| Tourney Name: | UEFA Youth League |
| Year: | 2020–21 |
| Size: | 275 |
| Dates: | Cancelled |
| Num Teams: | 64 |
| Associations: | 36 |
| Prevseason: | 2019–20 |
| Nextseason: | 2021–22 |
The 2020–21 UEFA Youth League was scheduled to be the eighth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.
As in previous years, the final tournament, consisting of the semi-finals and final, would originally have been played at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland; however, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the format of the competition was changed to a straight knockout tournament starting from 2 March 2021.[1] On 17 February 2021, the UEFA Executive Committee cancelled the tournament.[2]
A total of 64 teams from at least 32 of the 55 UEFA member associations could enter the 2020–21 UEFA Youth League. They were split into two sections, each with 32 teams:[3]
In early April 2020, UEFA announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline for entering the tournament had been postponed until further notice.[5]
All Domestic Champions Path teams in italics were declared champions or selected to play by the national association following an abandoned season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, and were subject to approval by UEFA as per the guidelines for entry to European competitions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
The list of participants, from 36 associations, was published by UEFA on 7 December 2020.[7] Celta Vigo, Lazio, 1. FC Köln, Angers, Chertanovo Moscow, İstanbul Başakşehir, AZ, Odense, Dinamo Minsk, Górnik Zabrze, Olimpija Ljubljana, Ferencváros, Győri ETO, Apolonia and Waterford would have made their tournament debuts.
| Rank | Association | Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League Path | Domestic Champions Path | ||
| 1 | Celta Vigo | ||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | 1. FC Köln | ||
| 5 | Angers | ||
| 6 | Chertanovo Moscow | ||
| 7 | Porto | Benfica | |
| 8 | Club Brugge | Genk | |
| 9 | |||
| 10 | İstanbul Başakşehir | Galatasaray | |
| 11 | Ajax | AZ | |
| 12 | |||
| 13 | Sparta Prague | ||
| 14 | Olympiacos | PAOK | |
| 15 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
| 16 | Midtjylland | Odense [8] | |
| 17 | Basel | ||
| 18 | APOEL | ||
| 19 | Red Star Belgrade | ||
| 20 | Rangers | ||
| 21 | Dinamo Minsk [9] | ||
| 22 | Hammarby [10] | ||
| 23 | Rosenborg [11] | ||
| 24 | Kairat [12] | ||
| 25 | Górnik Zabrze | ||
| 26 | Gabala | ||
| 27 | Maccabi Haifa | ||
| 28 | Ludogorets Razgrad [13] | ||
| 29 | Viitorul Constanța [14] | ||
| 30 | Žilina | ||
| 31 | Olimpija Ljubljana | ||
| 33 | Ferencváros | Győri ETO | |
| 34 | Shkëndija | ||
| 35 | Sheriff Tiraspol | ||
| 36 | Apolonia [15] | ||
| 37 | Waterford [16] | ||
Players had to be born on or after 1 January 2002, with a maximum of five players born between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2001 allowed in the 40-player squad, and a maximum of three of these players allowed per each match.[3]
The schedule of the competition was planned as follows (all draws were planned to be held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).[1] [7] The tournament would have originally started in September 2020, but was initially delayed to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, which caused the group stage of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League to be postponed. However, due to the continuing pandemic in Europe, UEFA announced a new format on 24 September 2020. Instead of a group stage in the UEFA Champions League Path and two-legged ties in the Domestic Champions Path, all rounds would have been played as single-legged knockout matches.[17]
| Round | Draw | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 64 | 27 January 2021 | |
| Round of 32 | 12 March 2021 (morning) | |
| Round of 16 | Cancelled | |
| Quarter-finals | ||
| Semi-finals | ||
| Final |
The schedule of the competition announced in June 2020, under the original format, was planned as follows (all draws were planned to be held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League Path Group stage | Matchday 1 | 1 October 2020 (Athens) | 20–21 October 2020 | |
| Matchday 2 | 27–28 October 2020 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 3–4 November 2020 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 24–25 November 2020 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 1–2 December 2020 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 8–9 December 2020 | |||
| Domestic Champions Path | First round | 6 October 2020 | 21 October 2020 | 4 November 2020 |
| Second round | 25 November 2020 | 9 December 2020 | ||
| Knockout phase | Play-offs | 15 December 2020 | 9–10 February 2021 | |
| Round of 16 | 12 February 2021 | 2–3 March 2021 | ||
| Quarter-finals | 16–17 March 2021 | |||
| Semi-finals | 23 April 2021 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon | |||
| Final | 26 April 2021 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon | |||
The draw for the round of 64 was held on 27 January 2021 (12:00 CET for UEFA Champions League Path and 12:25 CET for Domestic Champions Path).[18] The 32 teams from the UEFA Champions League Path and the 32 teams from the Domestic Champions Path were split, and in both paths, there were no seedings, but UEFA divided the teams in each path into four groups of eight teams, which would be drawn separately. The first team drawn in each tie would have been the home team. Teams from the same association in the UEFA Champions League Path could not be drawn against each other, and based on political restrictions, teams from Russia and Ukraine could not be drawn against each other.
| width=25% | Group 1 | width=25% | Group 2 | width=25% | Group 3 | width=25% | Group 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top |
| width=25% | Group 1 | width=25% | Group 2 | width=25% | Group 3 | width=25% | Group 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top |
The matches would have been played on 24 February, 2, 3 and 4 March 2021.
|+UEFA Champions League Path|}|+Domestic Champions Path|}
The draw for the round of 32 would have been held on 12 March 2021 (morning).[19] The 16 winners of the round of 64 from the UEFA Champions League Path and the 16 winners of the round of 64 from the Domestic Champions Path are split, and in both paths, there are no seedings. Teams from the same association in the UEFA Champions League Path cannot be drawn against each other.
The matches would have been played on 6 and 7 April 2021.
The draw for the round of 16 onwards would have been held on 12 March 2021 (afternoon).[20] The eight winners of the round of 32 from the UEFA Champions League Path and the eight winners of the round of 32 from the Domestic Champions Path, whose identity is not known at the time of draw, would have been combined starting from the round of 16.
The matches would have been played on 20 and 21 April 2021.
The matches would have been played on 4 and 5 May 2021.
The matches would have been played on 17 May 2021 at the Colovray Stadium, Nyon.
The match would have been played on 20 May 2021 at the Colovray Stadium, Nyon.