2021–22 UEFA Champions League explained

Tourney Name:UEFA Champions League
Year:2021–22
Size:290px
Dates:Qualifying:
22 June – 25 August 2021
Competition proper:
14 September 2021 – 28 May 2022
Num Teams:Competition proper: 32
Total: 80
Associations:54
Champion Other: Real Madrid
Count:14
Second Other: Liverpool
Matches:125
Goals:380
Top Scorer:Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
15 goals
Prevseason:2020–21
Nextseason:2022–23

The 2021–22 UEFA Champions League was the 67th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 30th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

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 European Cup 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 hosts were shifted back a year, with Saint Petersburg scheduled to host the 2022 final.[3] Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine which commenced in February 2022, the final was eventually moved to Saint-Denis. As the winners, Real Madrid automatically qualified for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage, as well as earning the right to play against the winners of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, Eintracht Frankfurt, in the 2022 UEFA Super Cup and participate in the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, both of which they went on to win.

Chelsea were the defending champions, but they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Real Madrid.

This season was the first since 1999–2000 (the first season after the dissolution 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.[4]

On 24 June 2021, UEFA approved the proposal to abolish the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions, which had been used since 1965. Accordingly, 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 number of goals in extra time, the winner would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.[5]

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, 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:[6]

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.[7]

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

Association ranking for 2021–22 UEFA Champions League
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes
1102.283align=center rowspan=44
290.462
374.784
470.653
559.248align=center rowspan=23
649.449
745.549align=center rowspan=92
837.900
936.100
1035.750
1133.600
1232.925
1329.250
1427.875
1527.300
1626.750align=center rowspan=41
1726.400
1826.300
1925.500
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes
2024.875align=center rowspan=111
2122.750
2221.750
2319.625
2419.250
2518.875
2618.750
2717.375
2816.700
2916.625
3015.875
3113.5000
3213.000align=center rowspan=61
3312.875
348.000
357.875
367.625
377.625
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes
387.375align=center rowspan=181
397.375
406.875
416.750
426.700
436.500
445.750
455.750
465.375
475.000
484.875
494.750
504.375
514.375
524.000
533.750
542.831
550.666

Distribution

The following is the access list for this season.[8] 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:

Access list for 2021–22 UEFA Champions League
Teams entering in this roundTeams 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)
  • 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:

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.[10]

Notes

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.[11]

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.[12]

Schedule for 2021–22 UEFA Champions League[13]
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond leg
QualifyingPreliminary round8 June 202122 June 2021 (semi-finals)25 June 2021 (final)
First qualifying round15 June 20216–7 July 202113–14 July 2021
Second qualifying round16 June 202120–21 July 202127–28 July 2021
Third qualifying round19 July 20213–4 August 202110 August 2021
Play-offsPlay-off round2 August 202117–18 August 202124–25 August 2021
Group stageMatchday 126 August 202114–15 September 2021
Matchday 228–29 September 2021
Matchday 319–20 October 2021
Matchday 42–3 November 2021
Matchday 523–24 November 2021
Matchday 67–8 December 2021
Knockout phaseRound of 1613 December 202115–16 & 22–23 February 20228–9 & 15–16 March 2022
Quarter-finals18 March 20225–6 April 202212–13 April 2022
Semi-finals26–27 April 20223–4 May 2022
Final28 May 2022 at Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Qualifying rounds

Third qualifying round

Group stage

See main article: 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage.

The draw for the group stage was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 26 August 2021.[12] [14] 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.[15]

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 H

Knockout phase

See main article: 2021–22 UEFA Champions League 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.

