UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Champions, matches

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 was the 67th season of Europe’s premier club football tournament organized by UEFA, and the 30th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs’ Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

Champions: Real Madrid (14th title)
Runner- Up:  Liverpool
Top Scorer: Karim Benzema
Best Player : Karim Benzema
Best Young Player : Vinícius Júnior

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Summary
Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 1–0 in the final, which was played at the Stade de France 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 in Munich, Germany. However, due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final, the hosts were shifted back a year, with Saint Petersburg scheduled to host the 2022 final. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine 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, 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 by eventual winners Real Madrid.

UCL 2021-22 Play-off round
The draw for the play-off round was held on 2 August 2021, 12:00 CEST. The first legs were played on 17 and 18 August, and the second legs were played on 24 and 25 August 2021.
The winners of the ties advanced to the group stage. The losers were transferred to the Europa League group stage.

Champions Path

Team 1	Aggregate	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Red Bull Salzburg	4–2	Brøndby	2–1	2–1
Young Boys	6–4	Ferencváros	3–2	3–2
Malmö FF	3–2	Ludogorets Razgrad	2–0	1–2
Sheriff Tiraspol	3–0	Dinamo Zagreb	3–0	0–0

League Path

Team 1	Aggregate	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Monaco	2–3	Shakhtar Donetsk	0–1	2–2 (a.e.t.)
Benfica	2–1	PSV Eindhoven	2–1	0–0

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Group Standings

Group A

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Points	Qualification
1	Manchester City	6	4	0	2	18	10	+8	12	Advance to knockout phase
2	PSG	6	3	2	1	13	8	+5	11	Advance to knockout phase
3	RB Leipzig	6	2	1	3	15	14	+1	7	Transfer to Europa League
4	Club Brugge	6	1	1	4	6	20	−14	4

Group B

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Points	Qualification
1	Liverpool	6	6	0	0	17	6	+11	18	Advance to knockout phase
2	Atlético Madrid	6	2	1	3	7	8	−1	7	Advance to knockout phase
3	Porto	6	1	2	3	4	11	−7	5	Transfer to Europa League
4	Milan	6	1	1	4	6	9	−3	4

Group C

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Points	Qualification
1	Ajax	6	6	0	0	20	5	+15	18	Advance to knockout phase
2	Sporting CP	6	3	0	3	14	12	+2	9	Advance to knockout phase
3	Borussia Dortmund	6	3	0	3	10	11	−1	9	Transfer to Europa League
4	Beşiktaş	6	0	0	6	3	19	−16	0

Note: Tied on head-to-head points. Head-to-head goal difference: Sporting CP +1, Borussia Dortmund −1.

Group D

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Points	Qualification
1	Real Madrid	6	5	0	1	14	3	+11	15	Advance to knockout phase
2	Inter Milan	6	3	1	2	8	5	+3	10	Advance to knockout phase
3	Sheriff Tiraspol	6	2	1	3	7	11	−4	7	Transfer to Europa League
4	Shakhtar Donetsk	6	0	2	4	2	12	−10	2

Group E

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Points	Qualification
1	Bayern Munich	6	6	0	0	22	3	+19	18	Advance to knockout phase
2	Benfica	6	2	2	2	7	9	−2	8	Advance to knockout phase
3	Barcelona	6	2	1	3	2	9	−7	7	Transfer to Europa League
4	Dynamo Kyiv	6	0	1	5	1	11	−10	1

Group F

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Points	Qualification
1	Manchester United	6	3	2	1	11	8	+3	11	Advance to knockout phase
2	Villarreal	6	3	1	2	12	9	+3	10	Advance to knockout phase
3	Atalanta	6	1	3	2	12	13	−1	6	Transfer to Europa League
4	Young Boys	6	1	2	3	7	12	−5	5

Group G

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Points	Qualification
1	Lille	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	11	Advance to knockout phase
2	Red Bull Salzburg	6	3	1	2	8	6	+2	10	Advance to knockout phase
3	Sevilla	6	1	3	2	5	5	0	6	Transfer to Europa League
4	VfL Wolfsburg	6	1	2	3	5	10	−5	5

Group H

Position	Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Points	Qualification
1	Juventus	6	5	0	1	10	6	+4	15
2	Chelsea	6	4	1	1	13	4	+9	13
3	Zenit Saint Petersburg	6	1	2	3	10	10	0	5
4	Malmö FF	6	0	1	5	1	14	−13	1

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals onwards were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner was designated as the “home” team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Round of 16 matches
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 13 December 2021, originally at 12:00 CET. 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. 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. 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.

