2017–18 UEFA Youth League

The 2017–18 UEFA Youth League was the fifth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.

2017–18 UEFA Youth League

The Colovray Stadium in Nyon hosted the semi-finals and final.
Tournament details
Dates	12 September 2017 – 23 April 2018
Teams	64 (from 43 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Barcelona (2nd title)
Runners-up	Chelsea
Tournament statistics
Matches played	167
Goals scored	566 (3.39 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ivan Ignatyev (Krasnodar) 10 goals
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

Barcelona won their second Youth League title following a win over Chelsea in the final.^[1]

Red Bull Salzburg were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the round of 16. Starting from this season, the UEFA Youth League title holders were given an automatic berth in the Domestic Champions path if there was a vacancy.

Teams

A total of 64 teams from 43 of the 55 UEFA member associations entered the tournament, with Albania, Latvia and Luxembourg entering for the first time.^[2] They were split into two sections:^[3]

• The youth teams of the 32 clubs which qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage entered the UEFA Champions League Path.^[4] If there was a vacancy (youth teams not entering), it was filled by a team defined by UEFA.
• The youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations according to their 2016 UEFA country coefficients entered the Domestic Champions Path.^[5][6] If there was a vacancy (associations with no youth domestic competition, as well as youth domestic champions already included in the UEFA Champions League path), it was first filled by the title holders should they have not yet qualified, and then by the youth domestic champions of the next association in the UEFA ranking.

Rank	Association	Teams
		UEFA Champions League Path	Domestic Champions Path
1	Spain	Real Madrid[†] (2016–17 División de Honor Juvenil U18)[7] Barcelona Atlético Madrid Sevilla
2	Germany	Bayern Munich RB Leipzig Borussia Dortmund[†] (2016–17 U19 Bundesliga)[8]
3	England	Chelsea[†] (2016–17 Professional U18 Development League 1)[9] Tottenham Hotspur Manchester City Manchester United Liverpool
4	Italy	Juventus Roma Napoli	Internazionale (2016–17 Campionato Primavera U19)[10]
5	Portugal	Benfica Porto Sporting CP[†] (2016–17 Campeonato Nacional Juniores S19)[11]
6	France	Monaco Paris Saint-Germain	Bordeaux (2016–17 Championnat National U19)[12]
7	Russia	Spartak Moscow CSKA Moscow	Krasnodar (2016 U17 RFS Cup)[13]
8	Ukraine	Shakhtar Donetsk	Dynamo Kyiv (2016–17 Ukrainian U19 League)[14]
9	Belgium	Anderlecht[†] (2016–17 Belgian U17 League)[15]
10	Netherlands	Feyenoord	Ajax (2016–17 U19 Eredivisie)[16]
11	Turkey	Beşiktaş	Bursaspor (2016–17 U19 Elit Ligi)[17]
12	Switzerland	Basel[†] (2016–17 Swiss U18 League)[18]
13	Czech Republic		Sparta Prague (2016–17 Czech U19 League)[19]
14	Greece	Olympiacos[†] (2016–17 Superleague K17)[20]
15	Romania		Dinamo București (2016–17 Liga Elitelor U19)[21]
16	Austria		Red Bull Salzburg[TH] (2016–17 U18 Jugendliga)[22]
17	Croatia		Lokomotiva Zagreb (2016–17 1. HNL Juniori U19)[23]
18	Poland		Legia Warsaw (2016–17 Central Junior League U19)[24]
19	Cyprus	APOEL[†] (2016–17 Cypriot U18 League)[25]
20	Belarus		Shakhtyor Soligorsk (2016–17 Belarusian U19 League)[26]
21	Sweden		Hammarby IF (2016 Swedish U17 League)[27]
22	Norway		Molde (2016 Norwegian U19 Cup)[28]
23	Israel		Maccabi Haifa (2016–17 Israeli U19 Premier League)[29]
24	Denmark		Esbjerg (2016–17 U19 Ligaen)[30]
25	Scotland	Celtic[†] (2016–17 Scottish U17 League)[31]
26	Azerbaijan	Qarabağ[†] (2016–17 Azerbaijani U19 League)[32]
27	Serbia		Brodarac (2016–17 Serbian U19 League)[33]
28	Kazakhstan		Kairat (2016 Kazakhstani U18 League)[34]
29	Bulgaria		Ludogorets Razgrad (2016–17 U18 BFU Cup)[35]
30	Slovenia	Maribor[†] (2016–17 Slovenian U17 League)[36]
31	Slovakia		Nitra (2016–17 Slovak U19 League)[37]
33	Hungary		Honvéd (2016–17 Hungarian U19 League)[38]
34	Moldova		Zimbru Chișinău (2016–17 Divizia Națională U19)[39]
35	Iceland		Breiðablik (2016 Icelandic U19 League)[40]
36	Georgia		Saburtalo Tbilisi (2016 Georgian U19 League)[41]
37	Finland		KäPa (2016 U17 B-Junior League)[42]
38	Bosnia and Herzegovina		Željezničar (2016–17 Bosnia and Herzegovina U19 Junior League)[43]
39	Albania		Vllaznia (2016–17 Albanian U19 League)[44]
40	Macedonia		Shkëndija (2016–17 Macedonian U19 League)[45]
41	Republic of Ireland		UCD (2016 League of Ireland U19 Division)[46]
42	Latvia		Liepāja (2016 Latvian U18 League)[47]
43	Luxembourg		F91 Dudelange (2016–17 Luxembourg U19 Junior Championship)[48]
44	Montenegro		Sutjeska (2016–17 Montenegrin U19 League)[49]
Associations which did not enter a team (no teams can qualify for UEFA Champions League group stage, and association either not ranked high enough or no youth domestic competition)
32	Liechtenstein		No youth domestic competition
45	Lithuania
46	Northern Ireland
47	Estonia
48	Armenia
49	Faroe Islands
50	Malta
51	Wales
52	Gibraltar
53	Andorra
54	San Marino
55	Kosovo

