The 2010 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2010 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier international club tournament. The tournament began on January 26 and ended on August 18. During the month of June, the competition was interrupted after the conclusion of the quarterfinals due to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Estudiantes were the defending champion, but they were eliminated by Brazilian team Internacional in the quarterfinals.
Internacional won the competition after defeating Guadalajara in both legs of the finals for their second Copa Libertadores title. Internacional qualified for both the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2011 Recopa Sudamericana.
Qualified teams The qualified teams include the 37 teams who qualified from their league positions and the defending champion Estudiantes of Argentina, plus Mexican clubs Guadalajara and San Luis. Those two Mexican clubs were guaranteed placement in the Round of 16, independent of the other three Mexican clubs, due to the fallout of the H1N1 flu outbreak in Mexico during the 2009 Copa Libertadores. Twenty-six teams qualified directly to the Second Stage, a group stage: Berths 1 to 4 from Argentina and Brazil; Berths 1 and 2 from the remaining eight South American football associations and Mexico. The other 12 teams enter the competition in the First Stage, an elimination play-off stage where the winners advance to the Second Stage: Berths 5 and 6 from Argentina; Berth 5 from Brazil; Berth 3 from the remaining eight South American nations and Mexico.
AssociationTeam Qualification method ArgentinaEstudiantes 2009 Copa Libertadores championVélez Sársfield 2009 Clausura championBanfield 2009 Apertura championLanús Best 2009 aggregate among non-championsColón 2nd best 2009 aggregate among non-championsNewell's Old Boys 3rd best 2009 aggregate among non-champions BoliviaBolívar 2009 Apertura championBlooming 2009 Clausura championReal Potosí 2009 Play-off winner BrazilCorinthians 2009 Copa do Brasil championFlamengo 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A championInternacional 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-upSão Paulo 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd placeCruzeiro 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th place ChileUniversidad de Chile 2009 Apertura championColo-Colo 2009 Clausura championUniversidad Catolica Best-placed non-champion in the 2009 Clausura classification stage ColombiaOnce Caldas 2009 Apertura championIndependiente Medellín 2009 Finalización championJunior 2009 Primera A best-placed non-champion EcuadorDeportivo Quito 2009 Serie A championDeportivo Cuenca 2009 Serie A runner-upEmelec 2009 Serie A 3rd Place ParaguayCerro Porteño 2009 Apertura championNacional 2009 Clausura championLibertad 2009 Primera División best-placed non-champion PeruUniversitario 2009 Descentralizado championAlianza Lima 2009 Descentralizado runner-upJuan Aurich 2009 Descentralizado best-placed non-finalist UruguayNacional 2008–09 Primera División championCerro 2009 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores winnerRacing 2009 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores runner-up VenezuelaCaracas 2008−09 Primera División championDeportivo Italia 2008−09 Primera División runner-upDeportivo Táchira 2008−09 Primera División best-placed non-finalist Mexico(CONCACAF)3 + 2 inviteesMorelia Best-placed eligible team in the 2009 Apertura classification phaseMonterrey 2010 InterLiga winnerEstudiantes Tecos 2010 InterLiga runner-upGuadalajaraSpecial invitee due to withdrawal from the 2009 Copa LibertadoresSan LuisSpecial invitee due to withdrawal from the 2009 Copa Libertadores
Round and draw dates The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw. All events occurred in 2010 unless otherwise stated. Dates in italics are only reference dates for the week the matches are to be played.
Stage Draw date First leg Second legFirst stageNovember 27, 2009January 26–28February 2–10Second stageFebruary 9–April 22Third stageN/AApril 27–29May 4–6 QuarterfinalsMay 12May 20SemifinalsJuly 28August 4FinalsAugust 11August 18
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. Based on Article 15 in the CONMEBOL regulations, if two or more teams are equal on points, the following criteria will be applied to determine the ranking in the group stage:
superior goal difference; higher number of goals scored; higher number of away goals scored; draw.
In the first stage, third stage, quarterfinals, and semifinals, a penalty shootout is carried out instead of a draw.
