The 2008 Copa Libertadores de América was the 49th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament. This marked the first year the competition was sponsored by Spanish bank Santander. As such, the competition is officially the 2008 Copa Santander Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons. The draw took place on December 19, 2007, in Asunción.
Ecuadorian club LDU Quito won the competition for the first time in a final decided on penalties. It is the first time a team from Ecuador has won the competition. LDU Quito earned a berth in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup and 2009 Recopa Sudamericana.
Qualified teams Thirty-eight teams qualified for the competition, with twenty-six teams directly qualifying to the Second Stage and twelve entering in the First Stage. Seven countries sent their Apertura champions and Clausura champions for their first two berths. The remaining berth, or berths in Argentina's case, went to the best-placed non-champions shown by an aggregate table. Brazil's league uses a European-style format and thus does not have an Apertura and Clausura tournament. Therefore, they sent their cup champion and the best four of the Brazilian Serie A. Ecuador sent the top three finishers of their national tournament as determined by the Liguilla Final. Uruguay had a Mini-League (Liguilla) to determine who qualified, and Mexico usespecially the InterLiga to determine two of its qualifiers. The last qualified team in each country played in the First Stage; the defending champion's country had two teams in the first stage because the defending champion automatically qualified. AssociationTeam (berth)Qualification method Argentina5+1 berthsBoca Juniors (Argentina 1)2007 Copa Libertadores championEstudiantes (Argentina 2)2006 Apertura championSan Lorenzo (Argentina 3)2007 Clausura championRiver Plate (Argentina 4)2006–07 Primera División best-placed non-championArsenal (Argentina 5)2006–07 Primera División 2nd best-placed non-championLanús (Argentina 6)2006–07 Primera División 3rd best-placed non-champion Bolivia3 berthsReal Potosí (Bolivia 1)2007 Apertura championSan José (Bolivia 2)2007 Clausura championLa Paz (Bolivia 3)2007 Apertura and Clausura Runners-up Playoff winner Brazil5 berthsSão Paulo (Brazil 1)2007 Série A championSantos (Brazil 2)2007 Série A runner-upFlamengo (Brazil 3)2007 Série A 3rd placeFluminense (Brazil 4)2007 Copa do Brasil championCruzeiro (Brazil 5)2007 Série A 5th place Chile3 berthsColo-Colo (Chile 1)2007 Apertura & 2007 Clausura championUniversidad Católica (Chile 2)2007 Apertura runner-upAudax Italiano (Chile 3)Best-placed team in the 2007 Clausura First Stage Colombia3 berthsAtlético Nacional (Colombia 1)2007 Apertura & 2007 Finalización championCúcuta Deportivo (Colombia 2)2007 season best-placed non-championBoyacá Chicó (Colombia 3)2007 season 2nd best-placed non-champion Ecuador3 berthsLDU Quito (Ecuador 1)2007 Serie A championDeportivo Cuenca (Ecuador 2)2007 Serie A runner-upOlmedo (Ecuador 2)2007 Serie A 3rd place Paraguay3 berthsSportivo Luqueño (Paraguay 1)2007 Apertura championLibertad (Paraguay 2)2007 Clausura championCerro Porteño (Paraguay 3)2007 Primera División best-placed non-champion Peru3 berthsUniversidad San Martín (Peru 1)2007 Decentralizado championCoronel Bolognesi (Peru 2)2007 Decentralizado championCienciano (Peru 3)2007 Decentralizado best-placed non-champion Uruguay3 berthsDanubio (Uruguay 1)2006–07 Primera División championNacional (Uruguay 2)2007 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores championMontevideo Wanderers (Uruguay 3)2007 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores runner-up Venezuela3 berthsCaracas (Venezuela 1)2006 Apertura championUnión Atlético Maracaibo (Venezuela 2)2007 Clausura championMineros de Guayana (Venezuela 3)2006–07 Primera División best-placed non-finalist Mexico3 invitees (CONCACAF)Guadalajara (Mexico 1)2006 Apertura championAmérica (Mexico 2)2008 InterLiga winnerAtlas (Mexico 3)2008 InterLiga runner-up
Teams' starting round
Second Stage Boca Juniors San Lorenzo Estudiantes River Plate Flamengo São Paulo Santos Fluminense Real Potosí San José Colo-Colo Universidad Católica Atlético Nacional Cúcuta Deportivo LDU Quito Deportivo Cuenca Sportivo Luqueño Libertad Universidad San Martín Coronel Bolognesi Danubio Nacional Caracas Unión Atlético Maracaibo Guadalajara AméricaFirst Stage Arsenal Lanús Cruzeiro La Paz Audax Italiano Boyacá Chicó Olmedo Cerro Porteño Cienciano Montevideo Wanderers Mineros de Guayana Atlas
Round and draw dates The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw. DateEventDecember 19, 2007The draw took placeJanuary 29-February 12, 2008First stageFebruary 12-April 23, 2008Second stageApril 30-May 7, 2008Round of 16May 14-May 21, 2008QuarterfinalsMay 28-June 4, 2008SemifinalsJune 25-July 2, 2008Finals
Tie breakers Teams at every stage of the tournament will be awarded points depending on the result of a game: 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss. The following criteria will be used for breaking ties on points:
Goal difference Goals scored Away goals Draw
For the first stage, round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, the fourth criterion is replaced by a penalty shoot-out if necessary. The Finals have their own set of criteria; see the finals section for more details.
