The 2016–17 UEFA Youth League was the fourth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.
Chelsea were the title holders after winning the previous two editions. However, since the UEFA Youth League title holders were not given an automatic qualifying place, and both the Chelsea senior team failed to qualify for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League and the Chelsea academy team failed to win the 2015–16 Professional U18 Development League 1, they did not qualify for this tournament to defend their title.
Red Bull Salzburg won their first title after defeating Benfica 2–1 in the final. This was the first occasion that the winner (or a finalist) had come through the Domestic Champions Path of the competition and as of 2022 the only season not to won by a side whom previously have won a European trophy.
Teams A total of 64 teams from 40 of the 55 UEFA member associations entered the tournament, with Macedonia, Republic of Ireland and Montenegro entering for the first time. They were split into two sections: The youth teams of the 32 clubs which qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League group stage entered the UEFA Champions League Path. The youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations according to their 2015 UEFA country coefficients entered the Domestic Champions Path. Associations without a youth domestic champion as well as domestic champions already included in the UEFA Champions League path were replaced by the next association in the UEFA ranking.
RankAssociationTeamsUEFA Champions League PathDomestic Champions Path1Málaga 234Roma 567Dynamo Moscow 8Dynamo Kyiv 9PSV EindhovenAjax 10Club BruggeAnderlecht 11BaselZürich 12BeşiktaşAltınordu 13PAOK 14Sparta Prague 15Viitorul Constanța 16FC Salzburg 17Dinamo Zagreb 18APOEL 19Legia Warsaw 20Maccabi Haifa 21Shakhtyor Soligorsk 22CopenhagenMidtjylland 23Celtic 24AIK 25Ludogorets RazgradLevski Sofia 26Rosenborg 27Čukarički 28Domžale 29Gabala 30Nitra 31Puskás Akadémia 32Kairat 33Sheriff Tiraspol 34Dinamo Tbilisi 35HJK 36Breiðablik 37Zrinjski Mostar 39Vardar 40Cork City 41Mladost Podgorica Associations which did not enter a team(no teams qualified for UEFA Champions League group stage, and association either not ranked high enough or no youth domestic competition)38No youth domestic competition4243444546474849505152535455
Notes
Squads Players had to be born on or after 1 January 1998, with a maximum of three players per team born between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 1997 are allowed.
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 legUEFA Champions League PathGroup 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 2016Domestic Champions PathFirst round30 August 201628 September 201619 October 2016Second round2 November 201623 November 2016Knockout phaseKnockout round play-offs12 December 20167–8 February 2017Round of 1610 February 201721–22 February 2017Quarter-finals7–8 March 2017Semi-finals21 April 2017 at Colovray Stadium, NyonFinal24 April 2017 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon
Notes For the UEFA Champions League Path group stage, in principle the teams played their matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the same day as the corresponding senior teams in the UEFA Champions League; however, matches could also be played on other dates, including Mondays and Thursdays. For the Domestic Champions Path first and second rounds, in principle matches were played on Wednesdays; however, matches could also be played on other dates, including Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. For the play-offs, round of 16 and quarter-finals, in principle matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; however, matches could also be played on other dates, provided they were completed before the following dates: Play-offs: 10 February 2017 Round of 16: 24 February 2017 Quarter-finals: 17 March 2017
UEFA Champions League Path
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 2016–17 UEFA Champions League group stage, which was held on 25 August 2016, 18:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The eight group winners advanced to the round of 16, while the eight runners-up advanced to the play-offs, where they were joined by the eight second round winners from the Domestic Champions Path. The matchdays were 13–14 September, 27–28 September, 18–19 October, 1–2 November, 22–23 November, and 6–7 December 2016.
TiebreakersThe teams were 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 equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria were applied in the order given to determine the rankings (regulations Article 14.03): 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 had an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 were reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure did not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 12 applied; 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); drawing of lots.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Domestic Champions Path
For the Domestic Champions Path, the 32 teams were drawn into two rounds of two-legged home-and-away ties. The draw was held on 30 August 2016, 13:45 CEST, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. There were no seedings, but the 32 teams were split into four groups defined by sporting and geographical criteria prior to the draw.
The eight second round winners advanced to the play-offs, where they were joined by the eight group runners-up from the UEFA Champions League Path. If the aggregate scores were level after full-time of the second leg, the away goals rule was used to decide the winner. If still tied, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).
First round The first legs were played on 21, 27, 28, 29 September and 5 October, and the second legs were played on 19 October 2016.
Second round The first legs were played on 2, 9 and 16 November, and the second legs were played on 22, 23 and 30 November 2016.
Knockout phase
For the knockout phase (round of 16 onwards), the 16 teams were drawn into a single-elimination tournament, with all ties played over one match. The draw was held on 10 February 2017, 13:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows: In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners from the UEFA Champions League Path were drawn against the eight play-off winners. Teams from the same UEFA Champions League Path group could not be drawn against each other, but teams from the same association could be drawn against each other. The draw also decided the home team for each round of 16 match. In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same UEFA Champions League Path group or the same association could be drawn against each other. The draws also decided the home team for each quarter-final, and the "home" team for administrative purposes for each semi-final and final (which were played at a neutral venue).
If the scores were level after full-time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played).
Bracket
Knockout round play-offs For the knockout round play-offs, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties played over one match. The draw was held on 12 December 2016, 14:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The eight second round winners from the Domestic Champions Path were drawn against the eight group runners-up from the UEFA Champions League Path, with the teams from the Domestic Champions Path hosting the match. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.
The eight play-off winners advanced to the round of 16, where they were joined by the eight group winners from the UEFA Champions League Path. If the scores were level after full-time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time was played). The play-offs were played on 7 and 8 February 2017.
Round of 16 The round of 16 matches were played on 21 and 22 February 2017.
Quarter-finals The quarter-finals were played on 7 and 8 March 2017.
Semi-finals The semi-finals were played on 21 April 2017 at Colovray Stadium, Nyon.
Final The final was played on 24 April 2017 at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland.
Statistics Top goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoalsMinutes played1 Jordi Mboula Barcelona8503 Kaj Sierhuis Ajax6163 Rui Pedro Porto7525 Hannes Wolf Red Bull Salzburg590 Mërgim Berisha Red Bull Salzburg6306 Fatih Aktay Altınordu6442 Bogdan Lednev Dynamo Kyiv609 Irvin Cardona Monaco618 Timur Zhamaletdinov CSKA Moscow720 João Félix Benfica807
Top assists RankPlayerTeamAssistsMinutes played1 Xaver Schlager Red Bull Salzburg5417 Justin Kluivert Ajax540 Nicklas Røjkjær Copenhagen603 Sergio Díaz Real Madrid6415 Ba-Muaka Simakala Borussia Mönchengladbach4540 Hannes Wolf Red Bull Salzburg590 Mërgim Berisha Red Bull Salzburg630 Moussa Sylla Monaco720
References
External links
2016–17 UEFA Youth League