Champions League 2021-22: Teams, groups, fixtures, results, draw, final

FT Desk

• Updated: 1 Jun 2022 11:17 CDT
• 11 min read

After huge drama surrounding the European Super League project last season, it is the UEFA Champions League which remains the continent’s top club football competition.

Chelsea went into the latest edition of the prestigious tournament as defending champions, having defeated Manchester City – who were expected to challenge again – in the 2020-21 final.

Having added Lionel Messi and a host of other big stars, Paris Saint-Germain were also expected to contest for glory right into the latter stages, with established stalwarts like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus involved once more.

FootballTransfers have compiled all the key information for the 2021-22 Champions League, with all dates, fixtures and qualified teams listed below in a hub that was regularly updated throughout the season.

What teams are in the 2021-22 Champions League?

There were 32 teams who qualified for the Champions League in the 2021-22 season.

Four teams represented England, Germany and Italy, while there were five representatives from Spain because Villarreal won last year’s Europa League and finished outside of the top four in La Liga.

Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Villarreal, Inter, Milan, Juventus, Atalanta, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg made up those 17 teams.

After Monaco failed to qualify, there were only two teams from France’s Ligue 1 in the group stages, with Paris Saint-Germain joined by champions Lille.

Portugal had three representatives – Porto, Benfica and Sporting CP, while Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev represented the Ukrainian top flight.

Ajax, Salzburg, Zenit, Besiktas, Club Brugge, Young Boys, Malmo and Sheriff were the other teams who have made the final 32.

What are the groups for the 2021-22 Champions League?

The draw for the Champions League in 2021-22 was made on Thursday August 26.

With Man Utd and PSG among the teams in Pot 2 and Milan all the way down in Pot 4 when Lille and Sporting were up in Pot 1, there was always the possibility of some interesting combinations.

That proved to be the case, with Lionel Messi and PSG handed a clash against former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola and Man City in Group A for what was the best of many headline fixtures to be picked out of the hat.

Group A: Man City, PSG, RB Leipzig, Club Brugge.

Group B: Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Porto, Milan,

Group C: Sporting CP, Dortmund, Ajax, Besiktas.

Group D: Inter, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sheriff.

Group E: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Benfica, Dynamo Kiev.

Group F: Villarreal, Man Utd, Atalanta, Young Boys.

Group G: Lille, Sevilla, Salzburg, Wolfsburg.

Group H: Chelsea, Juventus, Zenit, Malmo.

What are the match and draw dates for 2021-22 Champions League?

Round of 16: The draw took place on December 13, with the first legs being played on 15/16 and 22/23 February 2022. The second legs will be on 8/9 and 15/16 March.

The draw for the last eight and last four took place at the same time on March 18 2022.

Quarter-finals: The first legs were on 5/6 April 2022, with the return matches on 12/13 April.

Semi-finals: 26/27 April 2022 were the dates for the first legs of the last-four ties, with the finalists decided in the second legs on May 3 and 4.

Final: The Champions League final for 2021-22 was played on 28 May 2022.

Champions League group stage fixtures and results

Group A

Matchday 1 - September 15

Man City 6-3 RB Leipzig (Ake, Mukiele OG, Mahrez pen, Grealish, Cancelo, Jesus; Nkunku x3)

Club Brugge 1-1 PSG (Vanaken; Herrera)

Matchday 2 - September 28

RB Leipzig 1-2 Club Brugge (Nkunku; Vanaken, Rits)

PSG 2-0 Man City (Gueye, Messi)

Matchday 3 - October 19

Club Brugge 1-5 Man City (Vanaken; Mahrez x2, Cancelo, Walker, Palmer)

PSG 3-2 RB Leipzig (Mbappe, Messi x2; Silva, Mukiele)

Matchday 4 - November 3

Man City 4-1 Club Brugge (Foden, Mahrez, Sterling, Jesus; Stones OG)

RB Leipzig 2-2 PSG (Nkunku, Szoboszlai pen; WIjnaldum x2)

Matchday 5 - November 24

Man City 2-1 PSG (Sterling, Jesus; Mbappe)

