2017 Copa Libertadores

The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores (officially the Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone 2017 for sponsorship reasons) was the 58th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the Copa Libertadores), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.

Grêmio defeated Lanús in the finals by an aggregate score of 3–1 to win their third tournament title. As champions, they qualified as the CONMEBOL representative at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2017 Copa Sudamericana in the 2018 Recopa Sudamericana. They also automatically qualified for the 2018 Copa Libertadores group stage.

Atlético Nacional were the defending champions, but they were eliminated in the group stage.

Starting from this season, the following format changes were implemented:

• The tournament was expanded from 38 to 47 teams.
• A total of 10 teams eliminated from the Copa Libertadores (two best teams eliminated in the third stage of qualifying and eight third-placed teams in the group stage) were transferred to the Copa Sudamericana.
• The schedule of the tournament was extended to year-round so it would start in late January or early February and conclude in late November or early December.

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 would 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 was 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 champions (which no longer occupy one of the places allocated to their association and are 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) would also be each allocated an additional berth, further expanding the tournament to 47 teams.

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

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

• Copa Libertadores champions
• Copa Sudamericana champions
• Brazil: 7 berths
• Argentina: 6 berths
• All other associations: 4 berths each

The entry stage is determined as follows:

• Group stage: 28 teams
  • Copa Libertadores champions
  • Copa Sudamericana champions
  • Teams which qualified for berths 1–5 from Argentina and Brazil
  • Teams which qualified for berths 1–2 from all other associations
• Second stage: 13 teams
  • Teams which qualified for berths 6–7 from Brazil
  • Team which qualified for berth 6 from Argentina
  • Teams which qualified for berths 3–4 from Chile and Colombia
  • Teams which qualified for berths 3 from all other associations
• First stage: 6 teams
  • Teams which qualified for berths 4 from Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela

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.

The draw for 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.

• Second stage winner C1 vs. Second stage winner C8
• Second stage winner C2 vs. Second stage winner C7
• Second stage winner C3 vs. Second stage winner C6
• Second stage winner C4 vs. Second stage winner C5

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.

Notes

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 14 June 2017, 20:00 PYT (UTC−4), at the CONMEBOL Convention Center in Luque, Paraguay. For the round of 16, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (A–H) between a group winner (Pot 1) and a group runner-up (Pot 2), with the group winners hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association or the same group could be drawn into the same tie.

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:

• First stage (6 teams): The three winners of the first stage advanced to the second stage to join the 13 teams which were given byes to the second stage.
• Second stage (16 teams): The eight winners of the second stage advanced to the third stage.
• Third stage (8 teams): The four winners of the third stage advanced to the group stage to join the 28 direct entrants. The two best teams eliminated in the third stage entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage.

The two best teams eliminated in the third stage entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage. Only matches in the third stage were considered for the ranking of teams.

In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams were 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 would be 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 advanced to the round of 16 of the knockout stages. The third-placed teams of each group entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage.

Starting from the round of 16, the teams played a single-elimination tournament with the following rules:

• Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg (Regulations Article 3.10).
• In the round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, 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).
• In the finals, if tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 5.3).

There were two format changes from the previous season:

• While the seeding was still used to decide the order of legs, it was no longer used to decide the bracket, which was decided by the round of 16 draw.
• If there were two semifinalists from the same association, the bracket was no longer adjusted and remained as it was.

Starting from the round of 16, the teams were seeded according to their results in the group stage, with the group winners (Pot 1 in round of 16 draw) seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up (Pot 2 in round of 16 draw) seeded 9–16.

The bracket was decided based on the round of 16 draw, which was held on 14 June 2017.

Grêmio won 3–1 on aggregate.

Source: CONMEBOL.com

Source: CONMEBOL.com

• 2017 FIFA Club World Cup

• 2017 Copa Sudamericana

• 2018 Recopa Sudamericana

• Bridgestone Libertadores (in Spanish)

• CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone 2017, CONMEBOL.com (in Spanish)