| Tourney Name: | UEFA Youth League |
| Year: | 2015–16 |
| Size: | 275 |
| Num Teams: | 64 |
| Associations: | 37 |
| Champion Other: | Chelsea |
| Count: | 2 |
| Second Other: | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Matches: | 167 |
| Goals: | 538 |
| Prevseason: | 2014–15 |
| Nextseason: | 2016–17 |
The 2015–16 UEFA Youth League was the third season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.
After a two-year trial period, the UEFA Youth League became a permanent UEFA competition starting from this season, with the tournament expanded from 32 to 64 teams.[1]
Chelsea retained their title after defeating Paris Saint-Germain 2–1 in the final.[2]
The UEFA Executive Committee held on 18 September 2014 approved the following changes to the UEFA Youth League starting from the 2015–16 season:[3] [4]
A total of 64 teams from 37 of the 54 UEFA member associations entered the tournament. They were split into two sections:[5] [6]
Players must be born on or after 1 January 1997, with a maximum of three players per team born between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 1996 allowed.
The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).[5] [10]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League Path Group stage | Matchday 1 | 27 August 2015 (Monaco) | 15–16 September 2015 | |
| Matchday 2 | 29–30 September 2015 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 20–21 October 2015 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 3–4 November 2015 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 24–25 November 2015 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 8–9 December 2015 | |||
| Domestic Champions Path | First round | 1 September 2015 | 29–30 September 2015 | 20–21 October 2015 |
| Second round | 3–4 November 2015 | 24–25 November 2015 | ||
| Knockout phase | Play-offs | 14 December 2015 | 9–10 February 2016 | |
| Round of 16 | 15 February 2016 | 23–24 February 2016 | ||
| Quarter-finals | 8–9 March 2016 | |||
| Semi-finals | 15 April 2016 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon | |||
| Final | 18 April 2016 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon | |||
See main article: 2015–16 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 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage, which was held in Monaco on 27 August 2015.[11] [12]
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 15–16 September, 29–30 September, 20–21 October, 3–4 November, 24–25 November, and 8–9 December 2015.
See main article: 2015–16 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 1 September 2015.[13] [14] There were no seedings, but the 32 teams were split into four groups defined by sporting and geographical criteria prior to the draw.[15]
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.
If the aggregate scores were level 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).[5]
The first legs were played on 29 and 30 September, and the second legs were played on 7, 14, 20 and 21 October 2015.
The first legs were played on 4, 5 November and 2 December, and the second legs were played on 24, 25 November and 6 December 2015.
See main article: 2015–16 UEFA Youth League play-offs.
For the play-offs, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties played over one match. The draw was held on 14 December 2015.[16] [17] 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. The play-offs were played on 9 and 10 February 2016.
If the scores were level after full-time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).[5]
See main article: 2015–16 UEFA Youth League knockout phase.
For the knockout phase (round of 16 onwards), the 16 teams were drawn into a single-elimination tournament, with all ties played over one match. The draw was held on 15 February 2016.[18] [19] The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
If the scores were level after full-time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).[5]
The round of 16 matches were played on 23 and 24 February 2016.
The quarter-finals were played on 8, 9 and 15 March 2016.
The semi-finals were played on 15 April 2016 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[20]
The final was played on 18 April 2016 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[20]
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Roberto Núñez | Atlético Madrid | 9 | 624 |
| 2 | Borja Mayoral | Real Madrid | 8 | 614 |
| Tammy Abraham | Chelsea | 810 | ||
| 4 | José Gomes | Benfica | 7 | 328 |
| Diogo Gonçalves | Benfica | 496 | ||
| 6 | Rafael Mir | Valencia | 6 | 617 |
 Jorn Vancamp | Anderlecht | 633 | ||
| Carles Aleñá | Barcelona | 716 | ||
| 9 | Leandro Putaro | VfL Wolfsburg | 5 | 410 |
| Kasey Palmer | Chelsea | 545 | ||
 Jean-Kévin Augustin | Paris Saint-Germain | 641 | ||
 Umar Sadiq |  Roma | 769 |
| Rank | Player | Team | Assists | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harrison Chapman | Middlesbrough | 8 | 540 |
| 2 | Sam Lammers | PSV Eindhoven | 4 | 512 |
| Fran Villalba[21] | Valencia | 546 | ||
| Théo Chendri | Barcelona | 570 | ||
| Umar Sadiq | Roma | 769 | ||
| Christopher Nkunku | Paris Saint-Germain | 788 |