Club Brugge 0-5 RB Leipzig (Nkunku x2, Forsberg x2, Silva)

Matchday 6 - December 7

RB Leipzig 2-1 Man City (Szoboszlai, Silva; Mahrez)

PSG 4-1 Club Brugge (Mbappe x2, Messi x2)

Group B

Matchday 1 - September 15

Liverpool 3-2 Milan (Tomori OG, Salah, Henderson; Rebic, Diaz)

Atletico Madrid 0-0 Porto

Matchday 2 - September 28

Milan 1-2 Atletico Madrid (Leao; Griezmann, Suarez pen)

Porto 1-5 Liverpool (Taremi; Salah x2, Firmino x2, Mane)

Matchday 3 - October 19

Atletico Madrid 2-3 Liverpool (Griezmann x2; Salah x2, Keita)

Porto 1-0 Milan (Diaz)

Matchday 4 - November 3

Milan 1-1 Porto (Mbemba OG; Diaz)

Liverpool 2-0 Atletico Madrid (Jota, Mane)

Matchday 5 - November 24

Atletico Madrid 0-1 Milan (Messias)

Liverpool 2-0 Porto (Thiago, Salah)

Matchday 6 - December 7

Milan 1-2 Liverpool (Tomori; Salah, Origi)

Porto 1-3 Atletico Madrid (Oliveira pen; Griezmann, Correa, De Paul)

Group C

Matchday 1 - September 15

Besiktas 1-2 Dortmund (Montero; Bellingham, Haaland)

Sporting CP 1-5 Ajax (Paulinho; Haller x4, Berghuis)

Matchday 2 - September 28

Ajax 2-0 Besiktas (Berghuis, Haller)

Dortmund 1-0 Sporting CP (Malen)

Matchday 3 - October 19

Besiktas 1-4 Sporting CP (Larin; Coates x2, Sarabia pen, Paulinho)

Ajax 4-0 Dortmund (Reus OG, Blind, Antony, Haller)

Matchday 4 - November 3

Dortmund 1-3 Ajax (Reus pen; Tadic, Haller, Klaassen)

Sporting CP 4-0 Besiktas (Goncalves x2, Paulinho, Sarabia)

Matchday 5 - November 24

Besiktas 1-2 Ajax (Ghezzal pen; Haller x2)

Sporting CP 3-1 Dortmund (Goncalves x2, Porro; Malen)

Matchday 6 - December 7

Dortmund 5-0 Besiktas (Haaland x2, Reus x2, Malen)

Ajax 4-2 Sporting CP (Haller, Antony, Neres, Berghuis; Santos, Tabata)

Group D

Matchday 1 - September 15

Sheriff 2-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (Traore, Yansane)

Inter 0-1 Real Madrid (Rodrygo)

Matchday 2 - September 28

Shakhtar Donetsk 0-0 Inter

Real Madrid 1-2 Sheriff (Benzema pen; Yakhshibaev, Thill)

Matchday 3 - October 19

Shakhtar Donetsk 0-5 Real Madrid (Vinicus Jr x2, Krivtsov OG, Rodrygo, Benzema)

Inter 3-1 Sheriff (Dzeko, Vidal, De Vrij; Thill)

Matchday 4 - November 3

Real Madrid 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (Benzema x2; Fernando)

Sheriff 1-3 Inter (Traore; Brozovic, Skriniar, Alexis Sanchez)

Matchday 5 - November 24

Inter 2-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (Dzeko x2)

Sheriff 0-3 Real Madrid (Alaba, Kroos, Benzema)

Matchday 6 - December 7

Real Madrid 2-0 Inter (Kroos, Asensio)

Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1 Sheriff (Fernando; Nikolov)

Group E

Matchday 1 - September 14

Barcelona 0-3 Bayern Munich (Muller, Lewandowski x2)

Dynamo Kiev 0-0 Benfica

Matchday 2 - September 29

Benfica 3-0 Barcelona (Nunez x2, Silva)

Bayern Munich 5-0 Dynamo Kiev (Lewandowski x2, Gnabry, Sane, Choupo-Moting)

Matchday 3 - October 20

Barcelona 1-0 Dynamo Kiev (Pique)

