-YC] (2021 Armenian U18 League)
40  Latvia Jelgava[V-YC] (2021 Latvian U18 League)
41  Albania Apolonia[V-PO] (2021–22 Albanian U19 League)
42  Northern Ireland Coleraine[V-PO] (2021–22 Northern Ireland Academy League U18)
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
8  Russia[Note RUS]
29  Belarus
33  Liechtenstein
43  Georgia
44  Finland
45  Moldova
Rank Association
46  Malta
47  Faroe Islands
48  Kosovo
49  Gibraltar
50  Montenegro
Rank Association
51  Wales
52  Iceland
53  Estonia
54  Andorra
55  San Marino
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-RUS Team playing in the Domestic Champions Path through the vacancy of Russia (excluded from UEFA competitions).
  4. V-BLR Team playing in the Domestic Champions Path through the vacancy of Belarus.
  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 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] On 2 May 2022, UEFA confirmed that Russian clubs would be excluded from the 2022–23 UEFA competitions.[8]
  8. ^
    Ukraine (UKR): The 2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League and the 2021–22 Ukrainian U19 League were abandoned due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The top teams of the two leagues at the time of the abandonment (Shakhtar Donetsk and Rukh Lviv respectively) were selected to play in the 2022–23 UEFA Youth League by the Ukrainian Association of Football.
  9. ^
    Kazakhstan (KAZ): The 2021 Kazakhstan Youth Cup were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan. The top teams of the two leagues at the time of the abandonment. Astana, were selected to play in the 2022–23 UEFA Youth League by the Kazakhstan Football Federation.

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).[9]

  • 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.
Schedule for 2022–23 UEFA Youth League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
UEFA Champions League Path
Group stage
Matchday 1 25 August 2022 6–7 September 2022
Matchday 2 13–14 September 2022
Matchday 3 4–5 October 2022
Matchday 4 11–12 October 2022
Matchday 5 25–26 October 2022
Matchday 6 1–2 November 2022
Domestic Champions Path First round 31 August 2022 14 September 2022 5 October 2022
Second round 26 October 2022 2 November 2022
Knockout phase Play-offs 8 November 2022 7–8 February 2023
Round of 16 13 February 2023 28 February 2023 & 1 March
Quarter-finals 14–15 March 2023
Semi-finals 21 April 2023 at Stade de Genève, Geneva
Final 24 April 2023 at Stade de Genève, Geneva

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 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage, which was held on 25 August 2022, 18:00 CEST (19:00 TRT), in Istanbul, Turkey.[10]

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 LIV AJX RAN NAP
1 England Liverpool 6 5 0 1 20 8 +12 15 Advance to round of 16 4–0 4–1 5–0
2 Netherlands Ajax 6 4 1 1 17 10 +7 13 Advance to play-offs 3–1 2–1 5–1
3 Scotland Rangers 6 2 0 4 13 20 7 6 3–4 2–6 3–2
4 Italy Napoli 6 0 1 5 7 19 12 1 1–2 1–1 2–3
Source: UEFA

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ATM POR BRU LEV
1 Spain Atlético Madrid 6 5 0 1 14 4 +10 15 Advance to round of 16 1–0 1–2 4–0
2 Portugal Porto 6 4 0 2 11 7 +4 12 Advance to play-offs 1–2 2–1 3–1
3 Belgium Club Brugge 6 3 0 3 10 9 +1 9 1–3 1–2 4–1
4 Germany Bayer Leverkusen 6 0 0 6 3 18 15 0 0–3 1–3 0–1
Source: UEFA

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAR INT BAY PLZ
1 Spain Barcelona 6 4 2 0 18 7 +11 14 Advance to round of 16 2–0 3–2 3–0
2 Italy Inter Milan 6 2 1 3 10 14 4 7 Advance to play-offs 1–6 2–2 4–2
3 Germany Bayern Munich 6 1 3 2 13 13 0 6 3–3 2–0 1–2
4 Czech Republic Viktoria Plzeň 6 1 2 3 8 15 7 5 1–1 0–3 3–3
Source: UEFA

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SPO FRA TOT MAR
1 Portugal Sporting CP 6 4 2 0 13 3 +10 14 Advance to round of 16 1–0 2–0 1–1
2 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt 6 3 2 1 9 6 +3 11 Advance to play-offs 1–1 1–0 2–0
3 England Tottenham Hotspur 6 2 0 4 9 10 1 6 1–2 2–3 3–0
4 France Marseille 6 0 2 4 6 18 12 2 0–6 2–2 2–3
Source: UEFA

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MIL SAL DZG CHE
1 Italy Milan 6 4 2 0 12 5 +7 14 Advance to round of 16 2–1 3–0 3–1
2 Austria Red Bull Salzburg 6 2 2 2 11 7 +4 8 Advance to play-offs 1–1 2–0 5–1
3 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 6 2 0 4 7 14 7 6 1–2 2–1 4–2
4 England Chelsea 6 1 2 3 10 14 4 5 1–1 1–1 4–0
Source: UEFA

