UEFA Youth League domestic champions path bracket set

The UEFA Youth League domestic champions path bracket is set.

In all, 50 clubs enter the tournament in this path, with ten teams eventually due to emerge to join the top 22 sides in the UEFA Champions League path in the round of 32. Twenty clubs take part in the ten first-round ties, and the winners of those contests join the 30 teams beginning in the second round.

The bracket for all three rounds was set by the draw on 1 September with every tie over two legs. Teams starting in the first round include HJK Helsinki, who made it from that stage to the last 16 in 2025/26, while awaiting in the second round are former champions AZ Alkmaar, Benfica, Chelsea and Salzburg.

First round (16 September & 14 October)

Flora Tallinn vs HB
Thór Akureyri vs Žalgiris
Cliftonville vs Super Nova
HJK Helsinki vs Ballkani
Cardiff Met vs UNA Strassen
Valletta vs Partizani
Mladost Donja Gorica vs Kairat Almaty
Dinamo Tbilisi vs Dinamo-Minsk
FC Santa Coloma vs AP Brera Strumica
Zrinjski Mostar vs Lincoln Red Imps

• Ballkani, Cardiff Met, Flora Tallinn, Mladost Donja Gorica, Partizani, Super Nova, Thór Akureyri and UNA Strassen are making their UEFA Youth League debuts in the first round. It is Mladost Donja Gorica and Super Nova's first club appearances in any UEFA competition.
• AP Brera Strumica, Cliftonville, FC Santa Coloma and Havnar Bóltfelag are also aiming to get through a UEFA Youth League round for the first time.
• Dinamo-Minsk and HJK Helsinki both reached the knockout phase from the domestic champions path first round last season. Each lost to eventual semi-finalists Paris Saint-Germain, Dinamo-Minsk in the last 32 and HJK in the round of 16 (after beating Manchester City on penalties to get there).

Second round (28 October & 4 November)

• In the second round, Clermont, Göztepe, Hradec Králové and Stabæk make competition debuts. It is Clermont's first club appearance in any UEFA competition.
• Clermont are the 15th different French entrants, moving them one ahead of Germany as the nation with the most distinct entries over the 13 editions.
• Also starting in the second round are two-time champions Chelsea, fellow past victors AZ Alkmaar, Benfica and Salzburg. AZ and Salzburg have won this competition after starting in the domestic champions path. Chelsea also reached the final from this path in 2018/19.
• Benfica maintain their record of entering in all 13 editions. In the first leg, Benfica will play their 100th game in this competition. Only Real Madrid have previously reached this mark; Atlético de Madrid and Barcelona will also be bringing up a century on Matchday 3 of the league phase.
• Bravo, Fiorentina, Hammarby, Pafos, Qarabağ and St. Patrick's Athletic are aiming to get through a stage of this competition for the first time.
  
  
  
• Dynamo Kyiv successfully came through this path for the fourth time last season. AZ, Legia and Žilina also came through this path and both reached the round of 16.

Third round (25 November & 9 December)

UEFA Youth League knockout calendar

Round of 32 draw: 11 December, Nyon
Round of 32: 2/3 February
Knockout draw (round of 16 onwards): 5 February, Nyon
Round of 16: 23/24 February
Quarter-finals: 16/17 March
Semi-finals: 16 April
Final: 19 April