2015–16 UEFA Youth League

The 2015–16 UEFA Youth League was the third season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.

2015–16 UEFA Youth League
The Colovray Stadium in Nyon hosted the semi-finals and final.
Tournament details
Dates15 September 2015 – 18 April 2016
Teams64 (from 37 associations)
Final positions
Champions Chelsea (2nd title)
Runners-up Paris Saint-Germain
Tournament statistics
Matches played167
Goals scored538 (3.22 per match)
Top scorer(s) Roberto Núñez (9 goals)

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]

Format changes

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]

  • The tournament is expanded from 32 to 64 teams. The 64 teams include the youth teams of the 32 clubs which participate in the UEFA Champions League group stage, which have been included since the first edition, as well as the youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations according to their UEFA country coefficients, which are included starting from this edition. Associations without a youth domestic champion as well as domestic champions already included in the UEFA Champions League path are replaced by the next association in the UEFA ranking.
  • The new format of the competition sees the two groups of teams compete in separate paths until the play-offs:
    • In the UEFA Champions League path, the 32 Champions League youth teams retain the group stage format and schedule which correspond to the Champions League group stage. The group winners advance to the round of 16, and the group runners-up advance to the play-offs.
    • In the Domestic Champions path, the 32 youth domestic champions play two rounds of two-legged ties, with the eight winners advancing to the play-offs.
    • In the play-offs, the youth domestic champions play a single match at home against the UEFA Champions League path group runners-up.
    • In the round of 16, the UEFA Champions League path group winners play a single match against the winners of the play-offs (home team determined by draw).
    • In the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final, teams play each other over a single match (quarter-finals home team determined by draw, semi-finals and final played at neutral venues).
  • The under-19 age limit is retained, but clubs are able to include a maximum of three under-20 players in their overall list of 40 players for the competition, in order to alleviate the burden on players having school duties.

Teams

A total of 64 teams from 37 of the 54 UEFA member associations entered the tournament. They were split into two sections:[5][6]

  • The youth teams of the 32 clubs which qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage entered the UEFA Champions League Path.
  • The youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations according to their 2014 UEFA country coefficients entered the Domestic Champions Path. Associations without a youth domestic champion as well as domestic champions already included in the UEFA Champions League path were replaced by the next association in the UEFA ranking.[7][8]
Rank Association Teams
UEFA Champions League Path Domestic Champions Path
1 Spain
Villarreal
2 England
Middlesbrough
3 Germany
Schalke 04
4 Italy
Torino
5 Portugal
6 France
  • Paris Saint-Germain
  • Lyon
 Stade de Reims
7 Russia
Spartak Moscow
8 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven Ajax
9 Ukraine
10 Belgium Gent Anderlecht
11 Turkey Galatasaray Beşiktaş
12 Greece Olympiacos[†]
13 Switzerland Servette
14 Austria Red Bull Salzburg
15 Czech Republic Příbram
16 Romania Viitorul Constanța
17 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv[†]
18 Cyprus APOEL
19 Denmark Midtjylland
20 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb[†]
21 Poland Legia Warsaw
22 Belarus BATE Borisov Minsk
23 Scotland Celtic[9]
24 Sweden Malmö Elfsborg
25 Bulgaria Litex Lovech
26 Norway Brann
27 Serbia Rad
28 Hungary Puskás Akadémia
29 Slovenia Domžale
30 Slovakia Senica
31 Moldova Zimbru Chișinău
32 Azerbaijan Ravan Baku
33 Georgia Saburtalo Tbilisi
34 Kazakhstan Astana Aktobe
35 Bosnia and Herzegovina Željezničar
36 Finland HJK
37 Iceland Stjarnan
Associations which did not enter a team
38 Latvia
39 Montenegro
40 Albania
41 Lithuania
42 Macedonia
43 Republic of Ireland
44 Luxembourg
45 Malta
46 Liechtenstein
47 Northern Ireland
48 Wales
49 Armenia
50 Estonia
51 Faroe Islands
52 San Marino
53 Andorra
54 Gibraltar
Notes
  1. † Teams which were also youth domestic champions.

Squads

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.

