UEFA Youth League round of 32 starts 3 February

The UEFA Youth League round of 32 is played on 3 and 4 February as the knockout phase begins.

In this round, the top 22 teams in the league phase and the ten domestic champions league path qualifiers come together in one-off ties, with two similar stages to then follow before the traditional four-team April finals in Nyon, Switzerland.

The top six teams emerging from the UEFA Champions League phase were drawn at home to the sides finishing 17th to 22nd, while the clubs that ended between seventh and 16th place are travelling to face the domestic champions path qualifiers.

All ties level after 90 minutes will go straight to a penalty shoot-out. The 16 winners will go into the 6 February draw that will set the knockout bracket for the rest of the competition.

UEFA YOUTH LEAGUE ROUND OF 32 MATCHES

All times CET

Tuesday 3 February

AZ Alkmaar vs Borussia Dortmund (14:00)
Club Brugge vs Monaco (16:00)
Real Madrid vs Marseille (16:00)
Žilina vs Liverpool (16:30)
Chelsea vs PSV Eindhoven (18:00)
Athletic Club vs Eintracht Frankfurt (19:00)

Wednesday 4 February

Legia Warszawa vs Ajax (14:00)
Paris Saint-Germain vs Dinamo-Minsk (14:30)
Benfica vs Slavia Praha (16:00)
Villarreal vs Bayer Leverkusen (16:00)
Real Betis vs Tottenham Hotspur (16:00)
HJK Helsinki vs Manchester City (16:00)
Puskás Akadémia vs Sporting CP (16:30)
Maccabi Haifa vs Barcelona (17:00)
Köln vs Inter (18:00)

TBC

Dynamo Kyiv vs Atlético de Madrid

TEAM GUIDE

• Barcelona won a record third title last season; Chelsea are the only other multiple winners while AZ Alkmaar, Benfica and Real Madrid are also former champions.

• Paris Saint-Germain are past runners-up while both Ajax and Sporting CP have also reached the four-team finals. Dortmund, Liverpool, Inter and Tottenham have reached the last eight

• As well as Barcelona winning last season, AZ also made it to the Nyon semi-finals. Inter and Man City were beaten quarter-finalists and Atleti, Real Madrid and Sporting CP also reached the round of 16.

• Atleti and Real Madrid kept up their records of getting past the league phase/group stage in all 12 editions. Real Madrid have got to the round of 16 in every past season.

• Belarus, Finland and Poland have teams in the post-New Year knockout phase for the first time in the shape of Dinamo-Minsk, HJK and Legia.

• Athletic Club, Köln, Leverkusen, Marseille, Puskás Akadémia and Slavia are also at this stage for the first time.

• Betis, Club Brugge, Frankfurt, Maccabi Haifa, Marseille and Villarreal are also aiming to reach the round of 16 for the first time.

• Köln had never made it through a round of this competition before and became the first team to knock out Midtjylland from the domestic champions path, which the Danish club had got through a record seven times.

• Dinamo-Minsk and HJK are the first teams to advance to the last 32 from the opening round of the three-stage domestic champions path since the current format was introduced in 2024/25.

• Madrid beat Marseille 3-2 in the league phase on Matchday 1.

• Club Brugge beat Monaco 1-0 in the league phase on Matchday 1. In the 2018/19 group stage, Monaco won 3-2 away and 3-1 at home against the same opponents.

• Ajax faced Legia in the 2017/18 domestic champions path second round. Ajax won 4-1 away but and went through despite losing the second leg 2-0 at home.

ROAD TO NYON: UEFA YOUTH LEAGUE KNOCKOUT CALENDAR

Knockout draw (round of 16 onwards): 6 February, Nyon
Round of 16: 24/25 February
Quarter-finals: 17/18 March
Semi-finals: 17 April (Colovray Sports Centre, Nyon)
Final: 20 April (Colovray Sports Centre, Nyon)