Paris Saint-Germain and Youth League
Established in 2013, the UEFA Youth League gives young players the opportunity to compete on the European stage.
The UEFA Youth League was founded with the aim of helping the development of young players through the establishment of a major European competition. The format of the competition is different from that of the Champions League and Europa League. 64 teams participate and are divided into two parts. The first half consists of the teams from clubs that have qualified for the Champions League. These clubs compete in 8 groups of 4 teams each, where the top teams qualify for the finals while the second teams have to participate in a play-off.
The other clubs participating in the Youth League are the youth teams that have won their national U19 championship from the 32 top-ranked federations in the UEFA ranking. Unlike the teams that qualified through the Champions League, these 32 clubs participate in two knockout rounds with two-legged matches. The 8 teams that qualify after these two rounds play the 8 clubs that finished second in the Champions League route in a play-off.
Then, the 16 qualified clubs play each other in single elimination matches until the final. The final takes place in Nyon at the Stade Colovray, near UEFA's headquarters.
PSG's best result in Youth League
1 Final
2016
French teams in Youth League
In the 2021 edition, 4 French teams participated in the competition. Paris, Marseille and Rennes took part in the event thanks to the qualification of professional players for the Champions League. The last club to qualify was Angers thanks to its first place in the 2020 U19 championship before the it was stopped. However, the competition was cancelled by UEFA because of Covid.
Paris Saint-Germain is the only French club to have reach the Youth League final, in 2016 against Chelsea. Christopher Nkunku, Odsonne Edouard and Jean-Kevin Augustin were in the starting 11. Nkunku and Descamps were elected in the team of the competition.
In the 2021-22 edition, the Paris Saint-Germain finished at the 1st position of the group, with no defeat and the best defense. The LOSC missed the qualification to the next round, finishing 3rd behind Sevilla and Salzbourg. On March 1, 2022, the Red and Blue defeated FC Séville 2 - 0, with goals from Simons and Sankané. Zoumana Camara's players were be facing RB Salzbourg in Paris on Round of 8, on March 16, 2022. Despite the opening goal from Michut, the Red and Blue were defeated 3 - 1.