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RMA SHK RBL CEL
1 Spain Real Madrid 6 5 1 0 23 5 +18 16 Advance to round of 16 6–1 1–1 4–1
2 Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 6 3 1 2 6 10 4 10 Advance to play-offs 0–3 0–0 2–1
3 Germany RB Leipzig 6 1 2 3 6 8 2 5 2–3 0–2 1–2
4 Scotland Celtic 6 1 0 5 4 16 12 3 0–6 0–1 0–2
Source: UEFA

Group G

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MCI DOR CPH SEV
1 England Manchester City 6 4 2 0 16 8 +8 14 Advance to round of 16 3–2 1–1 1–0
2 Germany Borussia Dortmund 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 8 Advance to play-offs 3–3 0–2 2–0
3 Denmark Copenhagen 6 2 1 3 9 8 +1 7 1–3 0–1 4–1
4 Spain Sevilla 6 1 1 4 5 14 9 4 1–5 1–1 2–1
Source: UEFA

Group H

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PAR JUV BEN MHA
1 France Paris Saint-Germain 6 4 1 1 20 11 +9 13 Advance to round of 16 5–3 2–3 3–1
2 Italy Juventus 6 3 2 1 17 14 +3 11 Advance to play-offs 4–4 1–1 3–1
3 Portugal Benfica 6 2 1 3 12 10 +2 7 0–1 2–3 0–1
4 Israel Maccabi Haifa 6 1 0 5 6 20 14 3 0–5 1–3 2–6
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 31 August 2022.

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

First round

The first legs were played on 12–28 September and the second legs were played on 4–12 October 2022.[11]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Red Star Belgrade Serbia 3–1[upper-alpha 1] Cyprus Omonia 1–0 2–1
Young Boys Switzerland 5–2 Slovenia Domžale 3–0 2–2
Genk Belgium 5–4 Czech Republic Slavia Prague 1–2 4–2
Nantes France 5–0 Armenia Pyunik 2–0 3–0
AZ Netherlands 6–1 Republic of Ireland Shamrock Rovers 5–0 1–1
AIK Sweden 8–2 Luxembourg Racing Union 5–0 3–2
Molde Norway 2–2
(4–5 p)
Scotland Hibernian 1–0 1–2
Coleraine Northern Ireland 5–4[upper-alpha 1] North Macedonia Pobeda 3–2 2–2
MTK Budapest Hungary 4–0 Latvia Jelgava 3–0 1–0
Žalgiris Lithuania 2–5 Slovakia Trenčín 2–1 0–4
Hajduk Split Croatia 5–1 Azerbaijan Gabala 3–0 2–1
Rukh Lviv Ukraine 1–0 Poland Zagłębie Lubin 1–0 0–0
Ashdod Israel 5–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina Borac Banja Luka 2–0 3–0
Panathinaikos Greece 10–2[upper-alpha 1] Bulgaria Slavia Sofia 8–0 2–2
Astana Kazakhstan 2–4 Albania Apolonia 1–1 1–3
Csíkszereda Miercurea Ciuc Romania 1–5 Turkey Galatasaray 1–1 0–4

Notes

  1. Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Second round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
AZ Netherlands 3–3
(4–3 p)
Serbia Red Star Belgrade 2–2 1–1
Hibernian Scotland 3–1 France Nantes 1–0 2–1
Young Boys Switzerland 3–3
(9–8 p)
Sweden AIK 0–3 3–0
Coleraine Northern Ireland 1–10[upper-alpha 1] Belgium Genk 0–4 1–6
Panathinaikos Greece 6–3 Slovakia Trenčín 2–0 4–3
Apolonia Albania 1–6 Croatia Hajduk Split 0–3 1–3
Galatasaray Turkey 2–6 Ukraine Rukh Lviv 1–3 1–3
Ashdod Israel 1–2 Hungary MTK Budapest 0–2 1–0

Notes

  1. Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Knockout phase

Bracket

Play-offsRound of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
                  
8 February
Hungary MTK Budapest0
1 March
Netherlands Ajax1
Portugal Sporting CP5
Netherlands Ajax1
14 March
Portugal Sporting CP1
8 February
England Liverpool0
Greece Panathinaikos0
1 March
Portugal Porto1
England Liverpool (p)1 (6)
Portugal Porto1 (5)
21 April – Geneva
Portugal Sporting CP2 (3)
8 February
Netherlands AZ (p)2 (4)
Netherlands AZ5
1 March
Germany Eintracht Frankfurt0
Spain Barcelona0
Netherlands AZ3
15 March
Netherlands AZ4
7 February
Spain Real Madrid0
Switzerland Young Boys2
1 March
Austria Red Bull Salzburg3
Spain Real Madrid3
Austria Red Bull Salzburg1
24 April – Geneva
Netherlands AZ5
7 February
Croatia Hajduk Split0
Scotland Hibernian1
28 February
Germany Borussia Dortmund2
Germany Borussia Dortmund (p)1 (5)
France Paris Saint-Germain1 (4)
15 March
Germany Borussia Dortmund1 (8)
8 February
Croatia Hajduk Split (p)1 (9)
Croatia Hajduk Split1
28 February
Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk0
Croatia Hajduk Split2
England Manchester City1
21 April – Geneva
Croatia Hajduk Split3
8 February
Italy Milan1
Ukraine Rukh Lviv (p)1 (4)
28 February
Italy Inter Milan1 (3)
Italy Milan1
Ukraine Rukh Lviv0
14 March
Italy Milan2
8 February
Spain Atlético Madrid0
Belgium Genk (p)0 (4)
1 March
Italy Juventus0 (3)
Spain Atlético Madrid4
Belgium Genk1

