2018_Copa_Libertadores

2018 Copa Libertadores

2018 Copa Libertadores

59th season of Copa Libertadores


The 2018 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 59th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the Copa Libertadores), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.

Quick Facts Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores 2018, Tournament details ...

River Plate defeated Boca Juniors in the finals by an aggregate score of 5–3 to win their fourth tournament title.[1] As champions, they qualified as the CONMEBOL representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2018 Copa Sudamericana in the 2019 Recopa Sudamericana.[2] They also automatically qualified for the 2019 Copa Libertadores group stage. Grêmio were the defending champions, but were defeated by River Plate in the semifinals.

The first leg of the final was played at the Estadio Alberto J. Armando in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 11 November 2018, while the second leg took place outside South America at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain (a neutral venue) on 9 December 2018.[3][4] The New York Times reported that the second leg was referred to as the "Final to End All Finals" and the biggest game in Argentine sport history but it was postponed and moved due to violence against the Boca Juniors team.[5]

Teams

The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations qualified for the tournament:[6]

  • Copa Libertadores champions
  • Copa Sudamericana champions
  • Brazil: 7 berths
  • Argentina: 6 berths
  • All other associations: 4 berths each

Teams from Mexico, as they did in 2017, withdrew from the 2018 Copa Libertadores, citing schedule conflicts.[7]

The entry stage was determined as follows:[6]

  • Group stage: 28 teams
    • Copa Libertadores champions
    • Copa Sudamericana champions
    • Teams which qualified for berths 1–5 from Argentina and Brazil
    • Teams which qualified for berths 1–2 from all other associations
  • Second stage: 13 teams
    • Teams which qualified for berths 6–7 from Brazil
    • Team which qualified for berth 6 from Argentina
    • Teams which qualified for berths 3–4 from Chile and Colombia
    • Teams which qualified for berths 3 from all other associations
  • First stage: 6 teams
    • Teams which qualified for berths 4 from Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela
More information Association, Team (Berth) ...

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.[19] The first stage matches were played on Monday and Friday, instead of the usual midweek of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. The finals were initially scheduled for 7 and 28 November, but were moved to 10 and 24 November after the finalists were confirmed.[3]

More information Stage, Draw date ...

Draws

Location of teams of the 2018 Copa Libertadores.
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C;
Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F;
Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H; White: Play-off rounds.

The draw for the qualifying stages and group stage was held on 20 December 2017, 20:00 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[21][22]

Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL ranking of the Copa Libertadores (shown in parentheses), taking into account of the following three factors:[23]

  1. Performance in the last 10 years, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 2008–2017
  2. Historical coefficient, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 1960–2007
  3. Local tournament champion, with bonus points awarded to domestic league champions of the last 10 years

For the first stage, the six teams were drawn into three ties (E1–E3), with the seeded teams hosting the second leg.[24]

More information Seeded, Unseeded ...

For the second stage, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (C1–C8), with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, excluding the winners of the first stage, which were unseeded and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.[24]

More information Seeded, Unseeded ...
Notes
  1. The identity of the team Chile 4 was not known at the time of the draw, and was unseeded in the second stage draw.

For the third stage, no draw was made, and the eight teams were allocated into the following four ties (G1–G4), with the second stage winners with the higher CONMEBOL ranking hosting the second leg.[25] As the identity of the winners of the second stage was not known at the time of the draw, they could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.[24]

  • Second stage winner C1 vs. Second stage winner C8
  • Second stage winner C2 vs. Second stage winner C7
  • Second stage winner C3 vs. Second stage winner C6
  • Second stage winner C4 vs. Second stage winner C5

For the group stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups (Groups A–H, also denoted as Groups 1–8) of four containing a team from each of the four pots. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group, excluding the winners of the third stage, which were allocated to Pot 4 and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same group with another team from the same association.[24]

More information Pot 1, Pot 2 ...
Notes
  1. Defending Copa Libertadores champion, automatically seeded into Pot 1 and allocated to Group A in the group stage draw.
  2. Defending Copa Sudamericana champion, automatically seeded into Pot 2 in the group stage draw.

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 4 June 2018, 20:00 PYT (UTC−4), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[26][27] For the round of 16, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (A–H) between a group winner (Pot 1) and a group runner-up (Pot 2), with the group winners hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association or the same group could be drawn into the same tie.[28]

Qualifying stages

In the qualifying stages, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was used. If still tied, extra time was not played, and a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 29).[2] The qualifying stages were structured as follows:

  • First stage (6 teams): The three winners of the first stage advanced to the second stage to join the 13 teams which were given byes to the second stage.
  • Second stage (16 teams): The eight winners of the second stage advanced to the third stage.
  • Third stage (8 teams): The four winners of the third stage advanced to the group stage to join the 28 direct entrants. The two best teams eliminated in the third stage entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage.

First stage

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Second stage

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Third stage

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Copa Sudamericana qualification

The two best teams eliminated in the third stage entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage. Only matches in the third stage were considered for the ranking of teams.

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: CONMEBOL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 21).[2]

Group stage

In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, the following criteria were used to determine the ranking: 1. Goal difference; 2. Goals scored; 3. Away goals scored; 4. CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 28).[2]

The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16 of the knockout stages. The third-placed teams of each group entered the Copa Sudamericana second stage.

