UEFA Youth League domestic champions path draw

The 2024/25 UEFA Youth League first, second and third round domestic champions path draw has been made at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.

• The domestic champions path is played as three rounds of two-legged ties, all drawn on Tuesday 3 September.
• The 24 clubs from the lowest-ranked entering associations will begin in the first round.
• Clubs from the 28 top-ranked entering associations will begin their campaigns in the second round.
• The ten third-round winners will progress to the round of 32 and will be drawn against the teams finishing between seventh and 16th in the UEFA Champions League path league phase.

First round

Number of teams involved: 24
Number of matches: 2 x 12
Planned matchdays: 18 September (first legs) and 2 October (second legs) 2024
Match dates and kick-off times to be announced by 6 September 2024 (12:00 CET)

Second round

Number of teams involved: 40
Number of matches: 2 x 20
Planned matchdays: 23 October (first legs) and 6 November (second legs) 2024
Match dates and kick-off times to be announced by 4 October 2024 (12:00 CET)

Third round

Number of teams involved: 20
Number of matches: 2 x 10
Planned matchdays: 27 November (first legs) and 11 December (second legs) 2024
Match dates and kick-off times to be announced by 8 November 2024 (12:00 CET)

DRAW PROCEDURE

Based on Article 17 of the UEFA Youth League Regulations (UYL Regulations) the following draw procedure has been adopted by the Club Competitions Committee.

Match system

The first, second and third rounds of the domestic champions path are played under the knockout system, whereby each club plays each opponent twice, in home and away matches.

Draw system and conditions

A draw was conducted to determine the ties and which club plays the first leg at home for each match of the first, second and third rounds. In principle, the pairings were determined by an open draw. If, for any reason, any of the participants in the rounds concerned were not known at the time of the draw, the undecided tie featured as an option for the draw.

The UEFA administration formed groups for the draw in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee.

In accordance with the relevant decisions of the UEFA Executive Committee, teams from the following associations could not be drawn against each other:

Armenia – Azerbaijan
Gibraltar – Spain
Kosovo – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kosovo – Serbia
Ukraine – Belarus

Draw system

Nb - there was no seeding of participants in the UEFA Youth League domestic champions path.

First round

The 24 teams were divided into 3 groups of 8 teams (Groups 1 to 3).

Second round

The 40 teams (28 that enter the competition at this stage and the 12 pairings coming from the first-round ties, indicated for the purposes of this draw as Winners of Round 1 - Pairing 1 to 12) were divided equally into four groups of 10 teams (Groups 1 to 4).

Third round

The 20 teams (20 pairings or eventual pairings coming from the second-round ties, indicated for the purposes of this draw as Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 1 to 20) were divided equally into two groups of 10 teams (Group 1 and 2).

Groupings

First round

Group 1

1) NK Maribor (SVN)

2) FC 2 Korriku (KOS)

3) UCD AFC (IRL)

4) FC Progrès Niederkorn (LUX)

5) Havnar Bóltfelag - HB (FRO)

6) Stjarnan (ISL)

7) FK Bylis (ALB)

8) Lincoln Red Imps FC (GIB)

Group 2

1) BFC Daugavpils (LVA)

2) FC Honka Espoo (FIN)

3) FK Žalgiris (LTU)

4) Cliftonville FC (NIR)

5) Valletta FC (MLT)

6) JK Tallinna Kalev (EST)

7) The New Saints FC (WAL)

8) FC Santa Coloma (AND)

Group 3

1) FC Kairat (KAZ)

2) Academia Rebeja Chisinau (MDA)

3) FC Pyunik (ARM)

4) FC Dinamo-Minsk (BLR)

5) FK Sarajevo (BIH)

6) FC Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)

7) FK AP Brera Strumica (MKD)

8) FC Budućnost Podgorica (MNE)

Second round

Group 1

1) TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (GER)

2) AZ Alkmaar (NED)

3) Aberdeen FC (SCO)