Notes

1. ^
   ^TH Youth League title holders.
2. ^† Teams which were also youth domestic champions, with their vacancies in the Domestic Champions Path filled by the youth domestic champions of the next association in the UEFA ranking.

Squads

Players must be born on or after 1 January 1999, with a maximum of three players per team born between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 1998 allowed.

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).^[50]

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
UEFA Champions League Path Group stage	Matchday 1	24 August 2017 (Monaco)	12–13 September 2017
	Matchday 2		26–27 September 2017
	Matchday 3		17–18 October 2017
	Matchday 4		31 October – 1 November 2017
	Matchday 5		21–22 November 2017
	Matchday 6		5–6 December 2017
Domestic Champions Path	First round	29 August 2017	27 September 2017	18 October 2017
	Second round		1 November 2017	22 November 2017
Knockout phase	Knockout round play-offs	11 December 2017	6–7 February 2018
	Round of 16	9 February 2018	20–21 February 2018
	Quarter-finals		13–14 March 2018
	Semi-finals		20 April 2018 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon[51]
	Final		23 April 2018 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon[51]

Notes

• For the UEFA Champions League Path group stage, in principle the teams play their matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays of the matchdays as scheduled for UEFA Champions League, and on the same day as the corresponding senior teams; 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 (first round on matchdays 2 and 3, second round on matchdays 4 and 5, as scheduled for UEFA Champions League); 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 of the matchdays as scheduled; however, matches may also be played on other dates, provided they are completed before the following dates:
  • Play-offs: 8 February 2018
  • Round of 16: 28 February 2018
  • Quarter-finals: 16 March 2018

UEFA Champions League Path

Main article: 2017–18 UEFA Youth League group stage

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 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage, which was held on 24 August 2017, 18:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.^[52][53]

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 12–13 September, 26–27 September, 17–18 October, 31 October – 1 November, 21–22 November, and 5–6 December 2017.