Final

Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Top goalscorers

Rank[16] PlayerTeamGoalsMinutes played
1 Karim Benzema Real Madrid151106
2 Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich13876
3 Sébastien Haller Ajax11668
4 Mohamed Salah Liverpool81008
5 Christopher Nkunku RB Leipzig7531
Riyad Mahrez Manchester City986
7 Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United6611
Darwin Núñez Benfica613
Kylian Mbappé Paris Saint-Germain673
Leroy Sané Bayern Munich798
Arnaut Danjuma Villarreal906

Team of the season

The UEFA technical study group selected the following players as the team of the tournament.[17]

PlayerTeam
Thibaut Courtois Real Madrid
Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool
Antonio Rüdiger Chelsea
Virgil van Dijk Liverpool
Andrew Robertson Liverpool
Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City
Fabinho Liverpool
Luka Modrić Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappé Paris Saint-Germain
Karim Benzema Real Madrid
Vinícius Júnior Real Madrid

Player of the Season

Young Player of the Season

European Super League controversy

See main article: European Super League. On 18 April 2021, UEFA, the Football Association, the Premier League, the Italian Football Federation, Serie A, the Royal Spanish Football Federation and La Liga learned of plans from several English, Italian and Spanish clubs to create the European Super League.[20] UEFA and the national associations announced that if such a league were to be established, its participants would be banned from playing in international and domestic competitions.[21] Later that same day, English clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur), Italian clubs (Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan) and Spanish clubs (Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid) announced the establishment of the Super League, putting them at risk of being banned.[22]

On 20 April 2021, Arsenal,[23] Liverpool,[24] Manchester City,[25] Manchester United[26] and Tottenham Hotspur[27] withdrew after the Football Association threatened to ban participating clubs from domestic football,[28] whilst Chelsea withdrew some hours later.[29] This led to the project's collapse,[30] as Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan followed the English clubs by withdrawing.[31] The Super League suspended its operations,[32] with the case to be taken by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to establish whether UEFA and FIFA have the exclusive right to organise competitions.[33]

