UEFA Youth League UEFA Champions League path contenders

The 36 teams involved in the UEFA Youth League UEFA Champions League path are now set and they will discover their opponents after the fixture list for the senior competition is confirmed, following the draw made last Thursday.

The UEFA Youth League has a new format for its 11th edition, adapting to the format change of the senior UEFA club competitions, meaning a larger entry than ever before in 2024/25.

As before, the contenders are split into two paths, the UEFA Champions League path and the Domestic Champions path, both of which are played through the rest of the year, before they come together for the knockout phase in 2025. Holders Olympiacos are in the knockout Domestic Champions path.

The UEFA Champions League path includes the 36 youth teams of the clubs that have qualified for the league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League. The league stage will mirror the Champions League league phase but is limited to the first six matchdays, with the same matches played in both competitions (three at home and three away).

The top 22 clubs after the six matchdays progress to the round of 32. The clubs ranked 1 to 6 (Champions League path) will play against the clubs ranked 17 to 22. The clubs ranked 7 to 16 will face the ten clubs that qualify via the Domestic Champions path.

A further open draw will be held for the round of 16 onwards. The tournament will, as before, conclude with a final four (semi-finals and final) played at a neutral venue.

Who is in the UEFA Champions League path?

England: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa
Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Atlético de Madrid
Germany: Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern München, Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund
Italy: Inter, AC Milan, Juventus, Atalanta, Bologna
France: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Brest, LOSC Lille
Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord
Portugal: Sporting CP, Benfica
Belgium: Club Brugge
Scotland: Celtic
Austria: Sturm Graz, Salzburg
Serbia: Crvena Zvezda
Switzerland: Young Boys
Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk
Czechia: Sparta Praha
Croatia: GNK Dinamo
Slovakia: Slovan Bratislava

Team guide

• Past champions involved in this path are joint-record two-time winners Barcelona plus Benfica, Real Madrid and Salzburg.

• Last season's beaten finalists AC Milan are involved along with past runners-up Paris Saint-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk.

• Atlético, Barcelona, Bayern, Benfica, Manchester City, Paris and Real Madrid maintain their perfect record of having entered all 11 editions of this competition, which began in 2013/14 (the 2020/21 edition was cancelled).

• Real Madrid and Atlético both got through the former group stage in all 11 seasons.

• France and Germany now share the record for having the number of different entrants at 14 due to debuts for Brest (as well as Domestic Champions path contenders Auxerre) and Stuttgart.

• Along with Brest and Stuttgart, also making their competition debuts in this path are Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona and Sturm Graz.

Draw and match dates

UEFA Champions League path: league phase
Draw: 29 August, Monaco
Matchday 1: 17/18/19 September
Matchday 2: 1/2 October
Matchday 3: 22/23 October
Matchday 4: 5/6 November
Matchday 5: 26/27 November
Matchday 6: 10/11 December

Knockout phase
Round of 32 draw: 20 December, Nyon 
Round of 32: 11/12 February
Knockout draw (round of 16 onwards): 14 February, Nyon
Round of 16: 4/5 March
Quarter-finals: 1/2 April
Semi-finals: 25 April (single venue)
Final: 28 April (single venue)