The 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2016–17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 52nd edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Pachuca won their fifth title, and their first since 2009–10, by defeating Tigres UANL 2–1 on aggregate in the final. As the winner of the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League, Pachuca qualified as the CONCACAF representative at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. América won the previous two tournaments, but did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title.
Qualification
A total of 24 teams participated in the CONCACAF Champions League: nine from the North American Zone (from three associations), twelve from the Central American Zone (from at most seven associations), and three from the Caribbean Zone (from at most three associations). Therefore, a maximum of 13 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations could participate in the tournament.
Clubs could be disqualified and replaced by a club from another association if the club did not have an available stadium that met CONCACAF regulations for safety. If a club's own stadium failed to meet the set standards then it could find a suitable replacement stadium within its own country. However, if it was still determined that the club could not provide the adequate facilities then it ran the risk of being replaced.
North America Nine teams from the North American Football Union (NAFU) qualified to the Champions League. The allocation to the three NAFU member associations was as follows: four berths for each of Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada.
For Mexico, the winners and runners-up of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura tournaments earned berths in Pot 3 of the tournament's group stage. If a team reached both tournament finals, the vacated berth was reallocated using a formula, based on regular season records, that ensured that two teams qualified via each tournament.
For the United States, three berths were allocated through the Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season and playoffs, to the MLS Cup winners and the regular season Eastern Conference and Western Conference winners (if U.S.-based); the fourth berth was allocated to the winner of its domestic cup competition, the U.S. Open Cup. All four teams were placed in Pot 3. If a team qualified through multiple berths, or if any of the MLS berths were taken by a Canada-based MLS team, the berth was reallocated to the best U.S.-based team in the Supporters' Shield table which had failed to otherwise qualify.
For Canada, the winners of the domestic cup competition, the Voyageurs Cup (competed for in the Canadian Championship), earned the lone Canadian berth into the tournament, in Pot 2 (moved from Pot 1 in the previous edition).
Central America Twelve teams from the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) qualified to the Champions League. The allocation to the seven UNCAF member associations was as follows: two berths for each of Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador, and one berth for each of Nicaragua and Belize. The teams from Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and the first team from Panama were placed in Pot 2, and the second team from Panama and the teams from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Belize were placed in Pot 1 (second team from Panama moved from Pot 2 in the previous edition).
All of these leagues employed a split season with two tournaments in one year, so both tournament champions qualified if there were two available berths (if the same team won both tournaments, the runner-up with the better aggregate record also qualified), or the champion with the better aggregate record qualified if there was only one available berth.
If one or more clubs was precluded, it was supplanted by a club from another Central American association. The reallocation was based on results from previous Champions League tournaments.
Caribbean Three teams from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) qualified to the Champions League. The three berths, in Pot 1, were allocated to the top three finishers of the CFU Club Championship, a subcontinental tournament open to clubs from the 31 CFU member associations. In order for a team to qualify for the CFU Club Championship, they usually needed to finish as the champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season, but professional teams could also be selected by their associations if they played in the league of another country.
If any Caribbean club was precluded, it was supplanted by the fourth-place finisher from the CFU Club Championship.
Teams The following 24 teams (from 12 associations) qualified for the tournament.
In the following table, the number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best result count only those in the CONCACAF Champions League era starting from 2008–09 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008).