Group A

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: CONMEBOL

Group B

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: CONMEBOL

Group C

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: CONMEBOL

Group D

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: CONMEBOL

Group E

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: CONMEBOL

Group F

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: CONMEBOL

Group G

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: CONMEBOL

Group H

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: CONMEBOL

Final stages

Starting from the round of 16, the teams played a single-elimination tournament with the following rules:[2]

  • Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg (Regulations Article 23).
  • In the round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, if tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was used. If still tied, extra time was not played, and a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 29).
  • In the finals, if tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was not used, and 30 minutes of extra time were played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 30).

Seeding

Starting from the round of 16, the teams were seeded according to their results in the group stage, with the group winners (Pot 1 in round of 16 draw) seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up (Pot 2 in round of 16 draw) seeded 9–16.[29]

More information Seed, Grp ...
Source: CONMEBOL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 22.i).[2]

Bracket

The bracket was decided based on the round of 16 draw, which was held on 4 June 2018.

Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                    
14 Argentina Boca Juniors 2 4 6
3 Paraguay Libertad 0 2 2
14 Argentina Boca Juniors 2 1 3
5 Brazil Cruzeiro 0 1 1
11 Brazil Flamengo 0 1 1
5 Brazil Cruzeiro 2 0 2
14 Argentina Boca Juniors 2 2 4
1 Brazil Palmeiras 0 2 2
16 Chile Colo-Colo (a) 1 1 2
6 Brazil Corinthians 0 2 2
16 Chile Colo-Colo 0 0 0
1 Brazil Palmeiras 2 2 4
9 Paraguay Cerro Porteño 0 1 1
1 Brazil Palmeiras 2 0 2
14 Argentina Boca Juniors 2 1 3
4 Argentina River Plate 2 3 5
12 Argentina Independiente 3 0 3
8 Brazil Santos 0 0 0
12 Argentina Independiente 0 1 1
4 Argentina River Plate 0 3 3
10 Argentina Racing 0 0 0
4 Argentina River Plate 0 3 3
4 Argentina River Plate (a) 0 2 2
2 Brazil Grêmio 1 1 2
13 Argentina Atlético Tucumán 2 0 2
7 Colombia Atlético Nacional 0 1 1
13 Argentina Atlético Tucumán 0 0 0
2 Brazil Grêmio 2 4 6
15 Argentina Estudiantes 2 1 3 (3)
2 Brazil Grêmio (p) 1 2 3 (5)

Round of 16

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
Notes
  1. ^
    CONMEBOL awarded Independiente a 3–0 win as a result of Santos fielding the ineligible player Carlos Sánchez. The match originally ended 0–0.[30]
  2. ^
    Match abandoned after 81 minutes due to crowd trouble, with the score 0–0 at the time.[31]

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Finals

More information Boca Juniors, 2–2 ...

More information River Plate, 3–1 (a.e.t.) ...

River Plate won 5–3 on aggregate.

Statistics

Top scorers

More information Rank, Player ...

Source: CONMEBOL.com[35]

Top assists

Source: CONMEBOL.com[36]

Notes

  1. The Boca Juniors v River Plate match, originally scheduled on 10 November 2018, 17:00 UTC−3, was postponed to the following day due to a waterlogged pitch.[32]
  2. The River Plate v Boca Juniors match, originally scheduled on 24 November 2018, 17:00 UTC−3, was postponed to 9 December 2018 due to an attack on the Boca Juniors team bus when several players were injured.[33]
  3. The River Plate v Boca Juniors match, originally scheduled to be hosted by River Plate at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Buenos Aires, took place in Spain at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid due to safety concerns.[34]

References

  1. "¡River Plate campeón!". CONMEBOL.com. 9 December 2018.
  2. "Reglamento CONMEBOL Libertadores 2018" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  3. "México seguirá sin Copa Libertadores". El Universal (in Spanish). 4 December 2017.
  4. "La Liga se adecua a nuevo calendario, que comenzará el 29 de enero". LFPB. 3 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2017-05-23.
  5. "Reglamentación Liga Águila 2017" (PDF) (in Spanish). DIMAYOR. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2017-05-23.
  6. "Reglamento del Comité Ejecutivo de fútbol Profesional" (PDF) (in Spanish). FEF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  7. "Reglamento del Campeonato Oficial Año 2017" (in Spanish). APF. Archived from the original on 2017-08-28. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  8. "Reglamento de Primera División" (in Spanish). AUF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-05. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  9. "Comisión de Torneos Nacionales Normas Reguladoras de Primera División Temporada 2017" (PDF) (in Spanish). FVF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2017-05-23.
  10. "Boca Juniors vs River Plate: titanic Copa Liberadores final postponed by 24 hours due to heavy rain". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. 10 November 2018. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  11. "Copa Libertadores: Boca Juniors against River Plate match postponed again". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 25 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  12. "Final de la CONMEBOL Libertadores 2018 se jugará el domingo 9 de diciembre en el Santiago Bernabéu de Madrid" [Final of the 2018 CONMEBOL Libertadores will be played on Sunday, 9 December at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid]. CONMEBOL (in Spanish). Luque. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.

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