2021–22 UEFA Champions League

The 2021–22 UEFA Champions League was the 67th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA.

2021–22 UEFA Champions League
The Stade de France in Saint-Denis hosted the final
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
22 June – 25 August 2021
Competition proper:
14 September 2021 – 28 May 2022
TeamsCompetition proper: 32
Total: 80
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Real Madrid (14th title)
Runner-upEngland Liverpool
Tournament statistics
Matches played125
Goals scored380 (3.04 per match)
Attendance4,402,255 (35,218 per match)
Top scorer(s)Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, 15 goals)

Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 1–0 in the final, which was played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, for a record-extending 14th title, and their fifth in nine years.[1] It was originally scheduled to be played at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.[2] However, due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final, the final hosts were moved back a year, with Saint Petersburg scheduled to host the 2022 final.[3] Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the final was eventually moved to Saint-Denis.[2] As the winners, Real Madrid automatically qualified for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, Eintracht Frankfurt, in the 2022 UEFA Super Cup. Additionally, the winners typically qualify for the annual FIFA Club World Cup. However, the tournament's status remains uncertain, following FIFA's proposal for a format improvement.[4] Chelsea were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid.

This season was the first since 1999–2000 (the first season after the end of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup) where three major European club competitions (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and the newly created UEFA Europa Conference League) are organised by UEFA. No changes were made to the format of the Champions League, but teams that were eliminated from the preliminary round and first qualifying round of the Champions League were now transferred to the Europa Conference League instead of the Europa League.[5]

On 24 June 2021, UEFA approved the proposal to remove the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions, which had been used since 1965. If in a two-legged tie two teams scored the same number of aggregate goals, the winner of the tie would not be decided by the number of away goals scored by each team but always by 30 minutes of extra time, and if the two teams scored the same amount of goals in extra time, the winner would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.[6]

Association team allocation

A total of 80 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League (the exception being Liechtenstein,Note LIE[›] which did not organise a domestic league). The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[7]

  • Associations 1–4 each had four teams qualify.
  • Associations 5–6 each had three teams qualify.
  • Associations 7–15 each had two teams qualify.
  • Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein)Note LIE[›] each had one team qualify.
  • The winners of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League and 2020–21 UEFA Europa League were each given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League through their own domestic league. (As Chelsea, the Champions League title holders, did qualify through their own domestic league this season, the additional entry for the Champions League title holders was re-allocated.)

Association ranking

For the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2020 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2015–16 to 2019–20.[8]

Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:

  • (UEL) – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
Association ranking for 2021–22 UEFA Champions League
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
1   Spain 102.283 4 +1 (UEL)
2   England 90.462
3   Germany 74.784
4   Italy 70.653
5   France 59.248 3
6   Portugal 49.449
7   Russia 45.549 2
8   Belgium 37.900
9   Ukraine 36.100
10   Netherlands 35.750
11   Turkey 33.600
12   Austria 32.925
13   Denmark 29.250
14   Scotland 27.875
15   Czech Republic 27.300
16   Cyprus 26.750 1
17    Switzerland 26.400
18   Greece 26.300
19   Serbia 25.500
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
20   Croatia 24.875 1
21   Sweden 22.750
22   Norway 21.750
23   Israel 19.625
24   Kazakhstan 19.250
25   Belarus 18.875
26   Azerbaijan 18.750
27   Bulgaria 17.375
28   Romania 16.700
29   Poland 16.625
30   Slovakia 15.875
31   Liechtenstein 13.500 0 Note LIE[›]
32   Slovenia 13.000 1
33   Hungary 12.875
34   Luxembourg 8.000
35   Lithuania 7.875
36   Armenia 7.625
37   Latvia 7.625
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
38   Albania 7.375 1
39   FYR Macedonia 7.375
40   Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.875
41   Moldova 6.750
42   Ireland 6.700
43   Finland 6.500
44   Georgia 5.750
45   Malta 5.750
46   Iceland 5.375
47   Wales 5.000
48   Northern Ireland 4.875
49   Gibraltar 4.750
50   Montenegro 4.375
51   Estonia 4.375
52   Kosovo 4.000
53   Faroe Islands 3.750
54   Andorra 2.831
55   San Marino 0.666

