UEFA Youth League 2021: the format and Inter's potential opponents

MILAN – This week, Armando Madonna’s U19s will find out who their opponents will be in the round of 64 of the UEFA Youth League, which, due to the difficulties involved in organising the competition as a result of the current pandemic, will have a new format this year.

FORMAT

The competition will be a single-legged knockout tournament, with the draw for the round of 64 matches, which will be played on 2 and 3 March, set to take place on 27 January. In keeping with the regular format, the competition will end with a knockout final four at the Colovray Stadium, Nyon, on 17 and 20 May.

As per the UEFA website, the competition will work as follows:

As usual, the 32 clubs that competed in the UEFA Champions League group stage participate in the UEFA Champions League path. They are joined by the 32 domestic youth champions from the highest-ranked associations whose senior side did not compete in the UEFA Champions League group stage, taking part in the domestic champions path. The two paths will run separately for the rounds of 64 and 32, before merging for the round of 16 onwards.

The round of 64 and round of 32 pairings are determined by means of an open draw. For the purposes of the draw, the UEFA administration may form groups and may include geographical conditions so that teams do not have to travel long distances. For the UEFA Champions League path, the UEFA administration also ensures that clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.  

DATES

Round of 64 draw: 27 January Round of 64: 2 and 3 MarchRound of 32 draw: 12 March (morning)Round of 16 onwards draw: 12 March (afternoon) Round of 32: 6 and 7 April Round of 16: 20 and 21 April Quarter-finals: 4 and 5 May Semi-finals (Colovray Stadium, Nyon): 17 May Final (Colovray Statdium, Nyon): 20 May  

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PATH

Real Madrid (ESP, holders) Barcelona (ESP) Atlético (ESP) Sevilla (ESP) Bayern München (GER) Borussia Dortmund (GER) Leipzig (GER) Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) Liverpool (ENG) Manchester City (ENG) Manchester United (ENG) Chelsea (ENG) Juventus (ITA)FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) Atalanta (ITA) Lazio (ITA) Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) Marseille (FRA) Rennes (FRA) Zenit (RUS) Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS) Krasnodar (RUS) Porto (POR) Club Brugge (BEL) Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) İstanbul Başakşehir (TUR) Ajax (NED) Salzburg (AUT) Olympiacos (GRE) Midtjylland (DEN) Ferencváros (HUN)

DOMESTIC CHAMPIONS PATH

Celta Vigo (ESP) Köln (GER) Angers (FRA) Chertanovo (RUS) Benfica (POR) Genk (BEL) Galatasaray (TUR) AZ Alkmaar (NED) Sparta Praha (CZE) PAOK (GRE) Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) Odense (DEN) Basel (SUI) APOEL (CYP) Crvena zvezda (SRB) Rangers (SCO) Dinamo Minsk (BLR) Hammarby (SWE) Rosenborg (NOR) Kairat (KAZ) Górnik Zabrze (POL) Gabala (AZE) Maccabi Haifa (ISR) Ludogorets (BUL) Viitorul (ROU) Žilina (SVK) Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) Györ (HUN) Shkëndija (MKD) Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA) Apolonia (ALB) Waterford (IRL)