Round and draw dates

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
Notes
  • For the UEFA Champions League Path group stage, in principle the teams play their matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the same day as the corresponding senior teams in the UEFA Champions League; however, matches may also be played on other dates, including Mondays and Thursdays.
  • For the Domestic Champions Path first and second rounds, in principle matches are played on Wednesdays; however, matches may also be played on other dates, including Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
  • For the play-offs, round of 16 and quarter-finals, in principle matches are played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; however, matches may also be played on other dates, provided they are completed before the following dates:
    • Play-offs: 12 February 2016
    • Round of 16: 26 February 2016
    • Quarter-finals: 18 March 2016

UEFA Champions League Path
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.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PSG RMA MFF SHA
1 Paris Saint-Germain 6 4 1 1 16 6 +10 13 Advance to round of 16 — 4–1 0–0 5–2
2 Real Madrid 6 4 0 2 16 7 +9 12 Advance to play-offs 2–0 — 3–0 4–0
3 Malmö FF 6 1 2 3 7 14 −7 5 0–3 1–0 — 5–5
4 Shakhtar Donetsk 6 1 1 4 13 25 −12 4 1–4 2–6 3–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PSV CSK MUN WOL
1 PSV Eindhoven 6 3 1 2 10 9 +1 10 Advance to round of 16 — 2–1 0–3 2–1
2 CSKA Moscow 6 2 2 2 10 6 +4 8[lower-alpha 1] Advance to play-offs 0–0 — 4–0 1–2
3 Manchester United 6 2 2 2 6 10 −4 8[lower-alpha 1] 0–5 0–0 — 1–1
4 Wolfsburg 6 2 1 3 10 11 −1 7 4–1 2–4 0–2 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked by head-to-head record (CSKA Moscow: 4 pts; Manchester United: 1 pt).

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BEN ATM GAL AST
1 Benfica 6 5 1 0 29 3 +26 16 Advance to round of 16 — 1–1 2–0 8–0
2 Atlético Madrid 6 4 1 1 25 5 +20 13 Advance to play-offs 1–2 — 4–0 7–1
3 Galatasaray 6 2 0 4 8 20 −12 6 1–11 1–3 — 3–0
4 Astana 6 0 0 6 1 35 −34 0 0–5 0–9 0–3 —
Source: UEFA

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MCI SEV JUV MGL
1 Manchester City 6 3 2 1 11 6 +5 11[lower-alpha 1] Advance to round of 16 — 1–1 4–1 1–1
2 Sevilla 6 3 2 1 9 7 +2 11[lower-alpha 1] Advance to play-offs 0–2 — 1–0 4–2
3 Juventus 6 2 0 4 7 11 −4 6 2–1 0–1 — 2–1
4 Borussia Mönchengladbach 6 1 2 3 10 13 −3 5 1–2 2–2 3–2 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked by head-to-head record (Manchester City: 4 pts; Sevilla: 1 pt).

Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAR ROM LEV BAT
1 Barcelona 6 3 3 0 10 4 +6 12 Advance to round of 16 — 3–3 1–1 2–0
2 Roma 6 2 3 1 12 6 +6 9 Advance to play-offs 0–0 — 5–1 3–0
3 Bayer Leverkusen 6 2 2 2 6 9 −3 8 0–1 2–1 — 1–0
4 BATE Borisov 6 0 2 4 1 10 −9 2 0–3 0–0 1–1 —
Source: UEFA

Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification DIN ARS OLY BAY
1 Dinamo Zagreb 6 3 1 2 9 8 +1 10[lower-alpha 1] Advance to round of 16 — 0–2 2–2 0–1
2 Arsenal 6 3 1 2 9 7 +2 10[lower-alpha 1] Advance to play-offs 1–2 — 3–2 2–0
3 Olympiacos 6 3 1 2 9 8 +1 10[lower-alpha 1] 1–3 2–0 — 1–0
4 Bayern Munich 6 1 1 4 3 7 −4 4 1–2 1–1 0–1 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked by head-to-head record (Dinamo Zagreb: 7 pts; Arsenal: 6 pts; Olympiacos: 4 pts).

