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.
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 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]
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]
Performance in the last 10 years, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 2008–2017
Historical coefficient, taking into account Copa Libertadores results in the period 1960–2007
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]
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]
† 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]
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]
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.
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 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]
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]
^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]
^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]
