Everything about Libertadores Cup totally explained
Boca Juniors
| most successful club =
Independiente (7 times)
| website =
Copa Libertadores
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The
Copa Santander Libertadores, also known as
Copa Libertadores de América, (
Portuguese:
Copa Libertadores da América) is a
football cup competition played annually by the top clubs of
South America. In recent years, top clubs from
Mexico have also competed. The tournament is organized by the
Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol/Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol (CONMEBOL). In recent years, the preliminary rounds usually commence in late January or early February, and the finals are contested around late June, July or August.
The current champion is the
Argentine club
Boca Juniors, while another Argentine club
Independiente is the most successful club in the cup history, having won the tournament for 7 times. The Copa Libertadores has also produced the most world club champions out of any FIFA confederation.
The name of the tournament is an homage to the
Libertadores (Portuguese and Spanish words for
Liberators), the main leaders of the independence wars of Latin America:
Simón Bolívar,
Pedro I,
José de San Martín,
Antonio José de Sucre,
Bernardo O'Higgins,
José Miguel Carrera and
José Gervasio Artigas . Teams in contention for the title are referred to have the Sueño Libertador, in Hispanic America, or
Projeto Tóquio, in Brazil.
Spain's largest bank
Banco Santander has announced in Sepember 2007 that it has signed an agreement with the CONMEBOL to become the new top sponsors of the competition.
Format
Qualifying
In the beginning, only the national champions of the major South American federations (namely Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay) would play in the Libertadores Cup, but in the 1970s a second team from each country was allowed entry and also teams from Venezuela. The number of participants was later increased to 24, 28, 32 and now 38.
Teams are qualified for the Libertadores Cup by winning a national championship or by finishing among the first few teams in the championship. Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico are the only countries participating which employ a second tournament that qualifies for the Libertadores (in Brazil,
Copa do Brasil, since 1989; in Uruguay the "liguilla pre-libertadores" since 1974, in Mexico, the
InterLiga since 2004).
The
2007 edition has the competitors distributed this way:
Preliminary rounds, group stage and knockout stage
The Cup has a preliminary round in which a number of clubs, currently 12, are paired in a series of two-legged knockout ties. The six survivors join the remaining clubs in the first round, in which they're divided into groups of four. The first-round groups play in a league system, with each team playing home and away against each other team. The top two teams from each group are then drawn in the second round, which consists of a two-legged knockout tie. From that point, the competition proceeds with two-legged knockout ties to quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final. Between 1960 and 1987 the previous winners didn't enter the competition until the semi-final stage (which was 2 group stage of 3 teams each one), making it much easier to retain the cup.
Rules
Note that unlike European club competitions, the Copa Libertadores historically didn't use
extra time or
away goals to decide a tie that was level on aggregate. From 1960 to 1987, two-legged ties were decided on points (teams would be awarded 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss), without taking goal difference into consideration. If both teams were level on points after two legs, a third match would be played at a neutral site. Goal difference would only come into play if the third match was drawn. If the third match didn't produce an immediate winner a
penalty shootout was used to determine a winner.
From
1988 through
2004, ties were decided on aggregate goals, with an immediate penalty shootout if the tie was level on aggregate after full time of the second leg. Several times, the event would have had a different champion if it followed European rules. For example, if the away goals rule had been used the
2004 champions Colombian club
Once Caldas, provided the same results would have taken place under these different circumstances, would have exited the competition in the
second round, and would also have lost the final on away goals, making Boca Juniors the Champion of that trophy. Regardless, Once Caldas is the official Libertadores champion in 2004 after defeating Boca Juniors in the final game and claiming victory against the Argentine team.
Starting with the
2005 event, CONMEBOL began to use the away goals rule, with the extra time used only in the final matches.
History
Twelve years before the first official Copa Libertadores, an international club competition was set up containing representatives (often the league champion) from seven different South American countries. This was the
South American Club Championship 1948, played in a league in
Santiago,
Chile, and was won by
Vasco da Gama. It has been recognised as a precursor to the Copa Libertadores by the South American Federation.
The first cup was won by
Peñarol of
Uruguay. As of 2005, 20 different teams have won the cup. The most successful club has been the
Argentinian side
Independiente, winners seven times including four in a row from 1972 to 1975.
Estudiantes de La Plata, of Argentina, became the first club to win the Cup for three consecutive years, in 1968, 1969 and 1970. Since then, only Independiente has achieved this feat, winning four Cups between 1972 and 1975.
Estudiantes and Independiente are also the teams that played more consecutive finals, four.