Benfica 0-4 Bayern Munich (Sane x2, Everton OG, Lewandowski)

Matchday 4 - November 2

Bayern Munich 5-2 Benfica (Lewandowski x3, Gnabry, Sane; Morato, Nunez)

Dynamo Kiev 0-1 Barcelona (Fati)

Matchday 5 - November 23

Dynamo Kiev 1-2 Bayern Munich (Harmash; Lewandowski, Coman)

Barcelona 0-0 Benfica

Matchday 6 - December 8

Benfica 2-0 Dynamo Kiev (Yaremchuk, Junior)

Bayern Munich 3-0 Barcelona (Muller, Sane, Musiala)

Group F

Matchday 1 - September 14

Young Boys 2-1 Man Utd (Ngamaleu, Siebatcheu; Ronaldo)

Villarreal 2-2 Atalanta (Trigueros, Groeneveld; Freuler, Gosens)

Matchday 2 - September 29

Man Utd 2-1 Villarreal (Telles, Ronaldo; Alcacer)

Atalanta 1-0 Young Boys (Pessina)

Matchday 3 - October 20

Young Boys 1-4 Villarreal (Elia; Pino, G Moreno, A Moreno, Chukwueze)

Man Utd 3-2 Atalanta (Rashford, Maguire, Ronaldo; Pasalic, Demiral)

Matchday 4 - November 2

Atalanta 2-2 Man Utd (Ilicic, Zapata; Ronaldo x2)

Villarreal 2-0 Young Boys (Capoue, Danjuma)

Matchday 5 - November 23

Villarreal 0-2 Man Utd (Ronaldo, Sancho)

Young Boys 3-3 Atalanta (Siebatcheu, Sierro, Hefti; Zapata, Polomino, Muriel)

Matchday 6 - December 8 & 9

Atalanta 2-3 Villarreal (Malinovsky, Zapata; Danjuma x2, Capoue)

Man Utd 1-1 Young Boys (Greenwood; Rieder)

Group G

Matchday 1 - September 14

Sevilla 1-1 Salzburg (Rakitic pen; Sucic pen)

Lille 0-0 Wolfsburg

Matchday 2 - September 29

Salzburg 2-1 Lille (Adeyemi x2; Yilmaz)

Wolfsburg 1-1 Sevilla (Steffen; Rakitic pen)

Matchday 3 - October 20

Lille 0-0 Sevilla

Salzburg 3-1 Wolfsburg (Adeyemi, Okafor x2; Nmecha)

Matchday 4 - November 2

Wolfsburg 2-1 Salzburg (Baku, Nmecha; Woeber)

Sevilla 1-2 Lille (Ocampos; David, Ikone)

Matchday 5 - November 23

Lille 1-0 Salzburg (David)

Sevilla 2-0 Wolfsburg (Jordan, Mir)

Matchday 6 - December 8

Salzburg 1-0 Sevilla (Okafor)

Wolfsburg 1-3 Lille (Steffen; Yilmaz, David, Gomes)

Group H

Matchday 1 - September 14

Chelsea 1-0 Zenit (Lukaku)

Malmo 0-3 Juventus (Alex Sandro, Dybala pen, Morata)

Matchday 2 - September 29

Zenit 4-0 Malmo (Claudinho, Kuzyaev, Sutormin, Wendel)

Juventus 1-0 Chelsea (Chiesa)

Matchday 3 - October 20

Zenit 0-1 Juventus (Kulusevski)

Chelsea 4-0 Malmo (Christensen, Jorginho x2, Havertz)

Matchday 4 - November 2

Malmo 0-1 Chelsea (Ziyech)

Juventus 4-2 Zenit (Dybala x2, Chiesa, Morata; Bonucci OG, Azmoun)

Matchday 5 - November 23

Chelsea 4-0 Juventus (Chalobah, James, Hudson-Odoi, Werner)

Malmo 1-1 Zenit (Rieks; Rakitskiy pen)

Matchday 6 - December 8

Zenit 3-3 Chelsea (Claudinho, Azmoun, Ozdoev; Werner x2, Lukaku)

Juventus 1-0 Malmo (Kean)

