2016–17 UEFA Champions League
The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was played between Juventus and Real Madrid at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It was the second time that the two teams faced each other in the competition's decisive match, having previously met in the 1998 final. Real Madrid, the defending champions, beat Juventus 4–1 to win a record-extending 12th title. With this  victory, Real Madrid became the first team to successfully defend their title in the Champions League era, and the first to successfully defend a European Cup since Milan in 1990. As winners, Real Madrid qualified as the UEFA representative for the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, Manchester United, in the 2017 UEFA Super Cup, ultimately triumphing in both competitions. Association team allocation. A total of 78 teams from 53 of the 55 UEFA member associations were expected to participate  in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions being Liechtenstein, which did 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 was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: Association ranking. For the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2015 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2010–11 to 2014–15. Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could 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 was as  follows (all draws were 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 play-offs). A total of 17 national associations are represented in the group stage. Leicester City and Rostov made their debut appearances in the group stage. For the first time since the 2002–03 edition, England's Chelsea did not qualify for 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 were played on 7, 8, 14 and 15 March 2017. Quarter-finals. The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 17 March 2017. The first legs were played on 11 and 12 April, and the second  legs were played on 18 and 19 April 2017. Semi-finals. The draw for the semi-finals was held on 21 April 2017. The first legs were played on 2 and 3 May, and the second legs were played on 9 and 10 May 2017. Final. The final was played on 3 June 2017 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw. Statistics. Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round. Squad of the season. The UEFA technical study group selected the following  18 players as the squad of the tournament. Players of the season. New UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season, Defender of the Season, Midfielder of the Season, and Forward of the Season positional awards were introduced for the 2016–17 season. Votes were cast by coaches of the 32 teams in the group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA's member associations. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams. Jury members selected their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the  second three and the third one. The shortlist of the top three players were announced on 4 August 2017. The award winners were announced and presented during the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on 24 August 2017.