The UEFA Youth League (UYL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League league phase, plus the domestic youth champions of the national associations.
The semi-finals and final matches have been traditionally played at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland, although for the 2022–23 edition, they were moved to the Stade de Genève due to increased interest in the tournament from the supporters of the participating clubs. The winners are awarded the Lennart Johansson Trophy, named in honour of the former UEFA president.
The most successful team is Barcelona with three titles. The current champions are Real Madrid, who beat Club Brugge 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the 2026 final.
History In May 2010, UEFA organised a match, referred to as the "UEFA Under-18 Challenge", between the under-18 teams of Bayern Munich and Internazionale, three days prior to the UEFA Champions League final between the respective senior sides. Internazionale won the match 2–0 with two goals from Denis Alibec. The match was part of "UEFA Grassroots Day", and acted as an inspiration for the UEFA Youth League. British media commented that the competition was formed to displace the NextGen Series.
The teams in the first tournament, 2013–14 UEFA Youth League, played a group stage with the same composition and calendar as the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage, and was held on a 'trial basis'. The eight group winners and eight runners-up from group stage then participated in a knockout phase. Unlike the UEFA Champions League, the knockout phase had single-leg ties, with the semi-finals and final played at neutral venues. In April 2014, Barcelona became the first winners, beating Benfica 3–0 in the final four held in Nyon.
After a two-year trial period, the UEFA Youth League became a permanent UEFA competition starting from the 2015–16 season, with the tournament expanded from 32 to 64 teams to allow the youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations according to their UEFA country coefficients to also participate. The 32 UEFA Champions League group stage youth teams retain the group stage format, with the group winners advancing to the round of 16 and the runners-up advancing to the play-offs. The 32 youth domestic champions play two rounds of two-legged ties, with the eight winners advancing to the play-offs, where they play a single match at home against the Champions League path runners-up. The round of 16 onwards retain the same format of single-leg ties as before.
From the 2024–25 season onwards, the format of the UEFA Youth League was changed to accommodate the changes to be seen in the UEFA Champions League, with some differences:
The new 36 team group stage for the Champions League path will only mirror the first six matchdays of the senior competition, with the top 22 teams making the knockout stage. The domestic champions path will be expanded to three rounds, with the remaining 10 clubs facing the teams ranked 7th to 16th in the group stage; the top 6 from the Champions League path will face the teams ranked 17th to 22nd. The Youth League champions from the previous season qualify for the domestic champions path unless their senior team makes the Champions League group stage, in which case they will participate in the Champions League path.
Finals
+List of UEFA Youth League finals Ed. Season Winners Score Runners-up Losing semi-finalists Venue 2013–14 Barcelona 3–0 Benfica Real Madrid and Schalke 04 Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2014–15 Chelsea 3–2 Shakhtar Donetsk Anderlecht and Roma Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2015–16 Chelsea 2–1 Paris Saint-Germain Anderlecht and Real Madrid Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2016–17 Red Bull Salzburg 2–1 Benfica Barcelona and Real Madrid Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2017–18 Barcelona 3–0 Chelsea Manchester City and Porto Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2018–19 Porto 3–1 Chelsea Barcelona and TSG Hoffenheim Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2019–20 Real Madrid 3–2 Benfica Ajax and Red Bull Salzburg Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2020–21 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe 2021–22 Benfica 6–0 Red Bull Salzburg Atlético Madrid and Juventus Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2022–23 AZ 5–0 Hajduk Split Milan and Sporting CP Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland 2023–24 Olympiacos 3–0 Milan Nantes and Porto Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2024–25 Barcelona 4–1 Trabzonspor AZ and Red Bull Salzburg Colovray Stadium, Nyon, Switzerland 2025–26 Real Madrid 1–1 Club Brugge Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain Stade de la Tuilière, Lausanne, Switzerland
Winners By club +List of winners by clubClubTitlesRunners-upYears wonYears runners-up Barcelona302014, 2018, 2025— Chelsea222015, 20162018, 2019 Real Madrid202020, 2026— Benfica1320222014, 2017, 2020 Red Bull Salzburg1120172022 Porto102019— AZ102023— Olympiacos102024— Shakhtar Donetsk01—2015 Paris Saint-Germain01—2016 Hajduk Split01—2023 Milan01—2024 Trabzonspor01—2025 Club Brugge01—2026
By country + List of winners by countryCountryWinnersRunners-upYears wonYears runners-up502014, 2018, 2020, 2025, 2026 —232019, 20222014, 2017, 2020222015, 20162018, 20191120172022102023 —102024 —01 —201501 —201601 —202301 —202401 —202501 —2026
References
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