The 2009 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2009 Copa Santander Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 50th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament.
The tournament was won by Argentine club Estudiantes de La Plata, who achieved their fourth Copa Libertadores title and first in 39 years. Since the inception of a preliminary round in 2004, they are the first club to start in that round and win the Copa Libertadores. Estudiantes earned a berth to play in 2010 Recopa Sudamericana and in the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup but lost both titles to LDU Quito and Barcelona respectively.
Qualified teams AssociationTeamQualification method Argentina5 berthsLanús2007 Apertura championRiver Plate2008 Clausura championBoca Juniors2008 Apertura championSan LorenzoBest average of the 2007 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, & 2008 AperturaEstudiantes (LP)2nd best average of the 2007 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, & 2008 Apertura Bolivia3 berthsUniversitario de Sucre2008 Apertura championAurora 2008 Clausura championReal Potosí2008 play-off champion Brazil5 berthsSão PauloCampeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 championGrêmioCampeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 runner-upCruzeiroCampeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 3rd placeSport Recife2008 Copa do Brasil championPalmeirasCampeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 4th place Chile3 berthsEverton2008 Apertura championColo-Colo2008 Clausura championUniversidad de Chile1st place in 2008 Clausura general table Colombia3 berthsBoyacá Chicó2008 Apertura championAmérica2008 Finalización championIndependiente Medellín2008 Primera A best-placed non-champion Ecuador3 + 1 berthsLDU Quito2008 Copa Libertadores championDeportivo Quito2008 Serie A championDeportivo Cuenca2008 Serie A 3rd placeEl Nacional2008 Serie A 4th place Paraguay3 berthsLibertad2008 Apertura & 2008 Clausura championGuaraní2008 Primera División best-placed non-championNacional2008 Primera División 2nd best-placed non-champion Peru3 berthsUniversitario2008 Apertura championUniversidad San Martín2008 Clausura championSporting Cristal2008 Descentralizado best-placed non-champion Uruguay3 berthsDefensor Sporting 2007–08 Primera División championNacional2008 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores championPeñarol2008 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores 3rd place Venezuela3 berthsDeportivo Táchira2007–08 Primera División championCaracas2007–08 Primera División runner-upDeportivo Anzoátegui2007–08 Primera División best-placed non-finalist Mexico3 invitees (CONCACAF)San Luis1st place in 2008 Apertura general tableGuadalajara2009 InterLiga championPachuca2009 InterLiga runner-up
Round and draw dates The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw. All events occurred in 2009 unless otherwise stated. Stage Draw date First leg Second legFirst stageNovember 25, 2008January 27–29February 3–5Second stageFebruary 10 – April 30Round of 16N/AMay 5–14May 12–21QuarterfinalsMay 27–28June 17–18SemifinalsJune 24–25July 1–2FinalsJuly 8July 15
Tie-breaking criteria At each stage of the tournament teams receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and no points for a loss. If two or more teams are equal on points, the following criteria will be applied to determine the rankings in the group stage:
superior goal difference; higher number of goals scored; higher number of away goals scored; draw.
For the first stage, round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, the fourth criterion is replaced by a penalty shootout if necessary. The finals have their own set of criteria; see the finals section for more details.
First stage
In the First Stage, twelve teams played a two-legged tie (one game at home and one game away) against another opponent. The winner of each tie advanced to the Second Stage. Team #1 played the second leg at home.
TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legPeñarol 1:4 Independiente Medellín0–40–0———Estudiantes (LP) 3:3 Sporting Cristal 1–21–00:01:0—Nacional 4:1 El Nacional5–03–3———Deportivo Cuenca 3:3 Deportivo Anzoátegui0–23–0 +1:−1——Real Potosí 0:6 Palmeiras1–50–2———Pachuca 3:30–12–10:00:1—
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 Third Stage.
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 stage. Sixteen teams advanced into the first of these stages: the third stage.
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 Grêmio16+101152 Boca Juniors15+81143 Nacional14+91244 São Paulo13+41055 Cruzeiro13+4926 Sport Recife13+31067 Libertad12+2738 Caracas10+371+Teams qualified as a runner-upSeedTeam9 Deportivo Cuenca10+59110 Estudiantes (LP)10+59011 Palmeiras10+29512 Universidad de Chile10+28213 Guadalajara9+39214 San Luis807015 Defensor Sporting8051168−272
Bracket
Round of 16 The first match of the Round of 16 began on 5 May, with the last match played on 21 May. Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.
TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legGrêmio 6:03–12–0———Boca Juniors 1:4 Defensor Sporting2–20–1———Nacional w/o San Luis—————São Paulo w/o Guadalajara—————Cruzeiro 6:0 Universidad de Chile2–11–0———Sport Recife 3:3 Palmeiras0–11–00:00:01:3Libertad 1:4 Estudiantes0–30–0———Caracas 3:3 Deportivo Cuenca1–24–0 +3:−3——
Quarterfinals Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.
TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legGrêmio 2:2 Caracas1–10–00:01:0—Nacional 2:2 Palmeiras1–10–00:01:0—São Paulo 0:6 Cruzeiro1–20–2———Estudiantes 6:0 Defensor Sporting1–01–0———
Semifinals Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.
TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legGrêmio 1:4 Cruzeiro1–32–2———Nacional 0:6 Estudiantes (LP)0–11–2———
Finals
Copa Libertadores de América2009 ChampionEstudiantes (LP)Fourth Title
Top goalscorers PosPlayerTeamGoals1 Mauro Boselli Estudiantes (LP)82 Jorge Núñez Nacional7 Rodrigo Teixeira Deportivo Cuenca74 Keirrison Palmeiras6 Souza Grêmio66 Borges São Paulo5 Darío Figueroa Caracas5 Rodrigo Palacio Boca Juniors5 Martín Palermo Boca Juniors5 Wellington Paulista Cruzeiro5
Footnotes
A. Guadalajara and San Luis withdrew from the tournament following concerns raised by both Nacional and São Paulo over the H1N1 flu outbreak in Mexico, South American teams refused to travel to Mexico to play the match; no agreement was reached on alternative venues for the first-leg matches, both scheduled to be played in Mexico. Both Guadalajara and San Luis were later secured a place in the round of 16 for the 2010 Copa Libertadores.
References
General
External links CONMEBOL's official website