Tourney Name: | Premier League International Cup |
Year: | 2016–17 |
Dates: | 18 August 2016 – 17 May 2017 |
Num Teams: | 24 |
Associations: | 8 |
Champion Other: | Porto |
Count: | 1 |
Second Other: | Sunderland |
Matches: | 43 |
Goals: | 119 |
Top Scorer: | Carlton Morris (4 goals) |
Prevseason: | 2015–16 |
Nextseason: | 2017–18 |
The 2016–17 Premier League International Cup was the third season of the Premier League International Cup, a European club football competition organised by the Premier League for under-23 players.[1]
Villarreal were the defending champions, having defeated PSV 4–2 in the previous season's final, but were eliminated in the group stage.
Twelve teams in Premier League 2 were invited to represent England in the tournament, while European teams that qualify for the knockout stages were guaranteed an invite for the following season's competition. The teams were split into six groups of four - with two English league clubs per group. The group winners, and two best runners-up, progressed into the knockout phase of the tournament. The knockout matches were single leg fixtures.[2]
All matches - including fixtures between non-English teams - were played in England and Wales.
Valencia, Feyenoord, Sparta Prague, Dinamo Zagreb, VfL Wolfsburg, and Hertha Berlin were the new international entrants in the 2016–17 season.
English league system:
Other countries:
The draw for the group stage was held on 28 July 2016.[3] The teams were drawn into four groups, each containing two English sides and two European sides.