Distribution

The following is the access list for this season.[9] As the Champions League title holders, Chelsea, which were guaranteed a berth in the Champions League group stage, already qualified via their domestic league (as fourth place in the 2020-21 Premier League), the following changes to the access list were made:

  • The champions of association 11 (Turkey) entered the group stage instead of the play-off round.
  • The champions of association 13 (Denmark) entered the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round.
  • The champions of association 15 (Czech Republic) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
  • The champions of associations 18 (Greece) and 19 (Serbia) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
Access list for 2021–22 UEFA Champions League
Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round
Preliminary round
(4 teams)
  • 4 champions from associations 52–55
First qualifying round
(32 teams)
  • 31 champions from associations 20–51 (except Liechtenstein)Note LIE[›]
  • 1 winner from the preliminary round
Second qualifying round
(26 teams)
Champions Path
(20 teams)
  • 4 champions from associations 16–19
  • 16 winners from the first qualifying round
League Path
(6 teams)
  • 6 runners-up from associations 10–15
Third qualifying round
(20 teams)
Champions Path
(12 teams)
  • 2 champions from associations 14–15
  • 10 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path
(8 teams)
  • 3 runners-up from associations 7–9
  • 2 third-placed teams from associations 5–6
  • 3 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)
Play-off round
(12 teams)
Champions Path
(8 teams)
  • 2 champions from associations 12–13
  • 6 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path
(4 teams)
  • 4 winners from the third qualifying round (League Path)
Group stage
(32 teams)
  • Europa League title holders
  • 11 champions from associations 1–11
  • 6 runners-up from associations 1–6
  • 4 third-placed teams from associations 1–4
  • 4 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–4
  • 4 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path)
  • 2 winners from the play-off round (League Path)
Knockout phase
(16 teams)
  • 8 group winners from the group stage
  • 8 group runners-up from the group stage

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

  • TH: Champions League title holders
  • EL: Europa League title holders
  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.: League positions of the previous season
  • Abd-: League positions of abandoned season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe as determined by the national association; all teams were subject to approval by UEFA as per the guidelines for entry to European competitions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]

The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP).

CC: 2021 UEFA club coefficients.[11]

Qualified teams for 2021–22 UEFA Champions League
Entry round Teams
Group stage   Chelsea (4th)TH   Villarreal (EL)   Atlético Madrid (1st)   Real Madrid (2nd)
  Barcelona (3rd)   Sevilla (4th)   Manchester City (1st)   Manchester United (2nd)
  Liverpool (3rd)   Bayern Munich (1st)   RB Leipzig (2nd)   Borussia Dortmund (3rd)
  VfL Wolfsburg (4th)   Inter Milan (1st)   Milan (2nd)   Atalanta (3rd)
  Juventus (4th)   Lille (1st)   Paris Saint-Germain (2nd)   Sporting CP (1st)
  Porto (2nd)   Zenit Saint Petersburg (1st)   Club Brugge (1st)   Dynamo Kyiv (1st)
  Ajax (1st)   Beşiktaş (1st)
Play-off round CH   Red Bull Salzburg (1st)   Brøndby (1st)
Third qualifying round CH   Rangers (1st)   Slavia Prague (1st)
LP   Monaco (3rd)   Benfica (3rd)   Spartak Moscow (2nd)   Genk (2nd)
  Shakhtar Donetsk (2nd)
Second qualifying round CH   Omonia (1st)   Young Boys (1st)   Olympiacos (1st)   Red Star Belgrade (1st)
LP   PSV Eindhoven (2nd)   Galatasaray (2nd)   Rapid Wien (2nd)   Midtjylland (2nd)
  Celtic (2nd)   Sparta Prague (2nd)
First qualifying round   Dinamo Zagreb (1st)   Malmö FF (1st)   Bodø/Glimt (1st)   Maccabi Haifa (1st)
  Kairat (1st)   Shakhtyor Soligorsk (1st)   Neftçi Baku (1st)   Ludogorets Razgrad (1st)
  CFR Cluj (1st)   Legia Warsaw (1st)   Slovan Bratislava (1st)   Mura (1st)
  Ferencváros (1st)   Fola Esch (1st)   Žalgiris (1st)   Alashkert (1st)
  Riga (1st)   Teuta (1st)   Shkëndija (1st)   Borac Banja Luka (1st)
  Sheriff Tiraspol (1st)   Shamrock Rovers (1st)   HJK (1st)   Dinamo Tbilisi (1st)
  Hibernians (Abd-2nd)[Note MLT]   Valur (Abd-1st)[Note ISL]   Connah's Quay Nomads (1st)   Linfield (1st)
  Lincoln Red Imps (1st)   Budućnost Podgorica (1st)   Flora (1st)
Preliminary round   Prishtina (1st)   HB (1st)   Inter Club d'Escaldes (1st)   Folgore (1st)

