2015–16_UEFA_Youth_League

2015–16 UEFA Youth League

2015–16 UEFA Youth League

International football competition


The 2015–16 UEFA Youth League was the third season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.

Quick Facts Tournament details, Dates ...

After a two-year trial period, the UEFA Youth League became a permanent UEFA competition starting from this season, with the tournament expanded from 32 to 64 teams.[1]

Chelsea retained their title after defeating Paris Saint-Germain 2–1 in the final.[2]

Format changes

The UEFA Executive Committee held on 18 September 2014 approved the following changes to the UEFA Youth League starting from the 2015–16 season:[3][4]

  • The tournament is expanded from 32 to 64 teams. The 64 teams include the youth teams of the 32 clubs which participate in the UEFA Champions League group stage, which have been included since the first edition, as well as the youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations according to their UEFA country coefficients, which are included starting from this edition. Associations without a youth domestic champion as well as domestic champions already included in the UEFA Champions League path are replaced by the next association in the UEFA ranking.
  • The new format of the competition sees the two groups of teams compete in separate paths until the play-offs:
    • In the UEFA Champions League path, the 32 Champions League youth teams retain the group stage format and schedule which correspond to the Champions League group stage. The group winners advance to the round of 16, and the group runners-up advance to the play-offs.
    • In the Domestic Champions path, the 32 youth domestic champions play two rounds of two-legged ties, with the eight winners advancing to the play-offs.
    • In the play-offs, the youth domestic champions play a single match at home against the UEFA Champions League path group runners-up.
    • In the round of 16, the UEFA Champions League path group winners play a single match against the winners of the play-offs (home team determined by draw).
    • In the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final, teams play each other over a single match (quarter-finals home team determined by draw, semi-finals and final played at neutral venues).
  • The under-19 age limit is retained, but clubs are able to include a maximum of three under-20 players in their overall list of 40 players for the competition, in order to alleviate the burden on players having school duties.

Teams

A total of 64 teams from 37 of the 54 UEFA member associations entered the tournament. They were split into two sections:[5][6]

  • The youth teams of the 32 clubs which qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage entered the UEFA Champions League Path.
  • The youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations according to their 2014 UEFA country coefficients entered the Domestic Champions Path. Associations without a youth domestic champion as well as domestic champions already included in the UEFA Champions League path were replaced by the next association in the UEFA ranking.[7][8]
More information Rank, Association ...
Notes
  1. Teams which were also youth domestic champions.

Squads

Players must be born on or after 1 January 1997, with a maximum of three players per team born between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 1996 allowed.

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).[5][10]

More information Phase, Round ...
Notes
  • For the UEFA Champions League Path group stage, in principle the teams play their matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the same day as the corresponding senior teams in the UEFA Champions League; however, matches may also be played on other dates, including Mondays and Thursdays.
  • For the Domestic Champions Path first and second rounds, in principle matches are played on Wednesdays; however, matches may also be played on other dates, including Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
  • For the play-offs, round of 16 and quarter-finals, in principle matches are played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; however, matches may also be played on other dates, provided they are completed before the following dates:
    • Play-offs: 12 February 2016
    • Round of 16: 26 February 2016
    • Quarter-finals: 18 March 2016

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 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage, which was held in Monaco on 27 August 2015.[11][12]

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The eight 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 15–16 September, 29–30 September, 20–21 October, 3–4 November, 24–25 November, and 8–9 December 2015.

More information Tiebreakers ...

Group A

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group B

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked by head-to-head record (CSKA Moscow: 4 pts; Manchester United: 1 pt).

Group C

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group D

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked by head-to-head record (Manchester City: 4 pts; Sevilla: 1 pt).

Group E

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group F

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked by head-to-head record (Dinamo Zagreb: 7 pts; Arsenal: 6 pts; Olympiacos: 4 pts).

Group G

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA

Group H

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked by head-to-head record (Lyon: 4 pts; Valencia: 1 pt).

