UEFA Youth League entrants confirmed

The 64 clubs entering the UEFA Youth League have now been decided, with half entering one draw on Thursday and the other 32 awaiting another draw on Tuesday, both streamed live on UEFA.com.

1: UEFA Champions League path

The 32 youth teams of the clubs that qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage.

• The eight groups were decided by the UEFA Champions League draw.

Group A: Atlético Madrid (ESP), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Monaco (FRA), Club Brugge (BEL)

Group B: Barcelona (ESP, holders), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Internazionale Milano (ITA)

Group C: Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Napoli (ITA), Liverpool (ENG), Crvena zvezda (SRB)

Group D: Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS), Porto (POR), Schalke (GER), Galatasaray (TUR)

Group E: Bayern München (GER), Benfica (POL), Ajax (NED), AEK Athens (GRE)

Group F: Manchester City (ENG), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), Lyon (ITA), Hoffenheim (GER)

Group G: Real Madrid (ESP), Roma (ITA), CSKA Moskva (RUS), Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)

Group H: Juventus (ITA), Manchester United (ENG), Valencia (ESP), Young Boys (SUI)

• Among the hopefuls are holders Barcelona, who won their second title last season, 2017/18 semi-finalists Manchester City and Porto, and past runners-up Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk.

• Ajax, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern München, Benfica, CSKA Moskva, Juventus, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Real Madrid keep up their records of entering all six editions.

• Debuts for AEK Athens, Crvena zvezda, Hoffenheim, Lokomotiv Moskva and Young Boys

2: Domestic Champions path

The domestic youth champions of the 32 best-ranked associations in the 2017 UEFA association coefficient rankings (the same rankings used to decide access to the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League).

• The draw for the two knockout rounds will be made in Nyon at 14:00CET on Tuesday 4 September, streamed live on UEFA.com.

• If a team was eligible for both, they entered the UEFA Champions League path.

• Two vacancies in the Domestic Champions path (because Atlético and Inter were also eligible for the UEFA Champions League path) were filled by the domestic youth champions of the next-best-ranked associations (namely Moldova and Iceland).

• Chelsea, who won this competition in both 2014/15 and 2015/16 yet lost last season's final to Barcelona, enter this path.

• Two-time semi-finalists Anderlecht extend their record of entering all six editions.

• Debuts for AEL Limassol, Anji, Bohemians, FC Admira, Hamilton Academical, Hertha Berlin, Illés Akadémia, Lech Poznań, KR, Montpellier, Septemvri Sofia, Sigma Olomouc and Žilina.

Hertha Berlin (GER), Chelsea (ENG), Montpellier (FRA), Anji (RUS), Dynamo Kyiv (UKR), Anderlecht (BEL), Altınordu (TUR), Sigma Olomouc (CZE), Basel (SUI), PAOK (GRE), FC Admira (AUT), Dinamo Zagreb (CRO), Viitorul (ROU), Midtjylland (DEN), FC Minsk (BLR), Lech Poznań (POL), Elfsborg (SWE), Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR), Hamilton Academical (SCO), AEL Limassol (CYP), Molde (NOR), Gabala (AZE), Septemvri Sofia (BUL), Astana (KAZ), Maribor (SVN), Žilina (SVK), Illés Akadémia (HUN)*, Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA)**, KR (ISL)**, HJK Helsinki (FIN)***, Vllaznia (ALB)***, Bohemians (IRL)***

*Entered as Liechtenstein do not have qualifying youth league
**Entered as Atlético and Inter qualified for UEFA Champions League automatically
***Entered as Benfica, PSV and Crvena zvezda qualified for UEFA Champions League via play-offs

Competition system

UEFA Champions League path
The 32 clubs entering via the UEFA Champions League will compete in groups with the indentical make-up and fixture list as the senior competition.

• The eight group winners will progress straight to the round of 16.

• The eight runners-up will go into the play-offs.

Domestic Champions path
The 32 teams will compete in two knockout rounds of home-and-away ties. There will be no seeding.

• The eight teams left after the second round will go into the play-offs.

Play-offs
The eight Domestic Champions path survivors will be drawn at home to the eight UEFA Champions League path runners-up in one-off ties to decide the eight remaining round of 16 berths.

Knockout phase and final
The knockout phase, starting with the round of 16, will consist of single-leg ties.

• The semi-finals and the final will be played on 26 and 29 April respectively at the Colovray stadium opposite UEFA's Swiss headquarters in Nyon.

Season calendar

Pre-season draws
UEFA Champions League draw: 18:00CET, Thursday, Monaco
Domestic champions path draw (both rounds): 14:00CET, Tuesday, Nyon

Autumn matches
UEFA Champions League path matchday one: 18/19 September
UEFA Champions League path matchday two: 2/3 October
Domestic champions path round one, first leg: 3 October
UEFA Champions League path matchday three: 23/24 October
Domestic champions path round one, second leg: 24 October
UEFA Champions League path matchday four: 6/7 November
Domestic champions path round two, first leg: 7 November
UEFA Champions League path matchday five: 27/28 November
Domestic champions path round two, second leg: 28 November
UEFA Champions League path matchday six: 11/12 December

Knockout dates
Play-off draw: 17 December
Play-offs: 19/20 February
Knockout draw (round of 16 onwards): 22 February
Round of 16: 12/13 March
Quarter-finals: 2/3 April
Semi-final: 26 April, Nyon
Final: 29 April, Nyon