Notes

  1. ^ Iceland (ISL): The 2020 Úrvalsdeild was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland. The top team of the league at the time of the abandonment based on the average number of points per matches played for each team, Valur (who were declared champions), were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League by the Football Association of Iceland.[12]
  2. ^ Liechtenstein (LIE): The seven teams affiliated with the Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) all played in the Swiss football league system. The only competition organised by the LFV was the Liechtenstein Football Cup – the winners of which qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League.
  3. ^ Malta (MLT): The 2020–21 Maltese Premier League was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta. The top team of the league at the time of the abandonment, Ħamrun Spartans, were declared champions but were subsequently banned from competing in European competitions for a match fixing case dating back to 2013. As a result, the second-placed team, Hibernians, were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League by the Malta Football Association.[13][14][15]

Schedule

All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the preliminary round final, which was played on a Friday, and the final, which was played on a Saturday. The third qualifying round second legs were only played on a Tuesday due to the 2021 UEFA Super Cup on the following Wednesday. Scheduled kick-off times starting from the play-off round were 18:45 (instead of 18:55 previously) and 21:00 CEST/CET.[16]

All draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, except the group stage draw, which took place in Istanbul, Turkey, on 26 August 2021.[17]

Schedule for 2021–22 UEFA Champions League[18]
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying Preliminary round 8 June 2021 22 June 2021 (semi-finals) 25 June 2021 (final)
First qualifying round 15 June 2021 6–7 July 2021 13–14 July 2021
Second qualifying round 16 June 2021 20–21 July 2021 27–28 July 2021
Third qualifying round 19 July 2021 3–4 August 2021 10 August 2021
Play-offs Play-off round 2 August 2021 17–18 August 2021 24–25 August 2021
Group stage Matchday 1 26 August 2021 14–15 September 2021
Matchday 2 28–29 September 2021
Matchday 3 19–20 October 2021
Matchday 4 2–3 November 2021
Matchday 5 23–24 November 2021
Matchday 6 7–8 December 2021
Knockout phase Round of 16 13 December 2021 15–16 & 22–23 February 2022 8–9 & 15–16 March 2022
Quarter-finals 18 March 2022 5–6 April 2022 12–13 April 2022
Semi-finals 26–27 April 2022 3–4 May 2022
Final 28 May 2022 at Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Qualifying rounds

Preliminary round

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round|PR}}

First qualifying round

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round|Q1}}

Second qualifying round

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round|Q2}}

Third qualifying round

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round|Q3}}

Play-off round

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round|PO}}

Group stage

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Madrid
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Manchester

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Milan

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Lisbon

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Location of teams of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage.
  Brown: Group A;   Red: Group B;   Orange: Group C;   Yellow: Group D;
  Green: Group E;   Blue: Group F;   Purple: Group G;   Pink: Group H.

The draw for the group stage was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 26 August 2021.[17][19] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots, each of eight teams, based on the following principles:

Teams from the same association, and due to political reasons, teams from Ukraine and Russia, could not be drawn into the same group. Before the draw, UEFA formed pairings of teams from the same association (one pairing for associations with two or three teams, two pairings for associations with four or five teams) based on television audiences, where one team was drawn into Groups A–D and another team was drawn into Groups E–H, so that the two teams would play on different days.[20]

The matches were played on 14–15 September, 28–29 September, 19–20 October, 2–3 November, 23–24 November, and 7–9 December 2021. The top two teams of each group advanced to the round of 16. The third-placed teams were transferred to the Europa League knockout round play-offs, while the fourth-placed teams were eliminated from European competitions for the season.

Sheriff Tiraspol made their debut appearance in the group stage. They were the first team from Moldova to play in the Champions League group stage.

