2016–17 Premier League International Cup

2016–17 Premier League International Cup
	The Stadium of Light in Monkwearmouth, Sunderland hosted the final
Tournament details
Dates	18 August 2016 – 17 May 2017
Teams	24 (from 8 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Porto (1st title)
Runners-up	Sunderland
Tournament statistics
Matches played	43
Goals scored	119 (2.77 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Carlton Morris ; (4 goals)
	← 2015–16 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.

Qualification

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.

Teams

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:

Group stage

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.

Color key in group tables
Group winners and the two best runners-up advance to the quarterfinals

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Sunderland	3	2	1	0	6	3	+3	7
Benfica	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
Derby County	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1	4
PSV Eindhoven	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

22 September 2016	Derby County	2–1	PSV Eindhoven	Burton upon Trent
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Blackman pen' (14) Rawson 19'	Report	Gudmundsson pen' (63)	Stadium: St George's Park

14 October 2016	Derby County	0–2	Benfica	Burton upon Trent
19:00 BST (UTC+1)		Report	Carvalho 16' Tavares 72'	Stadium: St George's Park

18 November 2016	Sunderland	2–1	Benfica	Sunderland
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Asoro 19' Molyneux		Tavares	Stadium: Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground Attendance: 344^[4] Referee: Mr S.Rushton

23 December 2016	Sunderland	2–0	PSV Eindhoven	Sunderland
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Embleton 69' Asoro 86'			Stadium: Stadium of Light

12 January 2017	Derby County	2–2	Sunderland	Derby
19:00 GMT (UTC)	MacDonald 41' Robson 45' (o.g.)	Report	Nelson 66' Cresswell 90' (o.g.)	Stadium: iPro Stadium Attendance: 207^[5]

18 January 2017	Benfica	0–0	PSV Eindhoven	New Malden
19:00 GMT (UTC)				Stadium: Motspur Park

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Manchester United	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7
Middlesbrough	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
Villarreal	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1	3
Sparta Prague	3	0	0	3	1	5	−4	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

13 September 2016	Manchester United	1–0	Villarreal	Leigh
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Harrop 34'	[1]		Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Referee: Joseph Johnson

11 October 2016	Middlesbrough	1–0	Villarreal	Darlington
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Cooke 90'	Report		Stadium: The Darlington Arena^[6] Attendance: 467 Referee: Andrew Miller

15 November 2016	Middlesbrough	1–0	Sparta Prague	Hartlepool
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Cooke 33'			Stadium: Victoria Park Referee: Mr T.Harrington

13 December 2016	Villarreal	2–1	Sparta Prague	Burton upon Trent
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Acosta 10' Cantalapiedra 87'		Burda 45'	Stadium: St George's Park

15 December 2016	Manchester United	2–0	Sparta Prague	Leigh
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Harrop 21' Redmond 55'	Report		Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 943^[7] Referee: Martin Coy

22 December 2016	Manchester United	2–2	Middlesbrough	Leigh
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Mitchell 59' Goss 72' (pen.)	Report	de Pena 63', 83'	Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 856^[8] Referee: Peter Wright

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Porto	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7
VfL Wolfsburg	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1	6
Leicester City	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4	3
Liverpool	3	0	1	2	3	5	−2	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

28 September 2016	Liverpool	1–2	VfL Wolfsburg	Birkenhead
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Lennon 80'	[2]	Brekalo 51' Hansen 90'	Stadium: Prenton Park Referee: Anthony Backhouse

11 October 2016	Leicester City	0–3	VfL Wolfsburg	Leicester
19:00 BST (UTC+1)		[3]	Zawada 42' Donkor 58' 63'	Stadium: King Power Stadium Attendance: 200 Referee: Thomas Bramall

2 November 2016	Liverpool	1–1	Porto	Birkenhead
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Lennon 65'	Report	Govea 49'	Stadium: Prenton Park Referee: Anthony Backhouse

12 November 2016	Leicester City	0–2	Porto	Leicester
19:00 GMT (UTC)		Report	Inácio 55' Palmer-Brown 81'	Stadium: King Power Stadium

3 December 2016	Leicester City	2–1	Liverpool	Leicester
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Ndukwu 50', 77'		Wilson 45'	Stadium: Holmes Park Referee: Anthony Serrano

