2016–17 UEFA Champions League

Association team allocation

A total of 78 teams from 53 of the 55 UEFA member associations are expected to participate in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions being Liechtenstein, which does 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 is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:

Association ranking

For the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2015 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2010–11 to 2014–15.

Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:

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.

Teams

League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses, except Sevilla which qualified as Europa League title holders (TH: Champions League title holders; EL: Europa League title holders).

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated otherwise).

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):

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 knockout phase).

A total of 17 national associations are represented in the group stage. Leicester City and Rostov made their debut appearances in the group stage.

Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 12 December 2016. The first legs were played on 14, 15, 21 and 22 February, and the second legs will be played on 7, 8, 14 and 15 March 2017.

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals will be held on 17 March 2017. The first legs will be played on 11 and 12 April, and the second legs will be played on 18 and 19 April 2017.

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals will be held on 21 April 2017. The first legs will played on 2 and 3 May, and the second legs will be played on 9 and 10 May 2017.

Final

The final will played on 3 June 2017 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) will be determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw.

Top goalscorers

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.

Note: Players and teams in bold are still active in the competition.

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