The 67th season of the European elite club competition, the 30th since it was renamed the UEFA Champions League, will run from 22 June 2021 to 28 May 2022.
Who will be in the group stage?
Who enters when? See the access list
The 32 teams in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League group stage consist of 26 automatic qualifiers joined by six play-off winners.
2020/21 UEFA Champions League winners
2020/21 UEFA Europa League winners
ESP 4 teams
ENG 4 teams
GER 4 teams
ITA 4 teams
ENG 2 teams
POR 2 teams
RUS 1 team
BEL 1 team
UKR 1 team
NED 1 team
This list is subject to final confirmation by UEFA
How does the qualification work?
In 2020/21, qualifying was truncated following the late arrival of the previous campaign, with all ties ahead of the play-off one-way matches. All is well, 2021/22 will see a return to home and away format in the first qualifying round.
To see who participates in which round and how eliminated teams are transferred to the UEFA Europa League and the new UEFA Europa Conference League, see the access list.
When will the matches take place?
Qualification
June 22, 2021: semi-finals of the preliminary round
June 25, 2021: Final of the preliminary round
6/7 & 13/14 July 2021: First qualifying round
July 20/21 & 27/28 2021: Second qualifying round
3/4 & 10 August 2021: third qualifying round
17/18 & 24/25 August 2021: dams
Group stage
September 14/15, 2021: 1st day
28/29 September 2021: 2nd day
19/20 October 2021: 3rd day
2/3 November 2021: 4th day
23/24 November 2021: Day 5
7/8 December 2021: 6th day
Knockout phase
February 15/16/22/23 & March 8/9/15/16 2022: Round of 16
5/6 & 12/13 April 2022: Quarter-finals
26/27 & 3/4 May 2022: semi-finals
May 28, 2022: Final
Draw of dates to be confirmed
Where will the final take place?
The final will take place at the Saint Petersburg stadium. The Russian site was supposed to host the 2021 decision maker, but has been moved 12 months to host Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium (the potential host for 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic).
The separate place on Krestovsky Island was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, whose vision was of a spacecraft that landed on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. It has housed Zenit since 2017.
The 67th season of the European elite club competition, the 30th since it was renamed the UEFA Champions League, will run from 22 June 2021 to 28 May 2022.
Who will be in the group stage?
Who enters when? See the access list
The 32 teams in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League group stage consist of 26 automatic qualifiers joined by six play-off winners.
2020/21 UEFA Champions League winners
2020/21 UEFA Europa League winners
ESP 4 teams
ENG 4 teams
GER 4 teams
ITA 4 teams
ENG 2 teams
POR 2 teams
RUS 1 team
BEL 1 team
UKR 1 team
NED 1 team
This list is subject to final confirmation by UEFA
How does the qualification work?
In 2020/21, qualifying was truncated following the late arrival of the previous campaign, with all ties ahead of the play-off one-way matches. All is well, 2021/22 will see a return to home and away format in the first qualifying round.
To see who participates in which round and how eliminated teams are transferred to the UEFA Europa League and the new UEFA Europa Conference League, see the access list.
When will the matches take place?
Qualification
June 22, 2021: semi-finals of the preliminary round
June 25, 2021: Final of the preliminary round
6/7 & 13/14 July 2021: First qualifying round
July 20/21 & 27/28 2021: Second qualifying round
3/4 & 10 August 2021: third qualifying round
17/18 & 24/25 August 2021: dams
Group stage
September 14/15, 2021: 1st day
28/29 September 2021: 2nd day
19/20 October 2021: 3rd day
2/3 November 2021: 4th day
23/24 November 2021: Day 5
7/8 December 2021: 6th day
Knockout phase
February 15/16/22/23 & March 8/9/15/16 2022: Round of 16
5/6 & 12/13 April 2022: Quarter-finals
26/27 & 3/4 May 2022: semi-finals
May 28, 2022: Final
Draw of dates to be confirmed
Where will the final take place?
The final will take place at the Saint Petersburg stadium. The Russian site was supposed to host the 2021 decision maker, but has been moved 12 months to host Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium (the potential host for 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic).
The separate place on Krestovsky Island was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, whose vision was of a spacecraft that landed on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. It has housed Zenit since 2017.