Group A

Template:2021–22 UEFA Champions League group tables

Group B

Template:2021–22 UEFA Champions League group tables

Group C

Template:2021–22 UEFA Champions League group tables

Group D

Template:2021–22 UEFA Champions League group tables

Group E

Template:2021–22 UEFA Champions League group tables

Group F

Template:2021–22 UEFA Champions League group tables

Group G

Template:2021–22 UEFA Champions League group tables

Group H

Template:2021–22 UEFA Champions League group tables

Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League knockout phase|Format}}

Bracket

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League knockout phase|Bracket}}

Round of 16

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League knockout phase|R16}}

Quarter-finals

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League knockout phase|QF}}

Semi-finals

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League knockout phase|SF}}

Final

{{#lst:2021–22 UEFA Champions League knockout phase|F}}

Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

Rank[21] Player Team Goals Minutes played
1   Karim Benzema   Real Madrid 15 1106
2   Robert Lewandowski   Bayern Munich 13 876
3   Sébastien Haller   Ajax 11 668
4   Mohamed Salah   Liverpool 8 1008
5   Christopher Nkunku   RB Leipzig 7 531
  Riyad Mahrez   Manchester City 986
7   Cristiano Ronaldo   Manchester United 6 611
  Darwin Núñez   Benfica 613
  Kylian Mbappé   Paris Saint-Germain 673
  Leroy Sané   Bayern Munich 798
  Arnaut Danjuma   Villarreal 906

Top assists

Rank[22] Player Team Assists Minutes played
1   Bruno Fernandes   Manchester United 7 520
2   Leroy Sané   Bayern Munich 6 798
  Vinícius Júnior   Real Madrid 1199
4   Antony   Ajax 5 577
5   João Mário   Benfica 4 493
  Gerard Moreno   Villarreal 524
  Kylian Mbappé   Paris Saint-Germain 673
  Kevin De Bruyne   Manchester City 734
  Trent Alexander-Arnold   Liverpool 794
  Étienne Capoue   Villarreal 1046
  Luka Modrić   Real Madrid 1077

2021–22 UEFA Champions League Media

Notes

References

  1. Champions League final: Vinícius Júnior scores only goal as Real Madrid deny Liverpool again. Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2022. https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/0275-15415a62aaf0-36d3e17d7404-1000/. Retrieved 28 May 2022. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Decisions from today's extraordinary UEFA Executive Committee meeting". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  3. UEFA competitions to resume in August. Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2020. https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/news/newsid=2642232.html. Retrieved 17 June 2020. 
  4. Victor Mather (5 May 2022). "The Sounders Qualified for the Club World Cup. No One Knows When It Is". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  5. "UEFA Executive Committee approves new club competition". UEFA. 2 December 2018. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  6. "Abolition of the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions". UEFA. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  7. "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2021/22 Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Association coefficients 2019/20". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2020. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  9. "Access list 2021–24" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  10. "Guidelines on eligibility principles for 2020/21 UEFA Club Competitions – COVID 19" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 April 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  11. 11.0 11.1 "Club coefficients 2020/21". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
  12. "Keppni hætt". Knattspyrnusamband Íslands. 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  13. "Sports ban forces termination of domestic competitions". Malta Football Association. 9 April 2021.
  14. "UEFA board turns down Ħamrun Spartans' appeal to compete in 2021-22 Champions League". Sportsdesk.com.mt. Times of Malta. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  15. "Hamrun Spartans to be excluded from Champions League by UEFA over past match fixing case". Malta Independent. 9 June 2021.
  16. "Format change for 2020/21 UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Venues appointed for club competition finals. Union of European Football Associations. 16 July 2021. https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/mediareleases/news/026b-12c542441355-1c2040c5e54b-1000/. Retrieved 16 July 2021. 
  18. 2021/22 UEFA Champions League: all you need to know. Union of European Football Associations. 19 January 2021. https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/0265-115e77805e06-3dbc1740a323-1000/. Retrieved 19 January 2021. 
  19. "UEFA Champions League group stage draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2021.
  20. "Champions League group stage draw pots confirmed". UEFA.com. 26 August 2021.
  21. "UEFA Champions League – Top Scorers". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  22. "UEFA Champions League – Top Assists". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 28 May 2022.

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