Champions League round of 16

First leg fixtures

Tuesday February 15

Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Real Madrid (Mbappe)

Sporting CP 0-5 Manchester City (Silva x2, Mahrez, Foden, Sterling)

Wednesday February 16

Salzburg 1-1 Bayern Munich (Adamu; Coman)

Inter 0-2 Liverpool (Firmino, Salah)

Tuesday February 22

Chelsea 2-0 Lille (Havertz, Pulisic)

Villarreal 1-1 Juventus (Parejo; Vlahovic)

Wednesday February 23

Atletico Madrid 1-1 Manchester United (Joao Felix; Elanga)

Benfica 2-2 Ajax (Haller OG, Yaremchuk; Tadic, Haller)

Second leg fixtures

Tuesday March 8

Bayern Munich 7-1 Salzburg (8-2 agg) [Lewandowski x2, Muller x2, Gnabry, Sane; Kjaergaard)

Liverpool 0-1 Inter (2-1 agg) [Martinez]

Wednesday March 9

Manchester City 0-0 Sporting (5-0 agg)

Real Madrid 3-1 PSG (3-2 agg) [Benzema x3, Mbappe]

Tuesday March 15

Manchester United 0-1 Atletico Madrid (1-2 agg) [Lodi]

Ajax 0-1 Benfica (2-3 agg) [Nunez]

Wednesday March 16

Juventus 0-3 Villarreal (1-4 agg) [Moreno pen, Torres, Danjuma pen]

Lille 1-2 Chelsea (1-4 agg) [Yilmaz pen; Pulisic, Azpilicueta]

Champions League quarter-finals

First leg fixtures

Tuesday April 5

Benfica 1-3 Liverpool (Nunez; Konate, Mane, Diaz)

Manchester City 1-0 Atletico Madrid (De Bruyne)

Wednesday April 6

Villarreal 1-0 Bayern Munich (Danjuma)

Chelsea 1-3 Real Madrid (Havertz; Benzema x3)

Second leg fixtures

Tuesday April 12

Bayern Munich 1-1 Villarreal (1-2 agg) [Lewandowski; Chukwueze]

Real Madrid 2-3 Chelsea (5-4 agg) [Rodrygo, Benzema; Mount, Rudiger, Werner]

Wednesday April 13

Liverpool 3-3 Benfica (6-4 agg) [Konate, Firmino x2; Ramos, Yaremchuk, Nunez]

Atletico Madrid 0-0 Manchester City (0-1 agg)

Champions League semi-finals

First leg fixtures

Tuesday April 26

Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid (De Bruyne, Jesus, Foden, Bernardo; Benzema x2, Vinicius)

Wednesday April 27

Liverpool 2-0 Villarreal (Estupinan OG, Mane)

Second leg fixtures

Tuesday May 3

Villarreal 2-3 Liverpool (2-5 agg) [Dia, Coquelin; Fabinho, Diaz, Mane]

Wednesday May 4

Real Madrid 3-1 Manchester City (6-5 agg) [Rodrygo x2, Benzema; Mahrez]

When and where is the Champions League final?

The final was due to be played on May 28 at Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg.

It was to be the first final Russia had hosted since 2008, when Man Utd beat Chelsea on penalties in a famous game in Moscow.

However, in February 2022, UEFA made the decision to strip Russia of their host status amid their conflict with Ukraine.

The match was then played at Stade de France, Saint-Denis in Paris on the same May 28 date.

Chelsea won the last Champions League final, beating Manchester City 1-0 in Porto.

Bayern Munich had beaten PSG by the same narrow scoreline in 2019-20, which Portugal also hosted, though that match was in Lisbon.

Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in an all-Premier League final in Madrid to conclude the 2018/19 competition.

That victory for Liverpool ended a streak of three consecutive triumphs for Real Madrid and five straight wins from teams in La Liga (x4 Real Madrid, x1 Barcelona).

Champions League final result

Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final, thanks to a goal from Vinicius Junior in the second half.

It was Madrid's record 14th success in the competition, an incredible return from 17 appearances in the final.

Liverpool have now made 10 finals, winning six. They have, though, lost three of their last four appearances in the showpiece.