The 2023–24 UEFA Youth League UEFA Champions League Path (group stage) began on 19 September and will conclude on 13 December 2023. A total of 32 teams compete in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League Path to decide 16 of the 24 places in the knockout phase (play-offs and the round of 16 onwards) of the 2023–24 UEFA Youth League.
Draw
The youth teams of the 32 clubs which qualified for the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League group stage enter the UEFA Champions League Path. If there was a vacancy (youth teams not entering), it was filled by a team defined by UEFA.
For the UEFA Champions League Path, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. There was no separate draw held, with the group compositions identical to the draw for the 2023–24 Champions League group stage, which was held on 31 August 2023.
Format
In each group, teams will play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners will advance to the round of 16. The group runners-up will face winners of the domestic champions path second round in the knockout round play-offs, while the third and fourth-placed teams will be eliminated from European competitions for the season.
Tiebreakers
Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams were tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria was applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (see Article 14 Group formation and match system – UEFA Champions League path group stage, Regulations of the UEFA Youth League): Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams; If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Away goals scored in all group matches; Wins in all group matches; Away wins in all group matches; Disciplinary points (direct red card = 3 points; double yellow card = 3 points; single yellow card = 1 point); Drawing of lots.
Groups
Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).