1996–97 UEFA Champions League explained

Tourney Name:UEFA Champions League
Year:1996–97
Size:320px
Dates:Qualifying:
7–21 August 1996
Competition proper:
11 September 1996 – 28 May 1997
Num Teams:Competition proper: 16
Total: 24
Champion Other: Borussia Dortmund
Count:1
Second Other: Juventus
Matches:61
Goals:161
Attendance:2093228
Top Scorer:Milinko Pantić (Atlético Madrid)
5 goals
Prevseason:1995–96
Nextseason:1997–98

The 1996–97 UEFA Champions League was the 42nd season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the fifth since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League, and the last that involved only clubs that were champions of their domestic leagues. Due to the Bosman ruling, restrictions on foreign players in matchday squads were lifted from this season.

The tournament was won by Borussia Dortmund in a 3–1 final victory against defending champions Juventus. It was their only title in the tournament to date, and the first title for Germany since its reunification in 1990.

Teams

24 teams entered the competition: the national champions of each of the top 23 nations in the UEFA coefficient rankings, and UEFA Champions League holders, Juventus. The national champions of the associations ranked 1–7, plus the title holders, all received a bye to the group stage, while the national champions of the associations ranked 8–23 entered in the qualifying round. The remaining national champions from the associations ranked 24–48 were only allowed to participate in UEFA Cup.[1]

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held in Geneva, Switzerland).

PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond leg
Qualifying round6 July 19967 August 199621 August 1996
Group stageMatchday 123 August 199611 September 1996
Matchday 225 September 1996
Matchday 316 October 1996
Matchday 430 October 1996
Matchday 520 November 1996
Matchday 64 December 1996
Knockout phaseQuarter-finals5 March 199719 March 1997
Semi-finals9 April 199723 April 1997
Final28 May 1997 at Olympiastadion, Munich

Qualifying round

See main article: 1996–97 UEFA Champions League qualifying round. The winners of each tie in the preliminary round entered the Champions League group stage, whilst the losers entered the UEFA Cup first round.

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Group stage

See main article: 1996–97 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Atlético Madrid, Auxerre, Fenerbahçe, Rapid Wien and Widzew Łódź made their debut in the group stage.

Italy became the first association to have two teams in the Champions League group stage.

Group D

Knockout stage

See main article: 1996–97 UEFA Champions League knockout stage.

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final

See main article: 1997 UEFA Champions League final.

Top goalscorers

RankNameTeamGoals
1 Milinko Pantić Atlético Madrid5
2 Juventus4
Artur Porto4
Juventus4
Juventus4
Porto4
Borussia Dortmund4
Borussia Dortmund4
Milan4
Juventus4
Atlético Madrid4

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method1/crank1996.html UEFA Country Ranking 1996