This season was the first since 1999–2000 (the first season after the end of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup) where three major European club competitions (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and the newly created UEFA Europa Conference League) 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.[5]
On 24 June 2021, UEFA approved the proposal to remove the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions, which had been used since 1965. If in a two-legged tie 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, and if the two teams scored the same amount of goals in extra time, the winner would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.[6]
Association team allocation
A total of 80 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League (the exception being Liechtenstein,Note LIE[›] 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:[7]
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)Note LIE[›] each had one team qualify.
The winners of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League and 2020–21 UEFA Europa League 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.[8]
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
(UEL) – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
Association ranking for 2021–22 UEFA Champions League
The following is the access list for this season.[9] 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) entered the group stage instead of the play-off round.
The champions of association 13 (Denmark) entered the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round.
The champions of association 15 (Czech Republic) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
The champions of associations 18 (Greece) and 19 (Serbia) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
Access list for 2021–22 UEFA Champions League
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Preliminary round (4 teams)
4 champions from associations 52–55
First qualifying round (32 teams)
31 champions from associations 20–51 (except Liechtenstein)Note LIE[›]
1 winner from the preliminary round
Second qualifying round (26 teams)
Champions Path (20 teams)
4 champions from associations 16–19
16 winners from the first qualifying round
League Path (6 teams)
6 runners-up from associations 10–15
Third qualifying round (20 teams)
Champions Path (12 teams)
2 champions from associations 14–15
10 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path (8 teams)
3 runners-up from associations 7–9
2 third-placed teams from associations 5–6
3 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)
Play-off round (12 teams)
Champions Path (8 teams)
2 champions from associations 12–13
6 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path (4 teams)
4 winners from the third qualifying round (League Path)
Group stage (32 teams)
Europa League title holders
11 champions from associations 1–11
6 runners-up from associations 1–6
4 third-placed teams from associations 1–4
4 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–4
4 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path)
2 winners from the play-off round (League Path)
Knockout phase (16 teams)
8 group winners from the group stage
8 group runners-up from the group stage
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 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.[10]
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP).
^Iceland (ISL): The 2020 Úrvalsdeild was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland. The top team of the league at the time of the abandonment based on the average number of points per matches played for each team, Valur (who were declared champions), were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League by the Football Association of Iceland.[12]
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.[16]
All draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, except the group stage draw, which took place in Istanbul, Turkey, on 26 August 2021.[17]
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 15 June 2021, 12:00 CEST.[23]
The first legs were played on 6 and 7 July, and the second legs were played on 13 and 14 July 2021.
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 16 June 2021, 12:00 CEST.[24]
The first legs were played on 20 and 21 July, and the second legs were played on 27 and 28 July 2021.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 19 July 2021, 12:00 CEST.[25]
The first legs were played on 3 and 4 August, and the second legs were played on 10 August 2021.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round of their respective path. The Champions Path losers were transferred to the Europa League play-off round, while the League Path losers were transferred to the Europa League group stage.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 2 August 2021, 12:00 CEST.[26]
The first legs were played on 17 and 18 August, and the second legs were played on 24 and 25 August 2021.
Location of teams of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage. Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H.
The draw for the group stage was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 26 August 2021.[17][27] 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.[8]
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.[28]
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.
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 13 December 2021, originally at 12:00 CET.[29] The draw featured multiple irregularities: Manchester United were mistakenly included in the draw for Villarreal's opponent (both were in Group F), and subsequently were selected; another ball was then drawn, with Manchester City chosen instead. In the following tie, Liverpool were mistakenly included in the draw for Atlético Madrid's opponent (both were in Group B), while Manchester United were incorrectly excluded.[30] Later that day, UEFA voided the original draw due to a "technical problem" with the draw computer, and it was entirely redone at 15:00 CET.[31]
The first legs were played on 15, 16, 22 and 23 February, and the second legs were played on 8, 9, 15 and 16 March 2022.
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 March 2022, 12:00 CET.[32]
The first legs were played on 5 and 6 April, and the second legs were played on 12 and 13 April 2022.
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 18 March 2022, 12:00 CET, after the quarter-final draw.[32]
The first legs were played on 26 and 27 April, and the second legs were played on 3 and 4 May 2022.
The final will be played on 28 May 2022 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. A draw was held on 18 March 2022, after the quarter-final and semi-final draws, to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes.[32]
↑"Access list 2021–24"(PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