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 was held on 1 September 2015.[13][14] There were no seedings, but the 32 teams were split into four groups defined by sporting and geographical criteria prior to the draw.[15]

  • In the first round, teams in the same group were drawn against each other.
  • In the second round, the winners from Group 1 were drawn against the winners from Group 2, and the winners from Group 3 were drawn against the winners from Group 4, with the order of legs decided by draw.

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.

If the aggregate scores were level 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).[5]

First round

The first legs were played on 29 and 30 September, and the second legs were played on 7, 14, 20 and 21 October 2015.

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

Second round

The first legs were played on 4, 5 November and 2 December, and the second legs were played on 24, 25 November and 6 December 2015.

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

Play-offs

For the play-offs, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties played over one match. The draw was held on 14 December 2015.[16][17] 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 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. The play-offs were played on 9 and 10 February 2016.

If the scores were level after full-time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).[5]

Knockout phase

For the knockout phase (round of 16 onwards), the 16 teams were drawn into a single-elimination tournament, with all ties played over one match. The draw was held on 15 February 2016.[18][19] The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:

  • In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners from the UEFA Champions League Path were drawn against the eight play-off winners. 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 draws also decided the home team for each quarter-final, and the "home" team for administrative purposes for each semi-final and final (which were played at a neutral venue).

If the scores were level after full-time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).[5]

Bracket (round of 16 onwards)

 
Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
              
 
23 February
 
 
Spain Real Madrid3
 
8 March
 
England Manchester City1
 
Spain Real Madrid2
 
24 February
 
Portugal Benfica0
 
Czech Republic Příbram1 (3)
 
15 April – Nyon
 
Portugal Benfica (p)1 (5)
 
Spain Real Madrid1
 
24 February
 
France Paris Saint-Germain3
 
France Paris Saint-Germain1
 
9 March
 
England Middlesbrough0
 
France Paris Saint-Germain3
 
24 February
 
Italy Roma1
 
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven2 (1)
 
18 April – Nyon
 
Italy Roma (p)2 (3)
 
France Paris Saint-Germain1
 
23 February
 
England Chelsea2
 
England Chelsea (p)1 (5)
 
15 March
 
Spain Valencia1 (3)
 
England Chelsea1
 
24 February
 
Netherlands Ajax0
 
France Lyon0
 
15 April – Nyon
 
Netherlands Ajax3
 
England Chelsea3
 
23 February
 
Belgium Anderlecht0
 
Belgium Anderlecht (awd.)3
 
8 March
 
Croatia Dinamo Zagreb0
 
Belgium Anderlecht2
 
23 February
 
Spain Barcelona0
 
Spain Barcelona3
 
 
Denmark Midtjylland1
 

Round of 16

The round of 16 matches were played on 23 and 24 February 2016.

Notes
  1. ^
    Match originally finished 0–2 in favour of Dinamo Zagreb, but was awarded by UEFA as 3–0 win for Anderlecht due to Dinamo Zagreb fielding suspended player Matija Fintić.[20]

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 8, 9 and 15 March 2016.

More information Team 1, Score ...

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 15 April 2016 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[21]

More information Team 1, Score ...

Final

The final was played on 18 April 2016 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[21]

More information Paris Saint-Germain, 1–2 ...
Attendance: 4,000[22]
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Source: UEFA[23]

Top assists

More information Rank, Player ...

Source: UEFA[25]


References

  1. "UEFA Youth League retained and expanded". UEFA.org. 18 September 2014.
  2. "Chelsea defeat Paris to retain Youth League title". UEFA.com. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  3. "UEFA Youth League retained and expanded". UEFA.com. 18 September 2014.
  4. "Celtic Under-17s book European place with title triumph". Celtic FC. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  5. "Draws — Group stage". UEFA.com. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  6. "UEFA Youth League groups set". UEFA.com. 27 August 2015.
  7. "Draws — Domestic champions path". UEFA.com. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  8. "Draws — Play-off". UEFA.com. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  9. "UEFA Youth League play-off draw". UEFA.com. 14 December 2015.
  10. "UEFA Youth League knockout stage draw". UEFA.com. 15 February 2016.

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