4) Strømsgodset TF (NOR)

5) FC Midtjylland (DEN)

6) IFK Göteborg (SWE)

7) Puskás Akadémia FC (HUN)

8) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 1

9) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 2

10) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 3

Group 2

1) Manchester United (ENG)

2) AJ Auxerre (FRA)

3) KRC Genk (BEL)

4) FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)

5) Pafos FC (CYP)

6) Legia Warszawa (POL)

7) PFC CSKA-Sofia (BUL)

8) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 4

9) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 5

10) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 6

Group 3

1) Olympiacos FC (GRE)

2) U.S. Sassuolo (ITA)

3) FK IMT Belgrade (SRB)

4) FC Basel 1893 (SUI)

5) Maccabi Petah-Tikva FC (ISR)

6) FCV Farul Constanta (ROU)

7) Sabah FC (AZE)

8) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 7

9) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 8

10) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 9

Group 4

1) Real Betis Balompié (ESP)

2) SC Braga (POR)

3) SK Rapid (AUT)

4) Trabzonspor A.Ş. (TUR)

5) FC Zbrojovka Brno (CZE)

6) NK Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO)

7) AS Trenčín (SVK)

8) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 10

9) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 11

10) Winners of Round 1 – Pairing 12

Third round

Group 1

1) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 1

2) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 2

3) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 3

4) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 4

5) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 5

6) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 6

7) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 7

8) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 8

9) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 9

10) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 10

Group 2

1) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 11

2) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 12

3) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 13

4) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 14

5) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 15

6) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 16

7) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 17

8) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 18

9) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 19

10) Winners of Round 2 – Pairing 20

Draw procedure

First round

One bowl was prepared for the draw, with the balls containing the names of the ten teams of Group 1 placed in this bowl initially, where they were shuffled.

Two balls were drawn from the bowl one after another. Those teams will play each other, with the first ball drawn indicating the home team for the first leg.

The process was then repeated with the remaining balls in the bowl to complete all the Group 1 ties.

The procedure was then repeated for the other groups.

Second round

Again, one bowl was prepared for the draw, with the balls containing the names of the ten teams and/or pairings from the first round that make up Group 1 of the second round placed in this bowl, where they were shuffled.

Two balls were drawn from the bowl one after another. Those teams and/or pairings will play each other with the first ball drawn indicating the home team and/or pairing for the first leg.

The previous step was repeated with the remaining balls in the bowl to complete all the second round Group 1 ties.

The procedure was then repeated for the other groups.

Third round

In the same way as for the first and second round, one bowl was prepared for the draw, with the balls containing the names of the ten pairings of the second round that make up Group 1 of the third round placed in this bowl, where they were shuffled.

Two balls were drawn from the bowl one after another. Those pairings will play each other with the first ball drawn indicating the home team for the first leg.

The previous step was repeated with the remaining balls in the bowl to complete all the third round Group 1 ties.

The procedure was then repeated for the other group.

Draw explanation (first, second and third round)

A video explaining the draw procedure was be shown prior to the draw.

Calendar elaboration

For the domestic champions path first, second and third rounds, the following principles applied:

a) Unless the clubs and UEFA agree otherwise, matches are played on Wednesday.

b) In principle, the relevant teams play their first-round matches in matchweeks one and two of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, their second-round matches in matchweeks three and four of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League and their third-round matches in matchweeks five and six of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League.

c) If both clubs and the UEFA administration agree, matches may also be played on other dates.

Match dates must be announced to opponents and the UEFA administration by the following dates:

a) Round 1 of domestic champions path: 6 September 2024

b) Round 2 of domestic champions path: 4 October 2024

c) Round 3 of domestic champions path: 8 November 2024

Kick-off times must be announced using the dedicated online tool by the deadline set by the UEFA administration.

The home club decides the kick-off times of non-televised matches, in consultation with the visiting club. UEFA reserves the right to decide on the kick-off times of televised matches after consulting with both clubs involved.