| Tourney Name: | Copa Libertadores |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Dates: | 23 January – 29 November 2017 |
| Num Teams: | 47 |
| Associations: | 10 |
| Champion Other: |  Grêmio |
| Count: | 3 |
| Second Other: |  Lanús |
| Matches: | 156 |
| Goals: | 426 |
| Top Scorer: | José Sand (9 goals) |
| Player: | Luan[1] |
| Prevseason: | 2016 |
| Nextseason: | 2018 |
The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores (officially the Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone 2017 for sponsorship reasons)[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
Starting from this season, the following format changes were implemented:[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
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.[13]
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.[14] [15]
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.[7] 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.[12]
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.[6] The group stage berths left vacant following the withdrawal of teams from Mexico would be redistributed to Argentina and Brazil.[12] 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).[6] [12]
The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations qualified for the tournament:[12] [16]
The entry stage is determined as follows:[12]
| Association | Team | Entry stage | Qualification method[17] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Group stage | 2016 Primera División champions[18] | |
| 2016 Primera División runners-up | |||
| 2016 Primera División 3rd place | |||
| 2016 Primera División 4th place | |||
| 2015–16 Copa Argentina champions | |||
| Second stage | 2016 Primera División 5th place | ||
 Bolivia | Group stage | 2015 Apertura champions[19] | |
| 2016 Clausura champions | |||
| Second stage | 2015–16 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2015–16 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | ||
| Brazil | Group stage | 2016 Copa Sudamericana champions | |
| 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champions[20] | |||
| 2016 Copa do Brasil champions | |||
| 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runners-up | |||
| 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd place | |||
| 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th place | |||
| Second stage | 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 5th place | ||
| 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 6th place | |||
| Chile | Group stage | 2016 Clausura champions[21] | |
| 2016 Apertura runners-up[22] | |||
| Second stage | 2016 Copa Chile champions | ||
| 2016 Primera División runners-up playoff winners | |||
 Colombia | Group stage | 2016 Copa Libertadores champions | |
| 2016 Apertura champions[23] | |||
| 2016 Finalización champions | |||
| Second stage | 2016 Primera A aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| 2016 Primera A aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | |||
 Ecuador | Group stage | 2016 Serie A champions[24] | |
| 2016 Serie A runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2016 Serie A aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2016 Serie A aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | ||
| Paraguay | Group stage | 2016 Primera División tournament champions with better record in aggregate table[25] | |
| 2016 Primera División tournament champions with worse record in aggregate table | |||
| Second stage | 2016 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2016 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | ||
 Peru | Group stage | 2016 Descentralizado champions[26] | |
| 2016 Descentralizado runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2016 Descentralizado 3rd place | ||
| First stage | 2016 Descentralizado 4th place | ||
| Uruguay | Group stage | 2015–16 Primera División champions[27] | |
| 2015–16 Primera División runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2015–16 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2016 Primera División best team not yet qualified[28] | ||
 Venezuela | Group stage | 2016 Primera División champions[29] | |
| 2016 Primera División runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2016 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2016 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified |
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[30] The first stage matches are played on Monday and Friday, instead of the usual midweek of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
| Stage | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First stage | 21 December 2016 (Luque, Paraguay) | 23 January 2017 | 27 January 2017 |
| Second stage | 31 January – 2 February 2017 | 7–9 February 2017 | |
| Third stage | 14–16 February 2017 | 21–23 February 2017 | |
| Group stage | |||
| Round of 16 | 14 June 2017 (Luque, Paraguay) | 4–6 July 2017 | 8–10 August 2017 |
| Quarterfinals | 12–14 September 2017 | 19–21 September 2017 | |
| Semifinals | 24–26 October 2017 | 31 October – 2 November 2017 | |
| Finals | 22 November 2017 | 29 November 2017 | |
See main article: article and 2017 Copa Libertadores qualifying stages.
See main article: article and 2017 Copa Libertadores group stage.
See main article: article and 2017 Copa Libertadores final stages.
See main article: article and 2017 Copa Libertadores Finals.
| Rank | Player | Team |    |    | Total | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | José Sand | Lanús | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||||
| 2 | Alejandro Chumacero | The Strongest | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||||||
| Luan | Grêmio | 1 | 2 | × | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | × | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| Ignacio Scocco | River Plate | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Jonathan Álvez | Barcelona | 1 | × | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | × | 1 | 6 | ||||||
| Lucas Barrios | Grêmio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | × | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Fred | Atlético Mineiro | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | × | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Matías Alonso | The Strongest | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||||||
| Nicolás Blandi | San Lorenzo | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Juan Cazares | Atlético Mineiro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Rodrigo Pimpão | Botafogo | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | × | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Fernando Zampedri | Atlético Tucumán | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | × |