2017 Copa Libertadores

Format changes

Starting from this season, the following format changes will be implemented:

Although CONMEBOL proposed to change the format of the final to be played as a single match at a venue to be chosen in advance, they later decided to keep the two-legged home-and-away format.

On 18 November 2016, the Liga MX president Enrique Bonilla announced that teams from Mexico will not participate in the 2017 Copa Libertadores due to the format change which put it in conflict with the Mexican league schedule. However, he left open the possibility of a return as soon as 2018 if a solution is found.

Initially CONMEBOL announced that the tournament would be expanded from 38 to 44 teams, and the additional six berths would be distributed to the Copa Sudamericana champion (which no longer occupies one of the places allocated to their association and is now allocated an additional berth), two to Brazil, and one each to Argentina, Chile and Colombia, based on commercial and sporting criteria. Following the withdrawal of teams from Mexico, CONMEBOL announced that the other six associations (Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) will also be each allocated an additional berth, further expanding the tournament to 47 teams.

From this season, the Copa Libertadores champion (which no longer occupies one of the group stage places allocated to their association) and the Copa Sudamericana champion will gain direct entries into the group stage, meaning a total of 28 teams (increased from 26) will directly enter the group stage, while the other four berths (decreased from six) will be decided by the qualifying stages. The group stage berths left vacant following the withdrawal of teams from Mexico will be redistributed to Argentina and Brazil. For the qualifying stages, a total of 19 teams (increased from 12) will compete in three rounds where the four winners will advance to the group stage (initially 16 teams would compete in two rounds before further expansion following the withdrawal of teams from Mexico).

Teams

The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations qualified for the tournament:

The entry stage is determined as follows:

Draw

The draw of the qualifying stages and group stage was held on 21 December 2016, 20:00 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.

Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL ranking of the Copa Libertadores (shown in parentheses), taking into account of the following three factors:

1. Performance in the last 10 years, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 2007–2016
2. Historical coefficient, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 1960–2006
3. Local tournament champion, with bonus points awarded to domestic league champions of the last 10 years

For the first stage, the six teams were drawn into three ties (E1–E3), with the seeded teams hosting the second leg.

For the second stage, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (C1–C8), with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, excluding the winners of the first stage, which were unseeded and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.

For the third stage, no draw was made, and the eight teams were allocated into the following four ties (G1–G4), with the second stage winners C5–C8 hosting the second leg. As the identity of the winners of the second stage was not known at the time of the draw, they could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.

For the group stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups (Groups 1–8) of four containing a team from each of the four pots. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group, excluding the winners of the third stage, which were allocated to Pot 4 and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same group with another team from the same association.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows. The first stage matches are played on Monday and Friday, instead of the usual midweek of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Qualifying stages

In the qualifying stages, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would be used. If still tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 5.2).

The qualifying stages were structured as follows:

Group stage

In the group stage, each group is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, the following criteria are used to determine the ranking: 1. Goal difference; 2. Goals scored; 3. Away goals scored; 4. CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 5.1).

The winners and runners-up of each group advance to the round of 16. The third-placed teams of each group enter the Copa Sudamericana second stage.

Final stages

The draw of the final stages will be held at the end of May after the completion of the group stage, to determine the bracket from the round of 16 until the finals.

Statistics

Players in bold are still active in the competition.

Top goalscorers

Source: CONMEBOL.com

Top assists

Source: CONMEBOL.com