The2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier clubfootball tournament organised byUEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to theUEFA Champions League.
Thefinal was played betweenJuventus andReal Madrid at theMillennium Stadium inCardiff, Wales.[5][6] It was the second time that the two teams faced each other in the competition's decisive match, having previously met in the1998 final. Real Madrid, thedefending champions, beat Juventus 4–1 to win a record-extending 12th title. With this victory, Real Madrid became the first team to successfully defend their title in the Champions League era, and the first to successfully defend a European Cup sinceMilan in1990.
A total of 78 teams from 53 of the 55UEFA member associations were expected to participate in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions beingLiechtenstein, which did not organise a domestic league, andKosovo, whose participation was not accepted in their first attempt as UEFA members). The association ranking based on theUEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[7]
Associations 1–3 each had four teams qualify.
Associations 4–6 each had three teams qualify.
Associations 7–15 each had two teams qualify.
Associations 16–54 (except Liechtenstein) each had one team qualify.
The winners of the2015–16 UEFA Champions League and2015–16 UEFA Europa League were each given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league. Because a maximum of five teams from one association can enter the Champions League, if both the Champions League title holders and the Europa League title holders were from the same top three ranked association and finish outside the top four of their domestic league, the fourth-placed team of their association would be moved to the Europa League.[8] For this season:
The winners of the2015–16 UEFA Champions League,Real Madrid, qualified through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Champions League title holders was not necessary.
The winners of the2015–16 UEFA Europa League,Sevilla, did not qualify through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Europa League title holders was necessary.
For the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2015UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2010–11 to 2014–15.[9][10]
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
(EL) – Additional berth for Europa League title holders
In the default access list, the Champions League title holders enter the group stage.[7][11] However, sinceReal Madrid already qualified for the group stage (as the runners-up of the2015–16 La Liga), the Champions League title holders berth in the group stage is given to the Europa League title holders,Sevilla.[12][13][14] and the following changes to the default allocation system are made:
The third-placed teams of associations 4 (Italy) and 5 (Portugal) are promoted from the third qualifying round to the play-off round.
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
First qualifying round (8 teams)
8 champions from associations 47–54
Second qualifying round (34 teams)
30 champions from associations 16–46 (except Liechtenstein)
4 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Champions Route (20 teams)
3 champions from associations 13–15
17 winners from the second qualifying round
League Route (10 teams)
9 runners-up from associations 7–15
1 third-placed team from association 6
Play-off round
Champions Route (10 teams)
10 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Route)
League Route (10 teams)
2 third-placed teams from associations 4–5
3 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–3
5 winners from the third qualifying round (League Route)
Group stage (32 teams)
Europa League title holders
12 champions from associations 1–12
6 runners-up from associations 1–6
3 third-placed teams from associations 1–3
5 winners from the play-off round (Champions Route)
League positions of the previous season qualified via league position shown in parentheses. Sevilla qualified as Europa League title holders. (TH: Champions League title holders; EL: Europa League title holders).[15][16][17]
Albania (ALB):Skënderbeu would have qualified for the Champions League second qualifying round as the champions of the2015–16 Albanian Superliga, but were excluded from participating in the 2016–17 European competitions by UEFA for match-fixing.[18][19] They appealed the decision to theCourt of Arbitration for Sport, and UEFA agreed to suspend the exclusion and Skënderbeu were included in the second qualifying round draw.[20] The final decision to exclude Skënderbeu was made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 6 July 2016, before the second qualifying round was played.[21][22] As a result, the berth was given to the runners-upPartizani.[23]
France (FRA):Monaco are a club based in Monaco (which is not a UEFA member), but participate in the Champions League through one of the berths for France as they finished third in the2015–16 Ligue 1 (any coefficient points they earn count toward France).
Kosovo (KOS):Kosovo became a UEFA member on 3 May 2016.[24] UEFA decided that their domestic champions could participate in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League only if they could meet licensing criteria under article 15 of the UEFA Club Licensing & Financial Fair Play regulations, which would be confirmed following the assessment made by the UEFA administration within the deadline of 31 May 2016.[25] However, Kosovo's entry,Feronikeli (as the champions of the2015–16 Football Superleague of Kosovo), was denied by UEFA in June due to the club failing licensing requirements, and also because the club could not provide a suitable stadium and UEFA did not allow them to play their home matches in a foreign country.[26][27]
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2016UEFA club coefficients,[30][31][32] and then drawn intotwo-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
The draws for the first and second qualifying rounds were held on 20 June 2016.[33][34] The first legs were played on 28 June, and the second legs were played on 5 and 6 July 2016.
The third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Route (for league champions) and League Route (for league non-champions). The losing teams in both sections entered the2016–17 UEFA Europa League play-off round.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 15 July 2016.[35][36] The first legs were played on 26 and 27 July, and the second legs were played on 2 and 3 August 2016.
The play-off round was split into two separate sections: Champions Route (for league champions) and League Route (for league non-champions). The losing teams in both sections entered the2016–17 UEFA Europa League group stage.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2016.[37][38] The first legs were played on 16 and 17 August, and the second legs were played on 23 and 24 August 2016.
Location of teams of the2016–17 UEFA Champions League group stage. Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H.
The draw for the group stage was held on 25 August 2016, at theGrimaldi Forum inMonaco.[39] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on the following principles (introduced starting 2015–16 season):[40][41]
In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in around-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to theround of 16, while the third-placed teams enter the2016–17 UEFA Europa League round of 32. The matchdays are 13–14 September, 27–28 September, 18–19 October, 1–2 November, 22–23 November, and 6–7 December 2016.
The youth teams of the clubs that qualify for the group stage also play in the2016–17 UEFA Youth League on the same matchdays, where they compete in theUEFA Champions League Path (the youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations compete in a separateDomestic Champions Path until the play-offs).
A total of 17 national associations are represented in the group stage.Leicester City andRostov made their debut appearances in the group stage.[42] For the first time since the2002–03 edition, England'sChelsea did not qualify for the group stage.
Tiebreakers
The teams are ranked according topoints (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied in the order given to determine the rankings (regulations Article 17.01):[7]
higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
superiorgoal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
if, after having applied criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 12 apply;
superior goal difference in all group matches;
higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
higher number of wins in all group matches;
higher number of away wins in all group matches;
lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
In theknockout phase, teams play against each other overtwo legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners are seeded, and the eight group runners-up are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other.
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 12 December 2016.[43] The first legs were played on 14, 15, 21 and 22 February, and the second legs were played on 7, 8, 14 and 15 March 2017.
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 17 March 2017.[44] The first legs were played on 11 and 12 April, and the second legs were played on 18 and 19 April 2017.
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 21 April 2017.[45] The first legs were played on 2 and 3 May, and the second legs were played on 9 and 10 May 2017.
The final was played on 3 June 2017 atMillennium Stadium inCardiff, Wales.[46] The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw.
New UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season, Defender of the Season, Midfielder of the Season, and Forward of the Season positional awards were introduced for the 2016–17 season.[51] Votes were cast by coaches of the 32 teams in the group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by theEuropean Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA's member associations. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams. Jury members selected their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. The shortlist of the top three players were announced on 4 August 2017.[52] The award winners were announced and presented during the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on 24 August 2017.[53][54]
