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The 2021–22 UEFA Champions League was the 67th season of Europe's premier club
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
tournament organised by
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
, and the 30th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
.
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
defeated
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
1–0 in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
, which was played at the
Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...
in Saint-Denis, France, for a record-extending 14th European Cup title, and their fifth in nine years. It was originally scheduled to be played at the
Allianz Arena Allianz Arena (; known as Munich Football Arena for UEFA competitions) is a Association football, football stadium in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, with a 70,000 seating capacity for international matches and 75,000 for domestic matches. Widely kno ...
in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, Germany. However, due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final, the hosts were shifted back a year, with
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, Russia scheduled to host the 2022 final. Due to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
which commenced in February 2022, the final was eventually moved to Saint-Denis. As the winners, Real Madrid automatically qualified for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage, as well as earning the right to play against the winners of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League,
Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...
, in the 2022 UEFA Super Cup and participate in the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, both of which they went on to win. Chelsea were the defending champions, but they were eliminated in the
quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
by eventual winners Real Madrid. This season was the first since 1999–2000 (the first season after the dissolution of the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...
) where three major European club competitions (UEFA Champions League,
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
, and the newly created
UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...
) are organised by UEFA. No changes were made to the format of the Champions League, but teams that were eliminated from the preliminary round and first qualifying round of the Champions League were now transferred to the Europa Conference League instead of the Europa League. On 24 June 2021, UEFA approved the proposal to abolish the
away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
in all UEFA club competitions, which had been used since 1965. Accordingly, if in a
two-legged tie In sports (especially association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...
two teams scored the same number of aggregate goals, the winner of the tie would not be decided by the number of away goals scored by each team but always by 30 minutes of
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
, and if the two teams scored the same number of goals in extra time, the winner would be decided by a
penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
.


Association team allocation

A total of 80 teams from 54 of the 55
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
member associations participated in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League (the exception being
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
, which did not organise a domestic league). The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: *Associations 1–4 each had four teams qualify. *Associations 5–6 each had three teams qualify. *Associations 7–15 each had two teams qualify. *Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein) each had one team qualify. *The winners of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League and
2020–21 UEFA Europa League The 2020–21 UEFA Europa League was the 50th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Villarreal defeated Manchester United i ...
were each given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League through their own domestic league. (As Chelsea, the Champions League title holders, did qualify through their own domestic league this season, the additional entry for the Champions League title holders was re-allocated.)


Association ranking

For the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2020 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2015–16 to 2019–20. Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below: * – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders


Distribution

The following is the access list for this season. As the Champions League title holders, Chelsea, which were guaranteed a berth in the Champions League group stage, already qualified via their domestic league (as fourth place in the 2020-21 Premier League), the following changes to the access list were made: *The champions of association 11 (Turkey) enter the group stage instead of the play-off round (Champions Path). *The champions of association 13 (Denmark) enter the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round (Champions Path). *The champions of association 15 (Czech Republic) enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round (Champions Path). *The champions of associations 18 (Greece) and 19 (Serbia) enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round (Champions Path).


Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: *TH: Champions League title holders *EL: Europa League title holders *1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.: League positions of the previous season *Abd-: League positions of abandoned season due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and al ...
as determined by the national association; all teams were subject to approval by UEFA as per the guidelines for entry to European competitions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP). Notes


Round and draw dates

All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the preliminary round final, which was played on a Friday, and the final, which was played on a Saturday. The third qualifying round second legs were only played on a Tuesday due to the 2021 UEFA Super Cup on the following Wednesday. Scheduled kick-off times starting from the play-off round were 18:45 (instead of 18:55 previously) and 21:00 CEST/CET. All draws were held at UEFA headquarters in
Nyon Nyon (; historically German language, German: or and Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometer ...
, Switzerland, except the group stage draw, which took place in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, Turkey, on 26 August 2021.