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 8 November 2022 at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.[9] The play-offs were played over one leg on 7 and 8 February 2023.[12]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Young Boys Switzerland 2–3 Austria Red Bull Salzburg
AZ Netherlands 5–0 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
Rukh Lviv Ukraine 1–1
(4–3 p)
Italy Inter Milan
Hajduk Split Croatia 1–0 Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk
MTK Budapest Hungary 0–1 Netherlands Ajax
Hibernian Scotland 1–2 Germany Borussia Dortmund
Panathinaikos Greece 0–1 Portugal Porto
Genk Belgium 0–0
(4–3 p)
Italy Juventus

Round of 16

The draw was conducted on 13 February 2023 at 13:00 CET in the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.[13] The round of 16 was played over one leg on 28 February and 1 March 2023.[9]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Milan Italy 1–0 Ukraine Rukh Lviv
Barcelona Spain 0–3 Netherlands AZ
Liverpool England 1–1
(6–5 p)
Portugal Porto
Atlético Madrid Spain 4–1 Belgium Genk
Borussia Dortmund Germany 1–1
(5–4 p)
France Paris Saint-Germain
Hajduk Split Croatia 2–1 England Manchester City
Sporting CP Portugal 5–1 Netherlands Ajax
Real Madrid Spain 3–1 Austria Red Bull Salzburg

Quarter-finals

The draw was conducted on 13 February 2023 at 13:00 CET in the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.[13] The quarter-finals were played over one leg on 14 and 15 March 2023.[9]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
AZ Netherlands 4–0 Spain Real Madrid
Milan Italy 2–0 Spain Atlético Madrid
Sporting CP Portugal 1–0 England Liverpool
Borussia Dortmund Germany 1–1
(8–9 p)
Croatia Hajduk Split

Semi-finals

The draw was conducted on 13 February 2023 at 13:00 CET in the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.[13] The semi-finals were played over one leg on 21 April 2023.[9] All four teams were qualified to the semi-finals for the first time ever, ensuring a fourth different champions in a row.[14]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Sporting CP Portugal 2–2
(3–4 p)
Netherlands AZ
Hajduk Split Croatia 3–1 Italy Milan

Final

The final was played on 24 April 2023 at Stade de Genève, Geneva.[9]

AZ Netherlands5–0Croatia Hajduk Split
  • Addai 45' (pen.)
  • Poku 70', 76'
  • Meerdink 79', 87'
Report
Attendance: 9,390[15]

Top goalscorers

Rank[16]PlayerTeamGoals
1 Egypt Bilal Mazhar Greece Panathinaikos 9
Netherlands Mexx Meerdink Netherlands AZ
3 France Ilyes Housni France Paris Saint-Germain 8
Spain Adrián Niño Spain Atlético Madrid
Netherlands Ernest Poku Netherlands AZ
6 Spain Víctor Barberà Spain Barcelona 7
England Oakley Cannonier England Liverpool
8 Spain Ismaël Gharbi France Paris Saint-Germain 6
Ivory Coast Karim Konaté Austria Red Bull Salzburg
Portugal Rodrigo Ribeiro Portugal Sporting CP

References

  1. "Which teams are in the 2022/23 Youth League?". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  2. "Champions Man City visit Newcastle in Under-18 opener". Premier League. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  3. "2-0: El Barça conquista la Copa y sella el doblete" [2-0: Barça conquers the Cup and seals the double]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 4 June 2022.
  4. "La festa dell'Inter per la vittoria del Campionato Primavera 1 TIMVISION". legaseriea.it. Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A. 31 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  5. "2:1 bei Hertha BSC: BVB macht neunten Meistertitel perfekt". dfb.de (in German). German Football Association. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  6. "Rekorderfolg für unsere U18". FC Liefering.
  7. "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.
  8. "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs". UEFA.com (Press release). Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  9. "2022/23 UEFA Youth League dates, format | UEFA Youth League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  10. "UEFA Champions League group stage draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  11. "Draws | UEFA Youth League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
  12. "2022/23 UEFA Youth League play-off ties". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  13. "UEFA Youth League knockout draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  14. "Meet the UEFA Youth League semi-finalists: Sporting CP vs AZ Alkmaar, Hajduk Split vs AC Milan". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  15. "AZ Alkmaar vs. Hadjuk Split" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  16. "Player Goals Stats". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
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