14 December 2016	Porto	3–0	VfL Wolfsburg	Brighton
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Ramos 39' Areias 44' Kayembe 58'	Report		Stadium: American Express Elite Performance Centre

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Dinamo Zagreb	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	7
Swansea City	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7
Chelsea	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3
Feyenoord	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

11 October 2016	Swansea City	2–0	Feyenoord	Swansea
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Plezier 10' Biabi 90' pen			Stadium: Landore Training Centre

11 November 2016	Swansea City	0–0	Dinamo Zagreb	Swansea
19:00 GMT (UTC)				Stadium: Landore Training Centre

29 November 2016	Chelsea	2–1	Feyenoord	Aldershot
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Sterling 84' Tomori 85'		Basacikoglu 12'	Stadium: Recreation Ground Referee: Mr C.Hatzidakis

16 December 2016	Chelsea	0–1	Dinamo Zagreb	Aldershot
19:00 GMT (UTC)			Mihaljević 38'	Stadium: Recreation Ground Referee: Mr A. Quelch

20 December 2016	Feyenoord	0–3	Dinamo Zagreb	Stoke d'Abernon
19:00 GMT (UTC)			Mihaljević 25', 36' Muhar 90+2'	Stadium: Cobham Training Centre

22 December 2016	Chelsea	1–2	Swansea City	Aldershot
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Quintero 34'		Biabi 53' James 86'	Stadium: Recreation Ground

Group E

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Norwich City	3	3	0	9	3	+6	9
Celtic	3	2	1	6	3	+3	6
Aston Villa	3	1	2	5	8	−3	3
Valencia	3	0	3	1	7	−6	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

6 September 2016	Norwich City	2–0	Valencia	Norwich
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Morris 15' Latorre (o.g.), 28'	[4]		Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 829

5 October 2016	Aston Villa	2–1	Valencia	Birmingham
20:00 BST (UTC+1)	O'Hare 41' 82'	[5]	Soler Barragan 45'	Stadium: Villa Park

9 November 2016	Aston Villa	0–3	Celtic	Birmingham
19:00 GMT (UTC)		Report 1 Report 2	Donnelly 15', 63' Aitchison 34'	Stadium: Villa Park Referee: Mr A.Serrano

16 November 2016	Norwich City	3–0	Celtic	Norwich
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Morris 6' (pen.), 81' Murphy 58'	Report 1 Report 2		Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 2,074

30 November 2016	Valencia	0–3	Celtic	Southampton
19:00 GMT (UTC)		Report 1 Report 2	Nesbitt 1' Donnelly 39' Ajer 56'	Stadium: Staplewood

12 January 2017	Norwich City	4–3	Aston Villa	Norwich
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Maddison 43' Morris 47' Middleton 56' Jaiyesimi 76'	Report	Davis 29', 52' Sellars 44'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 200 Referee: Dean Treleaven

Group F

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Hertha BSC	3	2	1	0	7	3	+4	7
Athletic Bilbao	3	2	1	0	7	5	+2	7
Everton	3	1	0	2	4	6	−2	3
Reading	3	0	0	3	3	7	−4	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

18 August 2016	Everton	2–1	Reading	Southport
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Dyson 7' Evans 12'	Report	Fosu 36'	Stadium: Haig Avenue Referee: Andrew Miller

26 October 2016	Athletic Bilbao	2–2	Hertha BSC	Brighton
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Iriondo 6' Morcillo 76'	Report	Kohls 32' Pelivan 55' (pen.)	Stadium: American Express Elite Football Performance Centre

23 November 2016	Everton	1–3	Hertha BSC	Liverpool
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Jones 50'	Report	Friede 11', 20' Kurt 32'	Stadium: Goodison Park

23 November 2016	Reading	2–3	Athletic Bilbao	High Wycombe
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Méïté 4', 9'	Report	Southwood 45+3' (o.g.) Bilbao 71' Villalibre 72'	Stadium: Adams Park

14 December 2016	Reading	0–2	Hertha BSC	Reading
19:00 GMT (UTC)		Report	Friede 64' Beyer 74'	Stadium: Madejski Stadium

21 December 2016	Everton	1–2	Athletic Bilbao	Liverpool
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Connolly 9'	Report	Córdoba 43' Núñez 81'	Stadium: Goodison Park

