The 2019 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 60th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the Copa Libertadores), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.[1]
In 2016, CONMEBOL proposed that the Copa Libertadores final to be played as a single match instead of over two legs.[2] It was only on 23 February 2018 that CONMEBOL was able to confirm that starting from this edition, the final will be played as a single match at a venue chosen in advance,[3] and on 11 June 2018 after its Council meeting in Moscow, the confederation confirmed that the final would be played on 23 November 2019.[4] On 14 August 2018, CONMEBOL announced that the 2019 final would be played in Santiago, Chile at the Estadio Nacional,[5] however, due to safety concerns derived from the 2019 Chilean protests, and after consultations with the finalist clubs and their respective football associations, CONMEBOL announced on 5 November 2019 that the match was moved to the Estadio Monumental in Lima, Peru.[6]
Teams
The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations qualified for the tournament:[7]
Copa Libertadores champions
Copa Sudamericana champions
Brazil: 7 berths
Argentina: 6 berths
All other associations: 4 berths each
The entry stage is determined as follows:[7]
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 berth 3 from all other associations
First stage: 6 teams
Teams which qualified for berth 4 from Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[18][19] After changing the dates of the 2019 Copa América, the Brazilian Football Confederation released on 3 October 2018 its calendar for the following year, with new dates for the Copa Libertadores.[20] The first stage matches were played on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday instead of Monday and Friday in the last two seasons. The group stage matches were played in six matchdays instead of being spread over a longer period.
The draw for the qualifying stages and group stage was held on 17 December 2018, 20:30 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[21][22][23]
Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL ranking of the Copa Libertadores as of 15 December 2018 (shown in parentheses), taking into account the following three factors:[24][25][26]
Performance in the last 10 years, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 2009–2018
Historical coefficient, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 1960–2008
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 teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg.
Notes
^
BOL The identity of the team Bolivia 4 was not known at the time of the draw, and was seeded in Pot 2.
For the second stage, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (C1–C8), with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, excluding the three winners of the first stage, which were allocated to Pot 2 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.
Notes
^
BOL The identity of the team Bolivia 3 was not known at the time of the draw, and was seeded in Pot 2.
For the third stage, the eight winners of the second stage were allocated without any draw into the following four ties (G1–G4), with the team in each tie with the higher CONMEBOL ranking hosting the second leg. As their identity was not known at the time of the draw, they could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.
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) 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 four 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.
† The identity of the team Bolivia 2 was not known at the time of the draw, and was seeded in Pot 4.
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 13 May 2019, 20:30 PYT (UTC−4), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[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.
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).[1]
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
Second stage
Notes
^
CONMEBOL awarded Defensor Sporting a 3–0 win as a result of Barcelona fielding the ineligible player Sebastián Pérez. The match originally ended 1–2.[28]
Third stage
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.
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams were ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Away goals scored; 5. CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 28).[1]
In the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg (Regulations Article 23). 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 winners (Regulations Article 29).
The final was played as a single match at a venue pre-selected by CONMEBOL, with the higher-seeded team designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes (Regulations Article 26). If tied after regulation, 30 minutes of extra time were played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 30).
Seeding
Starting from the round of 16, the teams are seeded according to their results in the group stage, with the group winners (Pot 1) seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up (Pot 2) seeded 9–16.[29]
^ a b c d e f"Reglamento CONMEBOL Libertadores 2019" (PDF). CONMEBOL.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-20. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
^"Copa Libertadores 2017 se jugará todo el año y con final en cancha neutral" (in Spanish). pulzo.com. 27 September 2016.
^"La CONMEBOL Libertadores se definirá en final única a partir de 2019 con mayores beneficios a los clubes y la competencia". CONMEBOL.com. 23 February 2018.
^"Definida la fecha de la final de la Copa Conmebol Libertadores 2019" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 11 June 2018.
^"Histórica decisión: Final Única de la Libertadores 2019 en Santiago y Final Única de la Sudamericana 2019 en Lima". CONMEBOL.com. 14 August 2018.
^"La final única de Copa Libertadores será en Lima". copalibertadores.com. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
^ a b"Copa Bridgestone Libertadores 2017 tendrá 47 clubes". CONMEBOL.com. 6 December 2016.
^ a b c d e f"Reglamento del Campeonato de Primera División 2017/2018" (PDF) (in Spanish). AFA.
^ a b c d"Convocatoria a Campeonatos Apertura y Clausura Temporada 2018" (PDF) (in Spanish). LFPB.[permanent dead link]
^ a b c d e f g"Campeonato Brasileiro da Série A de 2018 REC – REGULAMENTO ESPECÍFICO DA COMPETIÇÃO" (PDF). CBF.
^ a b c d"Bases Primera División Temporada 2018" (PDF) (in Spanish). ANFP.
^ a b c d"Reglamento Liga Águila I y II 2018" (PDF) (in Spanish). DIMAYOR. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
^ a b c d"Reglamento del Comité Ejecutivo de Fútbol Profesional" (PDF) (in Spanish). FEF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
^ a b c d"REGLAMENTO DEL CAMPEONATO OFICIAL AÑO 2018. COPA TIGO – BCO. VISION S.A." (PDF) (in Spanish). APF.
^ a b c d"Bases Campeonato Descentralizado 2018" (PDF) (in Spanish). ADFP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
^ a b c d"Reglamento del Campeonato Uruguayo 2018" (in Spanish). AUF. Archived from the original on 2018-02-04. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
^ a b c d"Comisión de Torneos Nacionales Normas Reguladoras de Primera División Temporada 2018" (PDF) (in Spanish). FVF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-22. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
^"Calendario de disputa de la Libertadores, Sudamericana y Recopa 2019". CONMEBOL.com. 16 August 2018.
^"CBF divulga Calendário do Futebol Brasileiro para 2019". CBF.com.br. 13 October 2018.
^"El 17 de diciembre se sortean la CONMEBOL Libertadores y la CONMEBOL Sudamericana" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. 10 December 2018.
^"Proceso de acreditación a medios de prensa para el sorteo de la CONMEBOL Libertadores y CONMEBOL Sudamericana" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. 12 December 2018.
^"Develada la cruzada hacia la Gloria Eterna". CONMEBOL.com. 17 December 2018.
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.
