2013–14 UEFA Youth League group stage explained

The 2013–14 UEFA Youth League group stage was played from 17 September to 11 December 2013. A total of 32 teams competed to decide the sixteen teams that would advance to the knockout phase of the 2013–14 UEFA Youth League.^[1]

Draw

The youth teams of the 32 clubs which qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage entered the competition.

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 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage, which was held on 29 August 2013 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.^[2]

+Pot 1 width=190 Team Bayern Munich Barcelona Chelsea Real Madrid Manchester United Arsenal Porto Benfica

+Pot 2 width=190 Team Atlético Madrid Shakhtar Donetsk Milan Schalke 04 Marseille CSKA Moscow Paris Saint-Germain Juventus

+Pot 3 width=190 Team Zenit Saint Petersburg Manchester City Ajax Borussia Dortmund Basel Olympiacos Galatasaray Bayer Leverkusen

+Pot 4 width=190 Team Copenhagen Napoli Anderlecht Celtic Steaua București Viktoria Plzeň Real Sociedad Austria Wien

Format

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The eight group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied in the order given to determine the rankings:^[1]

1. higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
2. superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
3. higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
4. higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
5. If, after applying criteria 1 to 4 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 9 apply;
6. superior goal difference from all group matches played;
7. higher number of goals scored from all group matches played;
8. lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received during the group stage (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
9. drawing of lots.

Groups

The matchdays were 17–18 September, 1–2 October, 22–23 October, 5–6 November, 26–27 November and 10–11 December 2013, with the matches played on the same matchday as the corresponding Champions League matches (though not necessarily on the same day, and some matches were played on Mondays and Thursdays).^[3] Times up to 26 October 2013 (matchdays 1–3) were CEST (UTC+2), thereafter (matchdays 4–6) times were CET (UTC+1).

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Group E

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Group F

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Group G

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Group H

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External links

• 2013–14 UEFA Youth League

Notes and References

1. Web site: Regulations of the UEFA Youth League 2013/14. UEFA. 15 September 2013.
2. Web site: Barcelona, Milan, Ajax and Celtic drawn together. UEFA. 15 September 2013. 29 August 2013.
3. Web site: Stage set for UEFA Youth League. UEFA. 15 September 2013. 29 August 2013.