Ranking of second-placed teams

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Swansea City	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7
Athletic Bilbao	3	2	1	0	7	5	+2	7
Middlesbrough	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
Celtic	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	6
VfL Wolfsburg	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1	6
Benfica	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knockout stages

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Finals

Swansea City	5

Hertha BSC	1
		Swansea City	0

		Porto	1
Manchester United	0

Porto	2
				Porto	5

				Sunderland	0
Norwich City	6

Dinamo Zagreb	0
		Norwich City	0

		Sunderland	1
Sunderland	2

Athletic Bilbao	0

Quarter-finals

15 February 2017	Sunderland	2–0	Athletic Bilbao	Sunderland
19:00 GMT (UTC)	Robson 25' Embleton 47'	Report	Córdoba 52'	Stadium: Stadium of Light Attendance: 634 Referee: Tom Bramall (Derbyshire)

28 February 2017	Swansea City	5–1	Hertha BSC	Swansea
19:00 GMT (UTC)	King 8', 59', 73' McBurnie 50' James 52'	Report	Kade 49'	Stadium: Liberty Stadium Attendance: 800

22 February 2017	Manchester United	0–2	Porto	Leigh
19:00 GMT (UTC)		Report 1 Report 2	Díaz 65', 69'	Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 1,212^[9] Referee: Scott Oldham

27 February 2017	Norwich City	6–0	Dinamo Zagreb	Norwich
	Lafferty 27', 31' Murphy 43' Maddison 45' (pen.) Middleton 48' Cantwell 90' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 2,526

Semi-finals

25 March 2017	Swansea City	0–1	Porto	Swansea
12:30 GMT (UTC)		Report	Galeno 64'	Stadium: Liberty Stadium Attendance: 2,118

31 March 2017	Norwich City	0–1	Sunderland	Norwich
19:00 BST (UTC+1)		Report	Asoro 13'	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 3,000 estimated^[10]

Final

17 May 2017	Sunderland	0–5	Porto	Sunderland
19:00 BST (UTC+1)		Report	Galeno 5', 37' Pereira 45+2' Kayembe 51' Awaziem 55'	Stadium: Stadium of Light Attendance: 18,317

References

^ "Premier League International Cup: Format explained". Premier League. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
^ "Premier League International Cup explained". Premier League. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ "Man Utd to face International Cup holders". Premier League. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
^ "Sunderland U23 2-1 Benfica U23 report: Black Cats make winning start in International Cup". ChronicleLive. 18 November 2016.
^ "U23 REPORT: DERBY COUNTY 2-2 SUNDERLAND". Derby County FC.
^ "Middlesbrough U23s vs Villarreal: History beckons for Boro in the Premier League International Cup". Gazette Live. 11 October 2016.
^ @lsvstadium (15 December 2016). "Finishes @ManUtd 2 @ACSparta_EN 0 in #PLInternationalCup" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ @lsvstadium (22 December 2016). "FULL TIME #mufc 2 #boro 2" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ @lsvstadium (22 February 2017). "FULL TIME: #mufc 0 #fcporto 2" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "Norwich City U23s 0 Sunderland U23s 1 – Canaries miss out on place in Premier League International Cup final". Eastern Daily Press.

[announcement-1] "Premier League International Cup: Format explained". Premier League. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.

[2] "Premier League International Cup explained". Premier League. Retrieved 10 May 2018.

[group_stage_draw-3] "Man Utd to face International Cup holders". Premier League. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.

[4] "Sunderland U23 2-1 Benfica U23 report: Black Cats make winning start in International Cup". ChronicleLive. 18 November 2016.

[5] "U23 REPORT: DERBY COUNTY 2-2 SUNDERLAND". Derby County FC.

[6] "Middlesbrough U23s vs Villarreal: History beckons for Boro in the Premier League International Cup". Gazette Live. 11 October 2016.

[7] @lsvstadium (15 December 2016). "Finishes @ManUtd 2 @ACSparta_EN 0 in #PLInternationalCup" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[8] @lsvstadium (22 December 2016). "FULL TIME #mufc 2 #boro 2" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[9] @lsvstadium (22 February 2017). "FULL TIME: #mufc 0 #fcporto 2" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[10] "Norwich City U23s 0 Sunderland U23s 1 – Canaries miss out on place in Premier League International Cup final". Eastern Daily Press.

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