# 1996–97 UEFA Champions League

The 1996–97 UEFA Champions League was the 42nd season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the fifth since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League, and the last that involved only clubs that were champions of their domestic leagues. Due to the Bosman ruling, restrictions on foreign players in matchday squads were lifted from this season.
The tournament was won by Borussia Dortmund in a 3–1 final victory against defending champions Juventus. It was their only title in the tournament to date, and the first title for Germany since its reunification in 1990.

## Association team allocation

24 teams entered the competition: the national champions of each of the top 23 nations in the UEFA coefficient rankings, and UEFA Champions League holders, Juventus. The national champions of the associations ranked 1–7, plus the title holders, all received a bye to the group stage, while the national champions of the associations ranked 8–23 entered in the qualifying round. The remaining national champions from the associations ranked 24–48 were only allowed to participate in UEFA Cup.

### Association ranking

For the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 1996 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 1991–92 to 1995–96.
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, an association could have an additional team participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
* (TH) – Additional berth for UEFA Champions League title holders
| Rank | Association | Coeff. | Teams | Notes |
| 1 | Italy | 61.259 | 1 | +1 (TH) |
| 2 | France | 45.408 | 1 | |
| 3 | Spain | 43.932 | 1 | |
| 4 | Germany | 42.140 | 1 | |
| 5 | Netherlands | 38.700 | 1 | |
| 6 | Portugal | 32.800 | 1 | |
| 7 | England | 30.166 | 1 | |
| 8 | Belgium | 27.800 | 1 | |
| 9 | Greece | 27.000 | 1 | |
| 10 | Russia | 25.200 | 1 | |
| 11 | Turkey | 22.916 | 1 | |
| 12 | Denmark | 22.000 | 1 | |
| 13 | Austria | 21.950 | 1 | |
| 14 | Sweden | 18.750 | 1 | |
| 15 | Switzerland | 18.250 | 1 | |
| 16 | Czech Republic | 17.000 | 1 | |
| 17 | Scotland | 16.550 | 1 | |
| Rank | Association | Coeff. | Teams |
| 18 | Norway | 15.832 | 1 |
| 19 | Ukraine | 15.665 | 1 |
| 20 | Hungary | 15.249 | 1 |
| 21 | Romania | 15.150 | 1 |
| 22 | Poland | 14.916 | 1 |
| 23 | Israel | 14.416 | 1 |
| 24 | Cyprus | 12.665 | 0 |
| 25 | Croatia | 12.500 | 0 |
| 26 | Latvia | 11.166 | 0 |
| 27 | Slovakia | 10.999 | 0 |
| 28 | Slovenia | 10.332 | 0 |
| 29 | Georgia | 10.000 | 0 |
| 30 | Iceland | 9.666 | 0 |
| 31 | Finland | 9.582 | 0 |
| 32 | Bulgaria | 9.250 | 0 |
| 33 | Belarus | 8.500 | 0 |
| 34 | Northern Ireland | 5.332 | 0 |
| Rank | Association | Coeff. | Teams |
| 35 | Macedonia | 5.000 | 0 |
| 36 | Moldova | 5.000 | 0 |
| 37 | Republic of Ireland | 4.331 | 0 |
| 38 | Malta | 4.331 | 0 |
| 39 | Lithuania | 4.000 | 0 |
| 40 | Albania | 3.666 | 0 |
| 41 | Luxembourg | 3.333 | 0 |
| 42 | Faroe Islands | 3.000 | 0 |
| 43 | Liechtenstein | 3.000 | 0 |
| 44 | Wales | 2.666 | 0 |
| 45 | Armenia | 2.500 | 0 |
| 46 | Estonia | 2.000 | 0 |
| 47 | FR Yugoslavia | 1.000 | 0 |
| 48 | Azerbaijan | 0.500 | 0 |
| 49 | Andorra | 0.000 | 0 |
| 50 | San Marino | 0.000 | 0 |

### Distribution

| Round | Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from the previous round |
| Qualifying round (16 teams) | 16 champions from associations 8–23 | |
| Group stage (16 teams) | Title holders 7 champions from associations 1–7 | 8 winners from the qualifying round |
| Knockout stage (8 teams) | | 8 group winners from the group stage 8 group runners-up from the group stage |

### Teams

Group stage :
| Juventus (TH) | Auxerre (1st) | Borussia Dortmund (1st) | Porto (1st) |
| Milan (1st) | Atlético Madrid (1st) | Ajax (1st) | Manchester United (1st) |
| Qualifying round ||||
| Club Brugge (1st) | Brøndby (1st) | Slavia Prague (1st) | Ferencváros (1st) |
| Panathinaikos (1st) | Rapid Wien (1st) | Rangers (1st) | Steaua București (1st) |
| Alania Vladikavkaz (1st) | IFK Göteborg (1st) | Rosenborg (1st) | Widzew Łódź (1st) |
| Fenerbahçe (1st) | Grasshopper (1st) | Dynamo Kyiv (1st) | Maccabi Tel Aviv (1st) |
* ^ Liechtenstein (LIE): The teams affiliated with the Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) played in the Swiss football league system, and thus were ineligible for a spot regardless of the association ranking. The only competition organised by the LFV was the Liechtenstein Football Cup – the winners of which qualified for the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

## Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held in Geneva, Switzerland).
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
| Qualifying round | Qualifying round | 6 July 1996 | 7 August 1996 | 21 August 1996 |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 23 August 1996 | 11 September 1996 | 11 September 1996 |
| Group stage | Matchday 2 | 23 August 1996 | 25 September 1996 | 25 September 1996 |
| Group stage | Matchday 3 | 23 August 1996 | 16 October 1996 | 16 October 1996 |
| Group stage | Matchday 4 | 23 August 1996 | 30 October 1996 | 30 October 1996 |
| Group stage | Matchday 5 | 23 August 1996 | 20 November 1996 | 20 November 1996 |
| Group stage | Matchday 6 | 23 August 1996 | 4 December 1996 | 4 December 1996 |
| Knockout phase | Quarter-finals | 23 August 1996 | 5 March 1997 | 19 March 1997 |
| Knockout phase | Semi-finals | 23 August 1996 | 9 April 1997 | 23 April 1997 |
| Knockout phase | Final | 23 August 1996 | 28 May 1997 at Olympiastadion, Munich | 28 May 1997 at Olympiastadion, Munich |

## Qualifying round

The winners of each tie in the preliminary round entered the Champions League group stage, whilst the losers entered the UEFA Cup first round.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–2 | Fenerbahçe | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Rangers | 10–3 | Alania Vladikavkaz | 3–1 | 7–2 |
| Panathinaikos | 1–3 | Rosenborg | 1–0 | 0–3 (a.e.t.) |
| IFK Göteborg | 4–1 | Ferencváros | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Widzew Łódź | 4–4 (a) | Brøndby | 2–1 | 2–3 |
| Grasshopper | 6–0 | Slavia Prague | 5–0 | 1–0 |
| Club Brugge | 2–5 | Steaua București | 2–2 | 0–3 |
| Rapid Wien | 6–2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 2–0 | 4–2 |

## Group stage

Atlético Madrid, Auxerre, Fenerbahçe, Rapid Wien and Widzew Łódź made their debut in the group stage.
Italy became the first association to have two teams in the Champions League group stage.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AUX | AJX | GRA | RAN |
| 1 | Auxerre | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Ajax | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| 3 | Grasshopper | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 9 | | 3–1 | 0–1 | — | 3–0 |
| 4 | Rangers | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 3 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ATM | DOR | WID | STE |
| 1 | Atlético Madrid | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | 5–3 |
| 3 | Widzew Łódź | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 4 | | 1–4 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Steaua București | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 4 | | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | JUV | MUN | FEN | RWI |
| 1 | Juventus | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 16 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage | 0–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Fenerbahçe | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 7 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Rapid Wien | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 2 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | POR | ROS | MIL | GOT |
| 1 | Porto | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 16 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Rosenborg | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage | 0–1 | — | 1–4 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Milan | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 7 | | 2–3 | 1–2 | — | 4–2 |
| 4 | IFK Göteborg | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 13 | −6 | 3 | | 0–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | — |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| Borussia Dortmund | Borussia Dortmund | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Auxerre | Auxerre | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Auxerre | Auxerre | 1 | 0 | 1 | Borussia Dortmund | Borussia Dortmund | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | Manchester United | Manchester United | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | |
| Manchester United | Manchester United | 4 | 0 | 4 | Manchester United | Manchester United | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | |
| Manchester United | Manchester United | 4 | 0 | 4 | | 28 May – Munich | | | |
| Porto | Porto | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 28 May – Munich | | | |
| Porto | Porto | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Borussia Dortmund | 3 | | |
| | | | | | | Borussia Dortmund | 3 | | | Juventus | Juventus | 1 |
| Ajax (a.e.t.) | Ajax (a.e.t.) | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | Juventus | Juventus | 1 |
| Atlético Madrid | Atlético Madrid | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | |
| Atlético Madrid | Atlético Madrid | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ajax | Ajax | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | Juventus | Juventus | 2 | 4 | 6 | | | |
| Rosenborg | Rosenborg | 1 | 0 | 1 | Juventus | Juventus | 2 | 4 | 6 | | | |
| Juventus | Juventus | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | |

### Quarter-finals

| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Borussia Dortmund | 4–1 | Auxerre | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Manchester United | 4–0 | Porto | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| Ajax | 4–3 | Atlético Madrid | 1–1 | 3–2 (a.e.t.) |
| Rosenborg | 1–3 | Juventus | 1–1 | 0–2 |

### Semi-finals

| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Borussia Dortmund | 2–0 | Manchester United | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Ajax | 2–6 | Juventus | 1–2 | 1–4 |

### Final

The final was played on 28 May 1997 at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Milinko Pantić | Atlético Madrid | 5 |
| 2 | Nicola Amoruso | Juventus | 4 |
| 2 | Artur | Porto | 4 |
| 2 | Alen Bokšić | Juventus | 4 |
| 2 | Alessandro Del Piero | Juventus | 4 |
| 2 | Mário Jardel | Porto | 4 |
| 2 | Lars Ricken | Borussia Dortmund | 4 |
| 2 | Karl-Heinz Riedle | Borussia Dortmund | 4 |
| 2 | Marco Simone | Milan | 4 |
| 2 | Christian Vieri | Juventus | 4 |
| 2 | Diego Simeone | Atlético Madrid | 4 |