On 7 June 2021, the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police notified UEFA and FIFA of the Spanish precautionary measure – which had earlier issued an injunction against UEFA and FIFA and referred a cuestión preliminar (English: preliminary question) to the CJEU on whether UEFA and FIFA have violated articles 101 and 102 of the TFEU[34] – ruling that neither governing body could not execute sanctions against Super League clubs.[35] On 15 June 2021, it was officially confirmed that the remaining three clubs (Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid) – which did not sign the Commitment Declaration of the sanctioned other nine clubs[36] and filed a new motion to scrap the agreement UEFA signed with those nine clubs[33] – were admitted to the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, pending the disciplinary proceedings UEFA opened against them but which were suspended after the Swiss notification.[37]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Champions League final: Vinícius Júnior scores only goal as Real Madrid deny Liverpool again . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 28 May 2022 . 28 May 2022.
  2. Web site: Decisions from today's extraordinary UEFA Executive Committee meeting. UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations. 25 February 2022. 25 February 2022.
  3. News: UEFA competitions to resume in August . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 17 June 2020 . 17 June 2020 . 25 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200825183219/https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/news/025e-0fb6101cfdbf-8b878372d79d-1000--uefa-competitions-to-resume-in-august/?referrer=%2finsideuefa%2fnews%2fnewsid%3d2642232 . live .
  4. Web site: UEFA Executive Committee approves new club competition . UEFA. 2 December 2018 . 2 December 2018 . 13 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190513044147/https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/news/newsid%3D2585829.html . live .
  5. Web site: Abolition of the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions. UEFA. 24 June 2021. 25 June 2021.
  6. Web site: 2021 . Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2021/22 Season . 30 April 2021 . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations.
  7. Web site: Association coefficients 2019/20 . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 2020 . 24 August 2020 . 4 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191204125228/https://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/#/yr/2020 . live .
  8. Web site: Access list 2021–24 . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 16 February 2020 . 4 December 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181204074949/https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/General/02/58/61/42/2586142_DOWNLOAD.pdf . live .
  9. Web site: Guidelines on eligibility principles for 2020/21 UEFA Club Competitions – COVID 19. UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 April 2020. 1 November 2020. 25 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201125043259/https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/General/02/64/17/45/2641745_DOWNLOAD.pdf. live.
  10. Web site: Club coefficients 2020/21 . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations .
  11. Web site: Format change for 2020/21 UEFA Nations League . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 24 September 2019 . 17 February 2020 . 26 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190926223650/https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/news/newsid=2625412.html . live .
  12. News: Venues appointed for club competition finals . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 16 July 2021 . 16 July 2021.
  13. News: 2021/22 UEFA Champions League: all you need to know . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 19 January 2021 . 19 January 2021.
  14. Web site: UEFA Champions League group stage draw . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 26 August 2021 .
  15. Web site: Champions League group stage draw pots confirmed. UEFA.com. 26 August 2021.
  16. Web site: UEFA Champions League – Top Scorers. UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2022.
  17. News: 2021/22 UEFA Champions League Team of the Season. UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 31 May 2022 . 31 May 2022.
  18. News: 31 May 2022. Karim Benzema named 2021/22 UEFA Champions League Player of the Season. 31 May 2022. UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
  19. News: 31 May 2022. Vinícius Júnior named 2021/22 UEFA Champions League Young Player of the Season. 31 May 2022. UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
  20. News: Panja . Tariq . 18 April 2021 . Top European Soccer Teams Agree to Join Breakaway League . The New York Times . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/18/sports/soccer/super-league-united-liverpool-juventus-madrid.html . 2021-12-28 . limited . 18 April 2021 . 0362-4331.
  21. Web site: Statement by UEFA, the English Football Association, the Premier League, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), LaLiga, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Lega Serie A . UEFA . 18 April 2021 . 18 April 2021 . 18 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210418160006/https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/mediareleases/news/0268-12121411400e-7897186e699a-1000--statement-by-uefa-english-fa-rfef-figc-premier-league-laliga-le/ . dead .
  22. News: European Super League: Uefa and Premier League condemn 12 major clubs signing up to breakaway plans . BBC Sport. BBC. 18 April 2021 . 18 April 2021 . 18 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210418162207/https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56794673 . live .
  23. An open letter to our fans . 20 April 2021. 20 April 2021. Arsenal F.C..
  24. Liverpool Football Club statement. 20 April 2021. 20 April 2021. Liverpool F.C..
  25. Pollard. Rob. Club statement. 20 April 2021. Manchester City F.C.. 20 April 2021.
  26. Manchester United withdraw from European Super League. 20 April 2021. 20 April 2021. Manchester United F.C..
  27. Club statement. 20 April 2021. 20 April 2021. Tottenham Hotspur F.C..
  28. News: Hytner . David . Hunter . Andy . Jackson . Jamie . 20 April 2021 . All Premier League clubs quit Super League after FA ban warning . . . live . 20 April 2021 . https://archive.today/20210420213648/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/20/chelsea-and-manchester-city-quit-super-league-after-fa-ban-warning . 20 April 2021.
  29. Club statement. 21 April 2021. 21 April 2021. Chelsea F.C..
  30. News: Panja. Tariq. Smith. Rory. 22 April 2021. How the Super League Fell Apart. The New York Times. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/22/sports/soccer/super-league-soccer.html . 2021-12-28 . limited. 21 May 2021. 0362-4331.
  31. News: 21 April 2021. European Super League in tatters as Atletico, Inter & AC Milan follow English clubs in quitting. Euronews. 22 June 2021.
  32. Web site: 21 April 2021. Super League suspended: Why English clubs pulled out, and what's next for them and UEFA. 22 June 2021. ESPN.
  33. News: Dunham. Matt. 20 June 2021. Football Super League is 'not dead, just resting'. The Times. 21 June 2021.
  34. Web site: Super League-UEFA, the clash arrives at the EU Court of Justice. 13 May 2021. Italy24 News Sport. 22 June 2021. 18 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210518170459/https://www.italy24news.com/business/50688.html. dead.
  35. News: 7 June 2021. UEFA y FIFA no pueden tomar represalias contra los clubes de la Superliga. Cadena Ser. 7 June 2021. es. 7 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210607010747/https://cadenaser.com/programa/2021/06/07/carrusel_deportivo/1623019964_535881.amp.html. dead.
  36. News: Nine of European Super League rebel clubs commit to UEFA competitions . https://archive.today/20210508101508/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/may/07/nine-of-european-super-league-rebel-clubs-commit-to-uefa-competitions . 7 May 2021 . 8 May 2021 . MacInnes . Paul . The Guardian . 22 June 2021 . live .
  37. News: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus admitted to Champions League next season. Reuters. ESPN. 15 June 2021. 22 June 2021.

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