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 14.03):[3] Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Away goals scored in all group matches; Wins in all group matches; Away wins in all group matches; Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points); Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BSL	MUN	BEN	CSKA
1	Basel	6	3	2	1	14	11	+3	11[a]	Round of 16		—	2–1	2–2	4–2
2	Manchester United	6	3	2	1	11	9	+2	11[a]	Play-offs		4–3	—	1–1	1–0
3	Benfica	6	1	4	1	10	8	+2	7			0–0	2–2	—	5–1
4	CSKA Moscow	6	1	0	5	8	15	−7	3			2–3	1–2	2–0	—

Source: UEFA
Notes:

1. Head-to-head results: Manchester United 4–3 Basel, Basel 2–1 Manchester United (Basel won on away goals).

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BAY	PAR	CEL	AND
1	Bayern Munich	6	4	2	0	14	6	+8	14	Round of 16		—	3–1	6–2	1–0
2	Paris Saint-Germain	6	3	1	2	11	9	+2	10	Play-offs		1–1	—	2–0	2–3
3	Celtic	6	2	0	4	10	15	−5	6			1–2	2–3	—	3–1
4	Anderlecht	6	1	1	4	6	11	−5	4			1–1	0–2	1–2	—

Source: UEFA

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CHE	ATM	ROM	QRB
1	Chelsea	6	5	0	1	17	7	+10	15	Round of 16		—	4–2	0–2	5–0
2	Atlético Madrid	6	3	0	3	12	11	+1	9[a]	Play-offs		1–3	—	2–1	0–1
3	Roma	6	3	0	3	11	6	+5	9[a]			1–2	1–2	—	3–0
4	Qarabağ	6	1	0	5	3	19	−16	3			1–3	1–5	0–3	—

Source: UEFA
Notes:

1. Head-to-head results: Roma 1–2 Atlético Madrid, Atlético Madrid 2–1 Roma.

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BAR	SPO	OLY	JUV
1	Barcelona	6	5	1	0	12	1	+11	16	Round of 16		—	1–1	5–0	1–0
2	Sporting CP	6	2	3	1	10	6	+4	9	Play-offs		0–1	—	1–1	2–0
3	Olympiacos	6	1	2	3	6	14	−8	5			0–3	2–2	—	2–0
4	Juventus	6	1	0	5	4	11	−7	3			0–1	1–4	3–1	—

Source: UEFA

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LIV	SPM	SEV	MRB
1	Liverpool	6	5	0	1	18	3	+15	15	Round of 16		—	2–0	4–0	3–0
2	Spartak Moscow	6	2	2	2	11	8	+3	8[a]	Play-offs		2–1	—	1–1	5–0
3	Sevilla	6	2	2	2	6	12	−6	8[a]			0–4	3–3	—	1–0
4	Maribor	6	1	0	5	2	14	−12	3			1–4	1–0	0–1	—

Source: UEFA
Notes:

1. Head-to-head results: Spartak Moscow 1–1 Sevilla, Sevilla 3–3 Spartak Moscow (Spartak Moscow won on away goals).

Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MCI	FEY	SHK	NAP
1	Manchester City	6	4	1	1	14	7	+7	13	Round of 16		—	0–0	3–1	3–1
2	Feyenoord	6	2	3	1	11	8	+3	9	Play-offs		0–2	—	4–0	4–3
3	Shakhtar Donetsk	6	2	1	3	7	12	−5	7			2–1	1–1	—	1–2
4	Napoli	6	1	1	4	12	17	−5	4			3–5	2–2	1–2	—

Source: UEFA

Group G

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		POR	MON	RBL	BES
1	Porto	6	5	0	1	15	7	+8	15	Round of 16		—	2–1	3–2	5–1
2	Monaco	6	3	1	2	15	10	+5	10	Play-offs		3–2	—	2–2	3–0
3	RB Leipzig	6	1	2	3	10	12	−2	5			0–2	1–4	—	4–0
4	Beşiktaş	6	1	1	4	5	16	−11	4			0–1	3–2	1–1	—

