2017–18 UEFA Champions League
The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final was played between Real Madrid and Liverpool at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine. Real Madrid, the defending champions, beat Liverpool 3–1 to win a record-extending 13th title and their third title in a row.
As winners, Real Madrid qualified as the UEFA representative for the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, Atlético Madrid, in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup. Moreover, they would also have been automatically qualified for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage, but since they had already qualified through their league performance, the berth reserved was given to the champions of the 2017–18 Czech First League, the 11th-ranked association according to the 2018–19 access list.
Association team allocation
79 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:- Associations 1–3 each have four teams qualify.
- Associations 4–6 each have three teams qualify.
- Associations 7–15 each have two teams qualify.
- Associations 16–55 each have one team qualify.
- The winners of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League and 2016–17 UEFA Europa League are each given an additional entry if they do not qualify for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league. Because a maximum of five teams from one association can enter the Champions League, if both the Champions League title holders and the Europa League title holders are from the same top three ranked association and finish outside the top four of their domestic league, the fourth-placed team of their association will be moved to the Europa League. For this season:
- *The winners of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid, have qualified through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Champions League title holders is not necessary.
- *The winners of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, Manchester United, did not qualify through their domestic league, meaning the additional entry for the Europa League title holders is necessary.
Association ranking
For the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2016 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2011–12 to 2015–16.Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
- – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
DistributionIn the default access list, the Champions League title holders enter the group stage. However, since Real Madrid already qualified for the group stage, the Champions League title holders berth in the group stage is given to the Europa League title holders, Manchester United.TeamsLeague positions of the previous season shown in parentheses.;Notes Round and draw datesThe schedule of the competition is as follows.Qualifying roundsIn the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their 2017 UEFA club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.First qualifying roundSecond qualifying roundThird qualifying roundThe third qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Route and League Route. The losing teams in both sections entered the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League play-off round.Play-off roundThe play-off round was split into two separate sections: Champions Route and League Route. The losing teams in both sections entered the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage.Group stageThe draw for the group stage was held on 24 August 2017, 18:00 CEST, 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 cannot be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on the following principles :
The youth teams of the clubs that qualify for the group stage also participated in the 2017–18 UEFA Youth League on the same matchdays, where they competed in the UEFA Champions League Path. 17 national associations were represented in the group stage. Qarabağ and RB Leipzig made their debut appearances in the group stage. Qarabağ were the first team from Azerbaijan to play in the Champions League group stage. For the first time since the 1997–98 edition, England's Arsenal did not qualify for the group stage.
Group AGroup BGroup CGroup DGroup EGroup FGroup GGroup HKnockout phaseIn 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 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinalStatisticsStatistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.Top goalscorersTop assistsSquad of the seasonThe UEFA technical study group selected the following 18 players as the squad of the tournament.
Players of the seasonVotes were cast for players of the season by coaches of the 32 teams in the group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media 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 9 August 2018. The award winners were announced and presented during the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on 30 August 2018.Goalkeeper of the seasonDefender of the seasonMidfielder of the seasonForward of the season |
Keylor Navas
Real Madrid
Alisson
Roma
Joshua Kimmich
Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool
Raphaël Varane
Kevin De Bruyne
Luka Modrić
James Rodríguez
Edin Džeko
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Mohamed Salah