First stage
The First Stage was played between January 29 and February 12. Team #1 played the second leg at home.
TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legLanús 3:3 Olmedo0–13–0 +2:−2——Cerro Porteño 0:6 Cruzeiro1–32–3———Mineros de Guayana 3:3 Arsenal0–22–1−1:+1——La Paz 3:3 Atlas0–21–0−1:+1——Montevideo Wanderers 1:4 Cienciano0–10–0———Audax Italiano 3:3 Boyacá Chicó3–41–00:03:0—
Second stage
A total of 26 teams qualified directly to this phase and were joined by six teams from the First Stage, bringing the total to 32 teams. The top two teams from each group advanced to the round of 16. This stage was played between February 12 and April 23.
In results tables, the home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Knockout stages
The last four stages of the tournament (round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) form a single-elimination tournament, commonly known as a knockout stages. Sixteen teams advanced into the first of these stages: the round of 16.
Seeding The 16 qualified teams were seeded according to their results in the Second Stage. The top teams from each group were seeded 1–8, with the team with the most points as seed 1 and the team with the least as seed 8. The second-best teams from each group were seeded 9–16, with the team with the most points as seed 9 and the team with the least as seed 16. +Teams qualified as a group winnerSeedTeam1 Fluminense13+81122 Flamengo13+4833 River Plate12+61454 Atlas11+51125 Cruzeiro11+41126 Estudiantes11+4957 Cúcuta Deportivo11+3768 São Paulo11+262+Teams qualified as a runner-upSeedTeam9 Nacional12+49210 Santos10+713311 LDU Quito10+510212 Boca Juniors10+312213 Lanús10+39314 San Lorenzo10+18415 América9010116 Atlético Nacional8+383
Bracket
Round of 16 The Round of 16 was played between April 29 and 30, and May 1, 6, and 8. Team #1 played the second leg at home.
TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legFluminense 6-0 Atlético Nacional2–11–0———Flamengo 3-3 América4–20–3−1:+1——River Plate 1-4 San Lorenzo1–22–2———Atlas 4-1 Lanús1–02–2———Cruzeiro 0-6 Boca Juniors1–21–2———Estudiantes 3-3 LDU Quito0–22–1−1:+1——Cúcuta Deportivo 0-6 Santos0–20–2———São Paulo 4-1 Nacional0–02–0———
Quarterfinals The Quarterfinals were played on May 14, 15, and May 21 and 22. Team #1 played the second leg at home.
TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legFluminense 3:3 São Paulo0–13–1 +1:−1——Atlas 1:4 Boca Juniors2–20–3———Santos 3:3 América0–21–0−1:+1——LDU Quito 2:2 San Lorenzo1–11–10:01:15:3
Semifinals The Semifinals were played between May 27, 28, and June 3, 4. Team #1 played the second leg at home.
TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legFluminense 4:1 Boca Juniors2–23–1———LDU Quito 2:2 América1–10–00:01:0—
Finals
Copa Santander Libertadores de América2008 ChampionLDU QuitoFirst Title
Top goalscorers PosNameTeamGoals1 Salvador Cabañas América8 Marcelo Moreno Cruzeiro83 Sebastián Abreu River Plate7 Bruno Marioni Atlas7 Thiago Neves Fluminense7 Martín Palermo Boca Juniors77 Adriano São Paulo6 Kléber Pereira Santos6 Mauricio Molina Santos6 Washington Fluminense6
References
External links