Qualifying rounds


Preliminary round


First qualifying round


Second qualifying round


Third qualifying round


Play-off round


Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, Turkey, on 26 August 2021. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots, each of eight teams, based on the following principles: *Pot 1 contained the Champions League and Europa League title holders, and the champions of the top six associations based on their 2020 UEFA country coefficients. *Pot 2, 3 and 4 contained the remaining teams, seeded based on their 2021 UEFA club coefficients. Teams from the same association, and due to political reasons, teams from Ukraine and Russia, could not be drawn into the same group. Before the draw, UEFA formed pairings of teams from the same association (one pairing for associations with two or three teams, two pairings for associations with four or five teams) based on television audiences, where one team was drawn into Groups A–D and another team was drawn into Groups E–H, so that the two teams would play on different days. The matches were played on 14–15 September, 28–29 September, 19–20 October, 2–3 November, 23–24 November, and 7–9 December 2021. The top two teams of each group advanced to the round of 16. The third-placed teams were transferred to the Europa League knockout round play-offs, while the fourth-placed teams were eliminated from European competitions for the season. Sheriff Tiraspol made their debut appearance in the group stage. They were the first team from Moldova to play in the Champions League group stage.


Group A


Group B


Group C


Group D


Group E


Group F


Group G


Group H


Knockout phase

In the
knockout phase A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.


Bracket


Round of 16


Quarter-finals


Semi-finals


Final


Statistics

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.


Top goalscorers


Team of the season

The UEFA technical study group selected the following players as the team of the tournament.


Player of the Season

*
Karim Benzema Karim Mostafa Benzema (born 19 December 1987) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for and Captain (association football), captains Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Clu ...
(
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
)


Young Player of the Season

*
Vinícius Júnior Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior (; born 12 July 2000), commonly known as Vinícius Júnior or Vini Jr., is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for La Liga ...
(
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
)


European Super League controversy

On 18 April 2021, UEFA,
the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...
, the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
, the
Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...
,
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
, the
Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. RFEF organizes the natio ...
and
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
learned of plans from several English, Italian and Spanish clubs to create the European Super League. UEFA and the national associations announced that if such a league were to be established, its participants would be banned from playing in international and domestic competitions. Later that same day, English clubs (
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, Chelsea,
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
,
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
,
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
and
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
),
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
clubs (
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
,
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
and
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
) and
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
clubs (
Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...
,
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
) announced the establishment of the Super League, putting them at risk of being banned. On 20 April 2021, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur withdrew after the Football Association threatened to ban participating clubs from domestic football, whilst Chelsea withdrew some hours later. This led to the project's collapse, as Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan followed the English clubs by withdrawing. The Super League suspended its operations, with the case to be taken by the
Court of Justice of the European Union The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ( or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, this EU ins ...
(CJEU) to establish whether UEFA and
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
have the exclusive right to organise competitions. On 7 June 2021, the Swiss
Federal Department of Justice and Police The Federal Department of Justice and Police (, , , ) is one of the seven Ministry (government department), departments of the Switzerland, Swiss federal government, and is equivalent to a ministry of justice in other countries. As of 2024, it ...
notified UEFA and FIFA of the Spanish precautionary measure – which had earlier issued an
injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
against UEFA and FIFA and referred a ''cuestión preliminar'' (English: preliminary question) to the CJEU on whether UEFA and FIFA have violated articles 101 and 102 of the TFEU – ruling that neither governing body could not execute sanctions against Super League clubs. On 15 June 2021, it was officially confirmed that the remaining three clubs (Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid) – which did not sign the Commitment Declaration of the sanctioned other nine clubs and filed a new motion to scrap the agreement UEFA signed with those nine clubs – were admitted to the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, pending the disciplinary proceedings UEFA opened against them but which were suspended after the Swiss notification.


See also

* 2021–22 UEFA Europa League *
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, with Rom ...
* 2022 UEFA Super Cup *
2021–22 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2021–22 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 21st edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 13th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League. It was the first edition to fe ...
*
2021–22 UEFA Youth League The 2021–22 UEFA Youth League was the eighth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA. Real Madrid, having won the title in 2019–20, were the title holders, since the 2020–21 edition w ...
*
2021–22 UEFA Futsal Champions League The 2021–22 UEFA Futsal Champions League was the 36th edition of Europe's premier club futsal tournament, and the 21st edition organized by UEFA. It was also the fourth edition since the tournament was rebranded from "UEFA Futsal Cup" to UEFA Fu ...


Notes


References


External links

*
Official Technical Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 UEFA Champions League UEFA Champions League seasons 1 1 Champions League