2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League
Premier club football tournament
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The 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2016–17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)[1][2] 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 (5th title) UANL| 2016–17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | August 2, 2016 – April 26, 2017 |
| Teams | 24 (from 12 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Pachuca (5th title) |
| Runners-up | UANL |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 62 |
| Goals scored | 197 (3.18 per match) |
| Top scorer | Hirving Lozano (8 goals) |
| Best player |  Franco Jara |
| Best young player | Hirving Lozano |
| Best goalkeeper | Alfonso Blanco |
| Fair play award |  FC Dallas |
← 2015–16 2018 → | |
Pachuca won their fifth title, and their first since 2009–10, by defeating 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.[3] América won the previous two tournaments, but did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title.
Qualification
Brown: Group A; 
Red: Group B; 
Orange: Group C; 
Yellow: Group D;
Green: Group E; 
Blue: Group F; 
Purple: Group G; 
Pink: Group H.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).[3] 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).[4]
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).
Draw
The draw for the tournament was held on May 30, 2016, 20:00 EDT (UTC−4), at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.[5][6][7]
The 24 teams were drawn into eight groups of three, with each group containing one team from each of the three pots. Teams from the same association (excluding "wildcard" teams which replace a team from another association) could not be drawn with each other in the group stage, and teams from Mexico and the United States had to be drawn into separate groups.[3]
The allocation of teams to each pot was based on the results of the last four editions of the competition under the current format:[5]
- Pot 1 contained the second team from Panama, two teams from El Salvador, one team each from Nicaragua and Belize, and three teams from the Caribbean.
- Pot 2 contained two teams each from Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala, the first team from Panama, and one team from Canada.
- Pot 3 contained four teams each from Mexico and the United States.
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.
| Stage | Round | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | August 2–4, 2016 | |
| Matchday 2 | August 16–18, 2016 | ||
| Matchday 3 | August 23–25, 2016 | ||
| Matchday 4 | September 13–15, 2016 | ||
| Matchday 5 | September 27–29, 2016 | ||
| Matchday 6 | October 18–20, 2016 | ||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | February 21–23, 2017 | February 28 – March 2, 2017 |
| Semi-finals | March 14–15, 2017 | April 4–5, 2017 | |
| Final | April 18, 2017 | April 26, 2017 | |
Group stage
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.
| Tiebreakers |
|---|
|
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order (Regulations, II. D. Tie-Breaker Procedures):[3]
|
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | UNA | HON | WCO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UNAM |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 9 | Quarter-finals | — | 2−0 | 8−1 | |
| 2 |  Honduras Progreso |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 3 |  W Connection |
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | — |
Group B
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VAN | SKC | CEN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 12 | Quarter-finals | — | 3–0 | 4–1 | |
| 2 | Sporting Kansas City |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 4 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | ||
| 3 | Central |
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — |
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | DAL | SUC | EST | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Dallas |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 8 | Quarter-finals | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | |
| 2 |  Suchitepéquez |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 5 | 2–5 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 3 |  Real Estelí |
4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, the eight teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg. The away goals rule was used if the aggregate score was level after normal time of the second leg, but not after extra time, and so a tie was decided by penalty shoot-out if the aggregate score was level after extra time of the second leg (Regulations, II. D. Tie-Breaker Procedures).[3]
Seeding
The qualified teams were seeded 1–8 in the knockout stage according to their results in the group stage.
| Seed | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 12 |
| 2 | D |  Árabe Unido |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 12 |
| 3 | E | Pachuca |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 4 | +15 | 10 |
| 4 | A | UNAM |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 9 |
| 5 | G | UANL |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 9 |
| 6 | B |  Saprissa |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 8 |
| 7 | H | FC Dallas |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 8 |
| 8 | F | New York Red Bulls |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 8 |
Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | UANL
| 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UNAM
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | UANL
| 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | New York Red Bulls
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | UANL
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Pachuca
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | FC Dallas
| 4 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Árabe Unido
| 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | FC Dallas
| 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Pachuca
| 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Saprissa
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Pachuca
| 0 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hirving Lozano |
Pachuca |
8 |
| 2 | Franco Jara |
Pachuca |
6 |
| 3 | José González |
Árabe Unido |
5 |
 Cristian Techera |
Vancouver Whitecaps FC | ||
| 5 |  Óscar Guerrero |
 Alianza |
4 |
| 6 | Kellyn Acosta |
FC Dallas |
3 |
| 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 |
Source: CONCACAF.com[8]
Awards
| Award | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Ball[9] | Franco Jara |
Pachuca |
| Golden Boot[10] | Hirving Lozano |
Pachuca |
| Golden Glove[11] | Alfonso Blanco |
Pachuca |
| Best Young Player[12] | Hirving Lozano |
Pachuca |
| Fair Play Award | — | FC Dallas |
| Week | Player of the week | Goalkeeper of the week | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | |
| Group stage | ||||
| Week 1 | Luis Quintana[13] |
UNAM |
Justo Lorente[14] |
Real Estelí |
| Week 2 | Marvin Angulo[15] |
Saprissa |
Manuel Sosa[16] |
Suchitepéquez |
| Week 3 | Yoel Bárcenas[17] |
Árabe Unido |
 Keith Allen[18] |
Police United |
| Week 4 | Hirving Lozano[19] |
Pachuca |
 Miguel Lloyd[20] |
Árabe Unido |
| Week 5 | Cristian Techera[21] |
Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
Woodrow West[22] |
Honduras Progreso |
| Week 6 |  Fidel Martínez[23] |
UNAM |
 James Elan[24] |
Don Bosco |
| Knockout stage | ||||
| Week 7 | Matías Britos[25] |
UNAM |
Alfonso Blanco[26] |
Pachuca |
| Week 8 | Jonathan Urretaviscaya[27] |
Pachuca |
Alfonso Blanco[28] |
Pachuca |
| Week 9 |  Eduardo Vargas[29] |
UANL |
Chris Seitz[30] |
FC Dallas |
| Week 10 | Javier Aquino[31] |
UANL |
 David Ousted[32] |
Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
Prize money
The four semi-finalists received prize money from CONCACAF.[33]
| Round | No. of clubs receiving money | Prize money per club |
|---|---|---|
| Champions | 1 | $500,000 |
| Runners-up | 1 | $300,000 |
| Semi-finalists | 2 | $200,000 |
| Total | 4 | $1,200,000 |