UEFA Youth League domestic champions path latest: Second round starts 27 October

The second of three rounds in the UEFA Youth League domestic champions path begins on Tuesday 27 October with former champions AZ Alkmaar, Benfica, Chelsea and Salzburg all opening their campaigns.

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 took part in the ten first-round ties, and the winners of those contests join the 30 teams beginning in the second round.

HJK Helsinki, who made it from the first round of this path to the last 16 in 2025/26, are on their way again after eliminating debutants Ballkani. However, the other team that got through this path a year ago after starting in the first round, Dinamo-Minsk, fell on penalties to Dinamo Tbilisi in a thrilling tie that ended 6-6 on aggregate.

Four Youth League newcomers made it through: Cardiff Met, Flora Tallinn, Partizani and Super Nova, the Latvian club's first representatives in any UEFA competition. Cardiff Met are the first team from Wales to get through a round or register a victory in this competition, feats matched on behalf of North Macedonia by Brera Strumica.

Antonio Arapović scored five goals across the two legs of Zrinjski Mostar's victory against Lincoln Red Imps, while Kairat Almaty and Žalgiris are both through from this round for the second time in three seasons.

Antonio Arapović (No9) scored five for Zrinjski Mostar over two legs against Lincoln Red ImpsHŠK Zrinjski Mostar

The bracket for all three two-legged rounds was set by the draw on 1 September.

Second round fixtures

First legs

Tuesday 27 October:

AZ Alkmaar vs Göztepe (18:00)

Wednesday 28 October:

Legia Warszawa vs Clermont (11:00)
Qarabağ vs GNK Dinamo (12:30)
Dynamo Kyiv vs Rangers (13:00)
Partizani vs Hradec Králové (14:00)
AP Brera Strumica vs Hoffenheim (14:00)
Farul Constanța vs Sheriff Tiraspol (14:00)
Fiorentina vs Septemvri Sofia (14:30)
Genk vs Salzburg (15:00)
Zrinjski Mostar vs PAOK (16:00)
Dinamo Tbilisi vs Copenhagen (16:00)
Benfica vs Pafos (17:00)
Bravo vs Crvena Zvezda (18:00)
MTK Budapest vs Kairat Almaty (18:00)
Flora Tallinn vs Chelsea (18:00)
HJK Helsinki vs Žilina (18:00)
Stabæk vs Cardiff Met (18:00)
Hammarby vs Super Nova (19:00)
Zürich vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv (19:00)
St. Patrick's Athletic vs Žalgiris (20:30)

Second legs

Tuesday 3 November:

Salzburg vs Genk (14:00)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv vs Zürich (16:30)
Göztepe vs AZ Alkmaar (18:00)

Wednesday 4 November:

Kairat Almaty vs MTK Budapest (10:00)
Septemvri Sofia vs Fiorentina (11:30)
GNK Dinamo vs Qarabağ (13:00)
Pafos vs Benfica (13:00)
Chelsea vs Flora Tallinn (14:00)
Crvena Zvezda vs Bravo (14:00)
Copenhagen vs Dinamo Tbilisi (14:00)
PAOK vs Zrinjski Mostar (14:30)
Žilina vs HJK Helsinki (16:30)
Super Nova vs Hammarby (17:00)
Sheriff Tiraspol vs Farul Constanța (17:00)
Hradec Králové vs Partizani (17:30)
Hoffenheim vs AP Brera Strumica (18:00)
Žalgiris vs St. Patrick's Athletic (18:00)
Clermont vs Legia Warszawa (19:00)
Rangers vs Dynamo Kyiv (20:00)
Cardiff Met vs Stabæk (20:45)

• In the second round, Clermont, Göztepe, Hradec Králové and Stabæk will make their competition debuts. This is Clermont's first club appearance in any UEFA competition.
• Cardiff Met, Flora, Partizani and Super Nova came through the first round on debut.
• 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 and 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, HJK, Legia and Žilina all came through this path in 2025/26 and reached the round of 16.

Third round (25 November & 9 December)

First round results

Second legs

Wednesday 14 October:

Kairat Almaty 8-1 Mladost Donja Gorica (agg: 13-1)
Ballkani 1-2 HJK Helsinki (agg: 1-8)
Partizani 4-0 Valletta (agg: 6-0)
Dinamo-Minsk 2-3 Dinamo Tbilisi (agg: 6-6, Dinamo Tbilisi win 3-1 on penalties)
AP Brera Strumica 8-0 FC Santa Coloma (agg: 11-0)
Super Nova 1-0 Cliftonville (agg: 1-0)
Žalgiris 2-0 Thór (agg: 6-3)
UNA Strassen 1-0 Cardiff Met (agg: 1-4)
HB 1-4 Flora Tallinn (agg: 1-7)

Tuesday 13 October:

Lincoln Red Imps 1-4 Zrinjski Mostar (agg: 1-10)

First legs

Saturday 10 October:

Dinamo Tbilisi 3-4 Dinamo-Minsk 

Wednesday 16 September:

FC Santa Coloma 0-3 AP Brera Strumica 
Zrinjski Mostar 6-0 Lincoln Red Imps 
Thór 3-4 Žalgiris 
Flora 3-0 HB
HJK Helsinki 6-0 Ballkani
Valletta 0-2 Partizani
Cliftonville 0-0 Super Nova
Cardiff Met 4-0 UNA Strassen

Tuesday 15 September:

Mladost Donja Gorica 0-5 Kairat Almaty

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