The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final was played between Juventus and Real Madrid at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It was the second time that the two teams faced each other in the competition's decisive match, having previously met in the 1998 final. Real Madrid, the defending 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 since Milan in 1990.
As winners, Real Madrid qualified as the UEFA representative for the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, Manchester United, in the 2017 UEFA Super Cup, ultimately triumphing in both competitions.
Association team allocation A total of 78 teams from 53 of the 55 UEFA member associations were expected to participate in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions being Liechtenstein, which did not organise a domestic league, and Kosovo, whose participation was not accepted in their first attempt as UEFA members). The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: 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 the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League and 2015–16 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. For this season: The winners of the 2015–16 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 the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, Sevilla, did not qualify through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Europa League title holders was necessary.
Association ranking For the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2015 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2010–11 to 2014–15.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below: – Additional berth for Europa League title holders
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes199.9994280.391379.415470.5103561.382652.416750.4982845.166940.9791037.2001134.3751232.6001331.9001429.1251526.2991625.67511723.5001822.3001921.500RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes2021.00012120.7502219.8002317.9002417.7252516.7502614.3752713.8752813.6252912.5003011.2503111.0003210.3753310.000349.375358.200368.000377.500RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes386.0000395.8751405.750415.625425.375435.125444.875454.500464.250474.208483.500493.500502.875512.750520.833530.499540.250550.0000
Distribution In the default access list, the Champions League title holders enter the group stage. However, since Real Madrid already qualified for the group stage (as the runners-up of the 2015–16 La Liga), the Champions League title holders berth in the group stage is given to the Europa League title holders, Sevilla. 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 roundTeams advancing from previous roundFirst qualifying round(8 teams)8 champions from associations 47–54Second qualifying round(34 teams)30 champions from associations 16–46 (except Liechtenstein)4 winners from the first qualifying roundThird qualifying roundChampions Route(20 teams)3 champions from associations 13–1517 winners from the second qualifying roundLeague Route(10 teams)9 runners-up from associations 7–15 1 third-placed team from association 6Play-off roundChampions 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 1–35 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 1–35 winners from the play-off round (Champions Route) 5 winners from the play-off round (League Route)Knockout phase(16 teams)8 group winners from the group stage 8 group runners-up from the group stage
Teams 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).
Group stage Real Madrid TH Tottenham Hotspur Benfica PSV Eindhoven Barcelona Bayern Munich Sporting CP Club Brugge Atlético Madrid Borussia Dortmund Paris Saint-Germain Basel Sevilla Bayer Leverkusen Lyon Beşiktaş Leicester City Juventus CSKA Moscow Arsenal Napoli Dynamo Kyiv Play-off round Villarreal Borussia Mönchengladbach Porto Manchester City Roma Third qualifying round Olympiacos Monaco Anderlecht Sparta Prague Viktoria Plzeň Rostov Young Boys Steaua București Astra Giurgiu Shakhtar Donetsk Fenerbahçe Ajax PAOK Second qualifying round Red Bull Salzburg IFK Norrköping Astana Mladost Podgorica Dinamo Zagreb Ludogorets Razgrad Sheriff Tiraspol Partizani APOEL Rosenborg Dinamo Tbilisi F91 Dudelange Legia Warsaw Red Star Belgrade SJK Crusaders Hapoel Be'er Sheva Olimpija Ljubljana FH Žalgiris BATE Borisov Qarabağ Zrinjski Mostar Liepāja Copenhagen Trenčín Vardar Celtic Ferencváros Dundalk First qualifying round Valletta B36 Alashkert Tre Penne Flora The New Saints FC Santa Coloma Lincoln Red Imps
Notes
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingFirst qualifying round20 June 201628–29 June 20165–6 July 2016Second qualifying round12–13 July 201619–20 July 2016Third qualifying round15 July 201626–27 July 20162–3 August 2016Play-offPlay-off round5 August 201616–17 August 201623–24 August 2016Group stageMatchday 125 August 2016(Monaco)13–14 September 2016Matchday 227–28 September 2016Matchday 318–19 October 2016Matchday 41–2 November 2016Matchday 522–23 November 2016Matchday 66–7 December 2016Knockout phaseRound of 1612 December 201614–15 & 21–22 February 20177–8 & 14–15 March 2017Quarter-finals17 March 201711–12 April 201718–19 April 2017Semi-finals21 April 20172–3 May 20179–10 May 2017Final3 June 2017 at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Qualifying rounds
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2016 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
First qualifying round The draws for the first and second qualifying rounds were held on 20 June 2016. The first legs were played on 28 June, and the second legs were played on 5 and 6 July 2016.
Second qualifying round The first legs were played on 12 and 13 July, and the second legs were played on 19 and 20 July 2016.
Third qualifying round 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 the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League play-off round.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 15 July 2016. The first legs were played on 26 and 27 July, and the second legs were played on 2 and 3 August 2016.
Play-off round
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 the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League group stage.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2016. The first legs were played on 16 and 17 August, and the second legs were played on 23 and 24 August 2016.
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 25 August 2016, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. 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): Pot 1 contained the title holders and the champions of the top seven associations based on their 2015 UEFA country coefficients. Pot 2, 3 and 4 contained the remaining teams, seeded based on their 2016 UEFA club coefficients.
In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams enter the 2016–17 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 the 2016–17 UEFA Youth League on the same matchdays, where they compete in the UEFA Champions League Path (the youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations compete in a separate Domestic Champions Path until the play-offs).
A total of 17 national associations are represented in the group stage. Leicester City and Rostov made their debut appearances in the group stage. For the first time since the 2002–03 edition, England's Chelsea did not qualify for the group stage.
TiebreakersThe 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 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): higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question; superior goal 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; higher number of goals scored away from home 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); higher club coefficient.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout phase