Group G
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CHE DYK POR MTA
1 Chelsea 6 4 2 0 15 4 +11 14 Advance to round of 16 — 3–1 0–0 3–0
2 Dynamo Kyiv 6 3 1 2 7 7 0 10 Advance to play-offs 0–2 — 2–1 2–0
3 Porto 6 2 2 2 8 7 +1 8 3–3 0–1 — 2–0
4 Maccabi Tel Aviv 6 0 1 5 2 14 −12 1 0–4 1–1 1–2 —
Source: UEFA

Group H
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LYO VAL ZEN GNT
1 Lyon 6 4 1 1 16 4 +12 13[lower-alpha 1] Advance to round of 16 — 1–0 6–0 4–0
2 Valencia 6 4 1 1 13 3 +10 13[lower-alpha 1] Advance to play-offs 1–1 — 2–0 5–1
3 Zenit Saint Petersburg 6 2 0 4 5 11 −6 6 3–1 0–1 — 0–1
4 Gent 6 1 0 5 2 18 −16 3 0–3 0–4 0–2 —
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. Ranked by head-to-head record (Lyon: 4 pts; Valencia: 1 pt).

Domestic Champions Path
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]

  • In the first round, teams in the same group were drawn against each other.
  • In the second round, the winners from Group 1 were drawn against the winners from Group 2, and the winners from Group 3 were drawn against the winners from Group 4, with the order of legs decided by draw.

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]

First round

The first legs were played on 29 and 30 September, and the second legs were played on 7, 14, 20 and 21 October 2015.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Villarreal 4–4 (a) Servette 2–3 2–1
APOEL 4–9 Puskás Akadémia 3–3 1–6
Senica 1–2 Torino 0–0 1–2
Rad 1–1 (3–2 p) Domžale 0–1 1–0
Stade de Reims 5–6 Middlesbrough 5–3 0–3
Elfsborg 2–1 Stjarnan 2–0 0–1
Brann 1–6 Anderlecht 1–1 0–5
HJK 1–6 Celtic 0–5 1–1
Schalke 04 2–5 Ajax 2–3 0–2
Příbram 4–1 Zimbru Chișinău 2–0 2–1
Red Bull Salzburg 5–2 Željezničar 4–0 1–2
Midtjylland 5–2[A] Saburtalo Tbilisi 3–1 2–1
Aktobe 0–6 Beşiktaş 0–2 0–4
Spartak Moscow 4–0 Ravan Baku 4–0 0–0
Minsk 3–7 Viitorul Constanța 2–2 1–5
Litex Lovech 2–5 Legia Warsaw 1–2 1–3
Notes
  1. ^
    Order of legs reversed after original draw.

Second round

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.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Puskás Akadémia 1–3 Celtic 1–0 0–3
Rad 0–1 Elfsborg 0–1 0–0
Servette 3–4 Anderlecht 1–2 2–2
Middlesbrough 6–3 Torino 3–0 3–3
Spartak Moscow 1–5 Ajax 0–3 1–2
Beşiktaş 2–5 Red Bull Salzburg 1–0 1–5
Midtjylland 5–1 Legia Warsaw 2–0 3–1
Příbram 2–0 Viitorul Constanța 2–0 0–0

Play-offs
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]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Ajax 3–1 Sevilla
Příbram 2–2 (5–4 p) CSKA Moscow
Red Bull Salzburg 0–4 Roma
Anderlecht 2–0 Arsenal
Celtic 1–1 (3–4 p) Valencia
Elfsborg 1–3 Real Madrid
Middlesbrough 5–0 Dynamo Kyiv
Midtjylland 4–4 (5–4 p) Atlético Madrid

Knockout phase
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:

  • In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners from the UEFA Champions League Path were drawn against the eight play-off winners. Teams from the same UEFA Champions League Path group could not be drawn against each other, but teams from the same association could be drawn against each other. The draw also decided the home team for each round of 16 match.
  • In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same UEFA Champions League Path group or the same association could be drawn against each other. The draws also decided the home team for each quarter-final, and the "home" team for administrative purposes for each semi-final and final (which were played at a neutral venue).

If the scores were level after full-time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).[5]

Bracket (round of 16 onwards)
 
Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
              
 
23 February
 
 
 Real Madrid3
 
8 March
 
 Manchester City1
 
 Real Madrid2
 
24 February
 
 Benfica0
 
 Příbram1 (3)
 
15 April – Nyon
 
 Benfica (p)1 (5)
 
 Real Madrid1
 
24 February
 
 Paris Saint-Germain3
 
 Paris Saint-Germain1
 
9 March
 
 Middlesbrough0
 
 Paris Saint-Germain3
 
24 February
 
 Roma1
 
 PSV Eindhoven2 (1)
 
18 April – Nyon
 
 Roma (p)2 (3)
 
 Paris Saint-Germain1
 
23 February
 
 Chelsea2
 
 Chelsea (p)1 (5)
 