Source: UEFA

Group H

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TOT	RMA	DOR	APO
1	Tottenham Hotspur	6	4	1	1	15	6	+9	13	Round of 16		—	3–2	4–0	4–1
2	Real Madrid	6	3	1	2	21	10	+11	10	Play-offs		1–1	—	2–1	10–0
3	Borussia Dortmund	6	3	0	3	14	12	+2	9			1–3	5–3	—	5–0
4	APOEL	6	1	0	5	2	24	−22	3			1–0	0–3	0–2	—

Source: UEFA

Domestic Champions Path

Main article: 2017–18 UEFA Youth League 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 29 August 2017, 14:00 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.^[54][55] There were no seedings, but the 32 teams were split into groups defined by sporting and geographical criteria prior to the draw.^[56] In both rounds, if the aggregate score was tied 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). 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.^[3]

First round

The first legs were played on 26 and 27 September, and the second legs were played on 17 and 18 October 2017.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Internazionale	5–2	Dynamo Kyiv	2–2	3–0
Zimbru Chișinău	7–3	Vllaznia	3–1	4–2
Ludogorets Razgrad	3–4	Željezničar	1–1	2–3
Dinamo București	2–4	Lokomotiva Zagreb	0–2	2–2
KäPa	2–4[a]	Esbjerg	1–2	1–2
Breiðablik	1–3[a]	Legia Warsaw	1–3	0–0
UCD	3–3 (4–5 p)	Molde	2–1	1–2
Hammarby IF	0–6	Ajax	0–4	0–2
Bordeaux	0–5	Red Bull Salzburg	0–1	0–4
Nitra	2–1	Shkëndija	1–0	1–1
F91 Dudelange	1–7	Sparta Prague	0–4	1–3
Sutjeska	2–3	Honvéd	2–2	0–1
Brodarac	2–1	Maccabi Haifa	1–1	1–0
Kairat	2–11	Krasnodar	2–2	0–9
Liepāja	2–4	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	2–1	0–3
Bursaspor	1–2	Saburtalo Tbilisi	0–1	1–1

Notes:

1. Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Second round

The first legs were played on 29, 31 October and 1 November, and the second legs were played on 21 and 22 November 2017.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Zimbru Chișinău	0–2	Molde	0–0	0–2
Lokomotiva Zagreb	1–1 (a)	Željezničar	1–1	0–0
Internazionale	10–1	Esbjerg	4–1	6–0
Legia Warsaw	3–4	Ajax	1–4	2–0
Brodarac	3–3 (a)	Saburtalo Tbilisi	1–1	2–2
Shakhtyor Soligorsk	2–3	Nitra	2–0	0–3
Krasnodar	9–1	Honvéd	8–0	1–1
Sparta Prague	2–6	Red Bull Salzburg	2–4	0–2

Knockout phase

Main article: 2017–18 UEFA Youth League knockout phase

The draw for the round of 16 onwards was held on 9 February 2018, 13:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.^[57][58] The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:

• In the draw for the round of 16, there were no seedings, and the 16 teams (eight UEFA Champions League Path group winners and eight play-off winners) were drawn into eight ties. 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 identity of all teams were not known at the time of the draw). 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).

Each tie was played over a single match. If the score was tied after full time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).^[3]

