Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone 2017 | |
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Tournament details | |
Dates | 23 January – 29 November 2017 |
Teams | 47 (from 10 associations) |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 77 |
Goals scored | 209 (2.71 per match) |
Top scorer(s) |
Alejandro Chumacero (6 goals) |
The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores (officially the Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone 2017 for sponsorship reasons) is the 58th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
The winners of the 2017 Copa Libertadores will qualify as the CONMEBOL representative at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and also earn the right to play against the winners of the 2017 Copa Sudamericana in the 2018 Recopa Sudamericana.Atlético Nacional are the defending champions.
Starting from this season, the following format changes will be implemented:
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 will 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 is 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 champion (which no longer occupies one of the places allocated to their association and is 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) will also be each allocated an additional berth, further expanding the tournament to 47 teams.
From this season, the Copa Libertadores champion (which no longer occupies one of the group stage places allocated to their association) and the Copa Sudamericana champion will gain direct entries into the group stage, meaning a total of 28 teams (increased from 26) will directly enter the group stage, while the other four berths (decreased from six) will be decided by the qualifying stages. The group stage berths left vacant following the withdrawal of teams from Mexico will be redistributed to Argentina and Brazil. For the qualifying stages, a total of 19 teams (increased from 12) will compete in three rounds where the four winners will advance to the group stage (initially 16 teams would compete in two rounds before further expansion following the withdrawal of teams from Mexico).