AssociationTeamPotQualifying methodAppLast AppPrevious BestNorth America (9 teams) MexicoTigres UANL32015 Apertura champions3rd2015–16Runners-upPachuca2016 Clausura champions3rd2014–15ChampionsUNAM2015 Apertura runners-up4th2011–12SemifinalsMonterrey2016 Clausura runners-up4th2012–13Champions United StatesPortland Timbers2015 MLS Cup champions2nd2014–15Group stageNew York Red Bulls2015 MLS Supporters' Shield champions3rd2014–15Group stageFC Dallas2015 MLS Western Conference regular season champions2nd2011–12Group stageSporting Kansas City2015 U.S. Open Cup champions3rd2014–15Quarterfinals CanadaVancouver Whitecaps FC22015 Canadian Championship champions2nd2015–16Group stageCentral America (12 teams) Costa RicaSaprissa22015 Invierno champions6th2015–16SemifinalsHerediano2016 Verano champions7th2015–16Semifinals HondurasHonduras Progreso2015 Apertura champions1stN/AN/AOlimpia2016 Clausura champions9th2015–16Quarterfinals GuatemalaAntigua2015 Apertura champions1stN/AN/ASuchitepéquez2016 Clausura champions1stN/AN/A PanamaÁrabe Unido2015 Apertura champions5th2015–16QuarterfinalsPlaza Amador12016 Clausura champions1stN/AN/A El SalvadorAlianza2015 Apertura champions2nd2011–12Preliminary roundDragón2016 Clausura champions1stN/AN/A NicaraguaReal EstelíChampions with better aggregate record in 2015–16 season6th2014–15Group stage BelizePolice UnitedChampions with better aggregate record in 2015–16 season1stN/AN/ACaribbean (3 teams) Trinidad and TobagoCentral12016 CFU Club Championship champions2nd2015–16Group stageW Connection2016 CFU Club Championship runners-up5th2015–16Group stage HaitiDon Bosco2016 CFU Club Championship third place1stN/AN/A
Draw
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows.
StageRoundFirst legSecond legGroup stageMatchday 1August 2–4, 2016Matchday 2August 16–18, 2016Matchday 3August 23–25, 2016Matchday 4September 13–15, 2016Matchday 5September 27–29, 2016Matchday 6October 18–20, 2016Knockout stageQuarter-finalsFebruary 21–23, 2017February 28 – March 2, 2017Semi-finalsMarch 14–15, 2017April 4–5, 2017FinalApril 18, 2017April 26, 2017
Group stage
Tiebreakers
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout stage
Seeding
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Hirving Lozano Pachuca82 Franco Jara Pachuca63 José González Árabe Unido5 Cristian Techera Vancouver Whitecaps FC5 Óscar Guerrero Alianza46 Kellyn Acosta FC Dallas3 Marvin Angulo Saprissa Rolando Blackburn Saprissa Edwin Cardona Monterrey Carlo Costly Olimpia Eduardo Herrera UNAM Víctor Moncada Honduras Progreso Alfonso Nieto UNAM Yendrick Ruiz Herediano Jonathan Urretaviscaya Pachuca
Awards AwardPlayerTeamGolden Ball Franco Jara PachucaGolden Boot Hirving Lozano PachucaGolden Glove Alfonso Blanco PachucaBest Young Player Hirving Lozano PachucaFair Play Award— FC Dallas
WeekPlayer of the weekGoalkeeper of the weekPlayerTeamPlayerTeamGroup stageWeek 1 Luis Quintana UNAM Justo Lorente Real EstelíWeek 2 Marvin Angulo Saprissa Manuel Sosa SuchitepéquezWeek 3 Yoel Bárcenas Árabe Unido Keith Allen Police UnitedWeek 4 Hirving Lozano Pachuca Miguel Lloyd Árabe UnidoWeek 5 Cristian Techera Vancouver Whitecaps FC Woodrow West Honduras ProgresoWeek 6 Fidel Martínez UNAM James Elan Don BoscoKnockout stageWeek 7 Matías Britos UNAM Alfonso Blanco PachucaWeek 8 Jonathan Urretaviscaya Pachuca Alfonso Blanco PachucaWeek 9 Eduardo Vargas Tigres UANL Chris Seitz FC DallasWeek 10 Javier Aquino Tigres UANL David Ousted Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Prize money The four semi-finalists received prize money from CONCACAF.
Round No. of clubsreceiving money Prize moneyper club Champions 1 $500,000 Runners-up 1 $300,000 Semi-finalists 2 $200,000 Total 4 $1,200,000
See also 2017 FIFA Club World Cup
References
External links CONCACAF Champions League , CONCACAF.com