Bracket

	Knockout round play-offs					Round of 16					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
						Bayern Munich		2
	Krasnodar		0 (0)			Real Madrid		3
											Real Madrid		2
	Real Madrid (p)		0 (3)
											Chelsea		4
						Chelsea		5
																20 April – Nyon
	Nitra		2			Feyenoord		2
																Chelsea (p)		2 (5)
	Feyenoord		3
																Porto		2 (4)
						Tottenham Hotspur (p)		1 (3)
	Molde		2 (2)			Monaco		1 (1)
											Tottenham Hotspur		0
	Monaco (p)		2 (4)
											Porto		2
						Porto		3
																					23 April – Nyon
	Red Bull Salzburg		5			Red Bull Salzburg		1
																					Chelsea		0
	Sporting CP		2
																					Barcelona		3
						Manchester City (p)		1 (3)
	Internazionale (p)		3 (3)			Internazionale		1 (2)
											Manchester City (p)		1 (3)
	Spartak Moscow		3 (1)
											Liverpool		1 (2)
						Liverpool		2
																20 April – Nyon
	Brodarac		0			Manchester United		0
																Manchester City		4
	Manchester United		2
																Barcelona		5
						Paris Saint-Germain		0
	Ajax		0 (2)			Barcelona		1
											Barcelona		2
	Paris Saint-Germain (p)		0 (4)
											Atlético Madrid		0
						Atlético Madrid		1
	Željezničar		1			Basel		0
	Atlético Madrid		3

Knockout round play-offs

The Krasnodar Stadium during Krasnodar v Real Madrid.

The draw for the knockout round play-offs was held on 11 December 2017, 14:30 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.^[59][60] 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. Each tie was played over a single match. If the score was tied after full time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).^[3] The matches were played on 6 and 7 February 2018.

Home team	Score	Away team
Molde	2–2 (2–4 p)	Monaco
Internazionale	3–3 (3–1 p)	Spartak Moscow
Ajax	0–0 (2–4 p)	Paris Saint-Germain
Red Bull Salzburg	5–2	Sporting CP
Brodarac	0–2	Manchester United
Nitra	2–3	Feyenoord
Željezničar	1–3	Atlético Madrid
Krasnodar	0–0 (0–3 p)	Real Madrid

Round of 16

The round of 16 matches were played on 20 and 21 February 2018.

Home team	Score	Away team
Bayern Munich	2–3	Real Madrid
Manchester City	1–1 (3–2 p)	Internazionale
Atlético Madrid	1–0	Basel
Porto	3–1	Red Bull Salzburg
Paris Saint-Germain	0–1	Barcelona
Liverpool	2–0	Manchester United
Tottenham Hotspur	1–1 (3–1 p)	Monaco
Chelsea	5–2	Feyenoord

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 13 and 14 March 2018.

Home team	Score	Away team
Real Madrid	2–4	Chelsea
Manchester City	1–1 (3–2 p)	Liverpool
Barcelona	2–0	Atlético Madrid
Tottenham Hotspur	0–2	Porto

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 20 April 2018 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.^[61][62]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Manchester City	4–5	Barcelona
Chelsea	2–2 (5–4 p)	Porto

Final

The final was played on 23 April 2018 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.^[61][62]

23 April 2018 (2018-04-23)

17:00 UTC+2

Chelsea	0–3	Barcelona
	Report	Marqués 33', 52' Ruiz 90+2'

Colovray Stadium, Nyon

Attendance: 7,200

Referee: Andreas Ekberg (Sweden)

Statistics

Notes

• — denotes the team did not participate in this stage.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
			GS	DC	KO	Total
1	Ivan Ignatyev	Krasnodar	—	10	0	10
2	Dani Gómez	Real Madrid	7	—	0	7
	Carles Pérez	Barcelona	4	—	3
	Aleksandr Rudenko	Spartak Moscow	6	—	1
5	Jens Odgaard	Internazionale	—	5	1	6
	Andrea Pinamonti	Internazionale	—	6	0
7	Nabil Alioui	Monaco	4	—	1	5
	Curtis Jones	Liverpool	4	—	1
	Orkun Kökçü	Feyenoord	3	—	2
	Rafael Leão	Sporting CP	4	—	1
	Luke McCormick	Chelsea	4	—	1
	Manuel Wintzheimer	Bayern Munich	5	—	0

Source: UEFA^[63]

Top assists

Rank	Player	Team	Assists
1	Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov	Krasnodar	6
	Dominik Szoboszlai	Red Bull Salzburg
3	Moussa Diaby	Paris Saint-Germain	5
	Achraf El Bouchataoui	Feyenoord
	João Filipe	Benfica
	Juan Miranda	Barcelona

Source: UEFA^[64]