15 March
 
 Valencia1 (3)
 
 Chelsea1
 
24 February
 
 Ajax0
 
 Lyon0
 
15 April – Nyon
 
 Ajax3
 
 Chelsea3
 
23 February
 
 Anderlecht0
 
 Anderlecht (awd.)3
 
8 March
 
 Dinamo Zagreb0
 
 Anderlecht2
 
23 February
 
 Barcelona0
 
 Barcelona3
 
 
 Midtjylland1
 

Round of 16

The round of 16 matches were played on 23 and 24 February 2016.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
PSV Eindhoven 2–2 (1–3 p) Roma
Příbram 1–1 (3–5 p) Benfica
Anderlecht 3–0 (awd.)[B] Dinamo Zagreb
Lyon 0–3 Ajax
Chelsea 1–1 (5–3 p) Valencia
Real Madrid 3–1 Manchester City
Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 Middlesbrough
Barcelona 3–1 Midtjylland
Notes
  1. ^
    Match originally finished 0–2 in favour of Dinamo Zagreb, but was awarded by UEFA as 3–0 win for Anderlecht due to Dinamo Zagreb fielding suspended player Matija Fintić.[20]

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 8, 9 and 15 March 2016.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Chelsea 1–0 Ajax
Paris Saint-Germain 3–1 Roma
Anderlecht 2–0 Barcelona
Real Madrid 2–0 Benfica

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 15 April 2016 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[21]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Real Madrid 1–3 Paris Saint-Germain
Chelsea 3–0 Anderlecht

Final

The final was played on 18 April 2016 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.[21]

Paris Saint-Germain 1–2 Chelsea
Meïté  58' Report Tomori  10'
Palmer  61'
Colovray Stadium, Nyon
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

Statistics

Top goalscorers
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 Wolfsburg 5 410
Kasey Palmer Chelsea 545
Jean-Kévin Augustin Paris Saint-Germain 641
Umar Sadiq Roma 769

Source: UEFA[22]

Top assists
Rank Player Team Assists Minutes played
1 Harrison Chapman Middlesbrough 8 540
2 Sam Lammers PSV Eindhoven 4 512
Fran Villalba[23] Valencia 546
Théo Chendri Barcelona 570
Umar Sadiq Roma 769
Christopher Nkunku Paris Saint-Germain 788

Source: UEFA[24]

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References
  1. "UEFA Youth League retained and expanded". UEFA.org. 18 September 2014.
  2. "Chelsea defeat Paris to retain Youth League title". UEFA.com. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  3. "Milan to host 2016 UEFA Champions League final". UEFA.org. 18 September 2014.
  4. "UEFA Youth League retained and expanded". UEFA.com. 18 September 2014.
  5. "Regulations of the UEFA Youth League 2015/16" (PDF). UEFA.com. 1 May 2015.
  6. "UEFA Youth League entrants confirmed". UEFA.com. 27 August 2015.
  7. "Country coefficients 2013/14". UEFA.com.
  8. "UEFA Country Ranking 2014". Bert Kassies.
  9. "Celtic Under-17s book European place with title triumph". Celtic FC. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  10. "UEFA Youth League: How the new system will work". UEFA.com. 24 July 2015.
  11. "Draws — Group stage". UEFA.com. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  12. "UEFA Youth League groups set". UEFA.com. 27 August 2015.
  13. "Draws — Domestic champions path". UEFA.com. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  14. "Youth League: Domestic Champions path draw". UEFA.com. 1 September 2015.
  15. "UEFA Youth League domestic path draw details". UEFA.com. 1 September 2015.
  16. "Draws — Play-off". UEFA.com. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  17. "UEFA Youth League play-off draw". UEFA.com. 14 December 2015.
  18. "Draws — Knockout phase". UEFA.com.
  19. "UEFA Youth League knockout stage draw". UEFA.com. 15 February 2016.
  20. "UEFA rejects Valencia penalty shootout protest after Chelsea youth game". ESPN FC. 29 February 2016.
  21. "Final tournament: Nyon 2016". UEFA.com.
  22. "Statistics — Qualifying phase — Player statistics — Goals". UEFA.com. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  23. "2015/16 UEFA Youth League – Fran Villalba". UEFA.com.
  24. "Statistics — Qualifying phase — Player statistics — Assists". UEFA.com. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
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