Over the years the competition has kept alive a healthy sport rivalry between the competing countries, especially between Brazil and Argentina, Argentina and Uruguay, Uruguay and Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, Peru and Chile. Episodes of violence are not rare and the pressure for players on the field is tremendous.
The winners of the Copa Libertadores have gone on to win more world club championships than any other FIFA confederation. They have also won three out of the first four editions of the official
FIFA World Club Championship.
From
1998 to
2007, the Copa Libertadores was sponsored by
Toyota Motor Corporation, which is why the name during this period was
Copa Toyota Libertadores.
Tournament results
Statistics
By club
| Team |
Winners |
Runners-Up |
Years Won |
Years Runner-Up |
| Independiente |
7 |
0 |
1964, 1965, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1984 |
|
| Boca Juniors |
6 |
3 |
1977, 1978, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007 |
1963, 1979, 2004 |
| Peñarol |
5 |
4 |
1960, 1961, 1966, 1982, 1987 |
1962,1965,1970, 1983 |
| Nacional |
3 |
3 |
1971, 1980, 1988 |
1964,1967,1969 |
| Olimpia |
3 |
3 |
1979, 1990, 2002 |
1960,1989,1991 |
| São Paulo |
3 |
3 |
1992, 1993, 2005 |
1974,1994,2006 |
| Estudiantes L.P. |
3 |
1 |
1968, 1969, 1970 |
1971 |
| Grêmio |
2 |
2 |
1983, 1995 |
1984, 2007 |
| River Plate |
2 |
2 |
1986, 1996 |
1966, 1976 |
| Santos |
2 |
1 |
1962, 1963 |
2003 |
| Cruzeiro |
2 |
1 |
1976, 1997 |
1977 |
| Palmeiras |
1 |
3 |
1999 |
1961,1968,2000 |
| Atlético Nacional |
1 |
1 |
1989 |
1995 |
| Colo-Colo |
1 |
1 |
1991 |
1973 |
| Internacional |
1 |
1 |
2006 |
1980 |
| Racing Club |
1 |
0 |
1967 |
|
| Flamengo |
1 |
0 |
1981 |
|
| Argentinos Juniors |
1 |
0 |
1985 |
|
| Vélez Sársfield |
1 |
0 |
1994 |
|
| Vasco |
1 |
0 |
1998 |
|
| Once Caldas |
1 |
0 |
2004 |
|
By country
| Country |
Wins |
Runs Up |
Winning Clubs |
Runners-Up |
| Argentina |
21 |
8 |
Independiente (7), Boca Juniors (6), Estudiantes L.P. (3), River Plate (2), Racing Club (1), Argentinos Juniors (1), Vélez Sársfield (1) |
Boca Juniors (3), River Plate (2), Newell's Old Boys (2), Estudiantes L.P. (1) |
| Brazil |
13 |
13 |
São Paulo (3), Grêmio (2), Cruzeiro (2), Santos (2), Palmeiras (1), Internacional (1), Flamengo (1), Vasco (1) |
São Paulo (3), Palmeiras (3), Grêmio (2), Cruzeiro (1), Internacional (1), Santos (1), São Caetano (1), Atlético Paranaense (1) |
| Uruguay |
8 |
7 |
Peñarol (5), Nacional (3) |
Peñarol (4), Nacional (3) |
| Paraguay |
3 |
3 |
Olimpia (3) |
Olimpia (3) |
| Colombia |
2 |
7 |
Atlético Nacional (1), Once Caldas (1) |
América de Cali (4), Deportivo Cali, (2), Atlético Nacional (1) |
| Chile |
1 |
5 |
Colo-Colo (1) |
Cobreloa (2), Colo-Colo (1), Unión Española (1), Universidad Católica (1) |
| Ecuador |
0 |
2 |
|
Barcelona Sporting Club (2) |
| Peru |
0 |
2 |
|
Universitario (1), Sporting Cristal (1) |
| Mexico |
0 |
1 |
|
Cruz Azul (1) |
Topscorers
The competition all-time goalscorer is still striker
Alberto Spencer of
Ecuador. He played as a striker for Peñarol during their golden age in the 60s, scoring 48 goals in 70 games, and for
Barcelona of Guayaquil, scoring 6 goals in 7 games. In total, he scored 54 goals in the Copa Libertadores. Despite this, he remains a relatively unknown figure outside of South America, thus providing an excellent contrast to
George Best, who despite his abilities was relatively little-known outside of the
United Kingdom.
Media coverage
In
Australia the Copa Libertadores is currently available on
Setanta Sports, while in the UK it's shown on
Setanta Sports 2.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Libertadores Cup'.
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