Team 1	Aggregate	Team 2	1st Leg	2nd Leg
Red Bull Salzburg	2–8	Bayern Munich	1–1	1–7
Sporting CP	0–5	Manchester City	0–5	0–0
Benfica	3–2	Ajax	2–2	1–0
Chelsea	4–1	Lille	2–0	2–1
Atlético Madrid	2–1	Manchester United	1–1	1–0
Villarreal	4–1	Juventus	1–1	3–0
Inter Milan	1–2	Liverpool	0–2	1–0
Paris Saint-Germain	2–3	Real Madrid	1–0	1–3

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Quarter Final matches
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 March 2022, 12:00 CET. The first legs were played on 5 and 6 April, and the second legs were played on 12 and 13 April 2022.

Team 1	Aggregate	Team 2	1st Leg	2nd Leg
Chelsea	4–5	Real Madrid	1–3	3–2 (a.e.t.)
Manchester City	1–0	Atlético Madrid	1–0	0–0
Villarreal	2–1	Bayern Munich	1–0	1–1
Benfica	4–6	Liverpool	1–3	3–3

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Semi Finals
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 18 March 2022, 12:00 CET, after the quarter-final draw. The first legs were played on 26 and 27 April, and the second legs were played on 3 and 4 May 2022.

Team 1	Aggregate	Team 2	1st Leg	2nd Leg
Manchester City	5–6	Real Madrid	4–3	1–3 (a.e.t.)
Liverpool	5–2	Villarreal	2–0	3–2

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Final Match
28 May 2022 21:36 CEST, Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Liverpool	0–1	Real Madrid
		Vinícius Jr. 59′

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Top Goal Scorer List

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	15
2	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	13
3	Sébastien Haller	Ajax	11
4	Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	8
5	Christopher Nkunku	RB Leipzig	7
6	Riyad Mahrez	Manchester City	7
7	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	6
8	Darwin Núñez	Benfica	6
9	Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	6
10	Leroy Sané	Bayern Munich	6
11	Arnaut Danjuma	Villarreal	6

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Most Assist Provider List

Rank	Player	Team	Assist
1	Bruno Fernandes	Manchester United	7
2	Leroy Sané	Bayern Munich	6
3	Vinícius Júnior	Real Madrid	6
4	Etienne Capoue	Villarreal	4
5	Luka Modrić	Real Madrid	4
6	Thomas Muller	Bayern Munich	4
7	Gerard Moreno	Villarreal	4
8	Kylian Mbappe	Paris Saint-Germain	4
9	Antony Santos	Ajax	4

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Team of the Season
The UEFA technical study group selected the following players as the team of the tournament.

Position	Player	Team
Goalkeeper	Thibaut Courtois	Real Madrid
Defender	Trent Alexander-Arnold	Liverpool
Defender	Antonio Rüdiger	Chelsea
Defender	Virgil van Dijk	Liverpool
Defender	Andrew Robertson	Liverpool
Midfielder	Kevin De Bruyne	Manchester City
Midfielder	Fabinho	Liverpool
Midfielder	Luka Modrić	Real Madrid
Forward	Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain
Forward	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid
Forward	Vinícius Júnior	Real Madrid

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 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, which did not organize 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 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.)

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 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.

The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP).

UEFA Champions League 2021-22 Qualifying Rounds

Preliminary round
The draw for the preliminary round was held on 8 June 2021, 12:00 CEST. The preliminary round matches, which consisted of two semi-finals on 22 June 2021 and the final on 25 June 2021, were originally to be played at Gundadalur, Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands, but were moved due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Faroe Islands. The matches were instead played in Albania, with the semi-finals at Elbasan Arena, Elbasan and Niko Dovana Stadium, Durrës, and the final at Elbasan Arena.
The winner of the preliminary round final advanced to the first qualifying round. The losers of the semi-finals and final were transferred to the Europa Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round.

First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 15 June 2021, 12:00 CEST. The first legs were played on 6 and 7 July, and the second legs were played on 13 and 14 July 2021.
The winners of the ties advanced to the Champions Path second qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Europa Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round.

Second qualifying round
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 16 June 2021, 12:00 CEST. The first legs were played on 20 and 21 July, and the second legs were played on 27 and 28 July 2021.
The winners of the ties advanced to the third qualifying round of their respective path. The Champions Path losers were transferred to the Europa League Champions Path third qualifying round, while the League Path losers were transferred to the Europa League Main Path third qualifying round.

Third qualifying round
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 19 July 2021, 12:00 CEST. 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.