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 File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain 102.283 4 +1 (UEL)
2 File:Flag of England.svg England 90.462
3  Germany 74.784
4  Italy 70.653
5  France 59.248 3
6 File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal 49.449
7 23x15px Russia 45.549 2
8 23x15px Belgium 37.900
9 23x15px Ukraine 36.100
10  Netherlands 35.750
11 23x15px Turkey 33.600
12  Austria 32.925
13 23x15px Denmark 29.250
14 File:Flag of Scotland.svg 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 23x15px Croatia 24.875 1
21  Sweden 22.750
22 File:Flag of Norway.svg Norway 21.750
23  Israel 19.625
24 23x15px Kazakhstan 19.250
25 23x15px Belarus 18.875
26 23x15px Azerbaijan 18.750
27 23x15px Bulgaria 17.375
28 23x15px Romania 16.700
29 23x15px Poland 16.625
30 23x15px Slovakia 15.875
31 23x15px Liechtenstein 13.500 0 Note LIE[›]
32 23x15px Slovenia 13.000 1
33 23x15px Hungary 12.875
34 23x15px Luxembourg 8.000
35 23x15px Lithuania 7.875
36 23x15px Armenia 7.625
37 23x15px Latvia 7.625
Rank Association Coeff. Teams Notes
38 23x15px Albania 7.375 1
39 23x15px FYR Macedonia 7.375
40 23x15px Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.875
41 23x15px Moldova 6.750
42 23x15px Ireland 6.700
43 23x15px Finland 6.500
44 23x15px Georgia 5.750
45 23x15px Malta 5.750
46 23x15px Iceland 5.375
47 23x15px Wales 5.000
48  Northern Ireland 4.875
49  Gibraltar 4.750
50 23x15px Montenegro 4.375
51 23x15px Estonia 4.375
52 23x15px Kosovo 4.000
53 23x15px Faroe Islands 3.750
54 23x15px Andorra 2.831
55 23x15px 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 File:Flag of England.svg Chelsea (4th)TH Spain Villarreal (EL) Spain Atlético Madrid (1st) File:Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid (2nd)
File:Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona (3rd) File:Flag of Spain.svg Sevilla (4th) England Manchester City (1st) File:Flag of England.svg Manchester United (2nd)
File:Flag of England.svg Liverpool (3rd) File:Flag of Germany.svg Bayern Munich (1st) File:Flag of Germany.svg RB Leipzig (2nd) File:Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund (3rd)
File:Flag of Germany.svg VfL Wolfsburg (4th) File:Flag of Italy.svg Inter Milan (1st) File:Flag of Italy.svg Milan (2nd) File:Flag of Italy.svg Atalanta (3rd)
File:Flag of Italy.svg Juventus (4th) File:Flag of France.svg Lille (1st) File:Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain (2nd) File:Flag of Portugal.svg Sporting CP (1st)
File:Flag of Portugal.svg Porto (2nd) 23x15px Zenit Saint Petersburg (1st) 23x15px Club Brugge (1st) 23x15px Dynamo Kyiv (1st)
Netherlands Ajax (1st) 23x15px Beşiktaş (1st)
Play-off round CH Austria Red Bull Salzburg (1st) 23x15px Brøndby (1st)
Third qualifying round CH Scotland Rangers (1st) File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Slavia Prague (1st)
LP File:Flag of France.svg Monaco (3rd) Portugal Benfica (3rd) 23x15px Spartak Moscow (2nd) 23x15px Genk (2nd)
23x15px Shakhtar Donetsk (2nd)
Second qualifying round CH File:Flag of Cyprus.svg Omonia (1st) File:Flag of Switzerland.svg Young Boys (1st) File:Flag of Greece.svg Olympiacos (1st) Serbia Red Star Belgrade (1st)
LP File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg PSV Eindhoven (2nd) 23x15px Galatasaray (2nd) File:Flag of Austria.svg Rapid Wien (2nd) 23x15px Midtjylland (2nd)
File:Flag of Scotland.svg Celtic (2nd) File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Sparta Prague (2nd)
First qualifying round 23x15px Dinamo Zagreb (1st) File:Flag of Sweden.svg Malmö FF (1st) File:Flag of Norway.svg Bodø/Glimt (1st) File:Flag of Israel.svg Maccabi Haifa (1st)
23x15px Kairat (1st) 23x15px Shakhtyor Soligorsk (1st) 23x15px Neftçi Baku (1st) 23x15px Ludogorets Razgrad (1st)
23x15px CFR Cluj (1st) 23x15px Legia Warsaw (1st) 23x15px Slovan Bratislava (1st) 23x15px Mura (1st)
23x15px Ferencváros (1st) 23x15px Fola Esch (1st) 23x15px Žalgiris (1st) 23x15px Alashkert (1st)
23x15px Riga (1st) 23x15px Teuta (1st) 23x15px Shkëndija (1st) 23x15px Borac Banja Luka (1st)
23x15px Sheriff Tiraspol (1st) 23x15px Shamrock Rovers (1st) 23x15px HJK (1st) 23x15px Dinamo Tbilisi (1st)
23x15px Hibernians (Abd-2nd)[Note MLT] 23x15px Valur (Abd-1st)[Note ISL] 23x15px Connah's Quay Nomads (1st) Northern Ireland Linfield (1st)
File:Flag of Gibraltar.svg Lincoln Red Imps (1st) 23x15px Budućnost Podgorica (1st) 23x15px Flora (1st)
Preliminary round 23x15px Prishtina (1st) 23x15px HB (1st) 23x15px Inter Club d'Escaldes (1st) 23x15px 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.
8px Brown: Group A; 8px Red: Group B; 8px Orange: Group C; 8px Yellow: Group D;
8px Green: Group E; 8px Blue: Group F; 8px Purple: Group G; 8px 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 File:Flag of France.svg Karim Benzema Spain Real Madrid 15 1106
2 23x15px Robert Lewandowski File:Flag of Germany.svg Bayern Munich 13 876
3 File:Flag of Côte d'Ivoire.svg Sébastien Haller File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Ajax 11 668
4 23x15px Mohamed Salah File:Flag of England.svg Liverpool 8 1008
5 File:Flag of France.svg Christopher Nkunku Germany RB Leipzig 7 531
23x15px Riyad Mahrez England Manchester City 986
7 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo England Manchester United 6 611
23x15px Darwin Núñez File:Flag of Portugal.svg Benfica 613
File:Flag of France.svg Kylian Mbappé File:Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain 673
Germany Leroy Sané Germany Bayern Munich 798
File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Arnaut Danjuma Spain Villarreal 906

Top assists

Rank[22] Player Team Assists Minutes played
1 File:Flag of Portugal.svg Bruno Fernandes File:Flag of England.svg Manchester United 7 520
2 Germany Leroy Sané Germany Bayern Munich 6 798
Brazil Vinícius Júnior Spain Real Madrid 1199
4 File:Flag of Brazil.svg Antony File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Ajax 5 577
5 Portugal João Mário File:Flag of Portugal.svg Benfica 4 493
Spain Gerard Moreno Spain Villarreal 524
File:Flag of France.svg Kylian Mbappé File:Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain 673
23x15px Kevin De Bruyne File:Flag of England.svg Manchester City 734
File:Flag of England.svg Trent Alexander-Arnold File:Flag of England.svg Liverpool 794
File:Flag of France.svg Étienne Capoue File:Flag of Spain.svg Villarreal 1046
23x15px Luka Modrić File:Flag of Spain.svg 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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