First stage
In the First Stage, twelve teams played two-legged ties (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 legLibertad 3:3 Deportivo Táchira0–13–1 +1:−1——Estudiantes Tecos 0:6 Juan Aurich0–21–2———Universidad Católica 3:3 Colón2–33–20:02:25–3Cruzeiro 4:1 Real Potosí1–17–0———Emelec 4:1 Newell's Old Boys0–02–1———Racing 4:1 Junior2–22–0———
Second stage
The draw for the second stage was held at the CONMEBOL Conventions Center in Luque, Paraguay on November 27, 2009. Twenty-eight teams were drawn into eight groups with the remaining six spots to be taken by the winners from the first stage. Teams were divided into four pots; the top four Argentine and Brazilian berths were top seeds in the group stage.
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The top team in each group and the top six second-placed team advanced to the Round of 16.
Key to colors in group tablesGroup winners and six best runners-up advanced to the Round of 16
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Ranking of second-placed teams
Knockout stages
The last four stages of the tournament (third stage, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) form a single-elimination tournament, commonly known as a knockout stage. Fourteen teams will qualify for the knockout competition: the eight group winners, the six group runners-up teams with the best records plus Mexican clubs Guadalajara and San Luis. In each tie, the team with the higher seed will play at home in the second leg. In addition, each club will be able to submit a new squad with up to three player changes 24 hours before the start of their first third stage match.
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. Guadalajara and San Luis were given the 13 and 14 seed, respectively, which they had earned in the 2009 Copa Libertadores.
+Teams qualified as a group winnerSeedTeam1 Corinthians16+6942 São Paulo13+7933 Estudiantes13+61134 Vélez Sársfield13+51025 Libertad12+71046 Internacional12+6817 Nacional12+5928 Universidad de Chile12+4107+Teams qualified as a group runner-upSeedTeam9 Alianza Lima12+512510 Cruzeiro11+612311 Banfield11+513712 Once Caldas11+38413 Guadalajara14 San Luis15 Universitario10+35316 Flamengo10+2114
Bracket
Round of 16 The first match of the Round of 16 began on April 27, with the last match played on May 6. Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home. TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legCorinthians 3:3 Flamengo0–12–10:00:1—São Paulo 2:2 Universitario0–00–00:00:03–1Estudiantes 6:0 San Luis1–03–1———Vélez Sársfield 2:3 Guadalajara0–32–0−1:+1——Libertad 4:1 Once Caldas0–02–1———Internacional 3:3 Banfield1–32–00:01:0— Nacional 0:6 Cruzeiro1–30–3———Universidad de Chile 4:1 Alianza Lima1–02–2———
Quarter-finals The first leg of the quarter-finals took place the week of May 12, while the second leg took place the week of May 19. Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.
TeamsScoresTie-breakersTeam #1Team #21st leg2nd legSão Paulo 6:0 Cruzeiro2–02–0———Estudiantes 3:3 Internacional0–12–10:00:1—Libertad 2:3 Guadalajara0–32–0−1:+1——Universidad de Chile 3:3 Flamengo3–21–20:03:2—
Semi-finals After a six-week break because of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-finals took place the week of July 28, while the second leg took place the week of August 5.
Finals
In the finals, if the finalists are tied on points after the culmination of the second leg, the winner will be the team with the best goal difference. If they are tied on goal difference, the game will move onto extra time and a penalty shootout if necessary. The away goals rule does not apply in this stage. As the last CONMEBOL team in the competition, Internacional has qualified to the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup, regardless of the results.
Internacional won the Copa Libertadores on aggregate 5-3.
Copa Libertadores de América2010 ChampionInternacionalSecond Title
Statistics
Top goalscorers Pos Player Team Goals1 Thiago Ribeiro Cruzeiro82 José Carlos Fernández Alianza Lima7 Kléber Cruzeiro74 Giuliano Internacional6 Luis Tejada Juan Aurich66 Omar Bravo Guadalajara5 Rodolfo Gamarra Libertad5 Mario Regueiro Nacional5 James Rodríguez Banfield5 Washington São Paulo5
Player of the week WeekPlayerTeamNotes1 Luis Tejada Juan Aurich2 Pablo Velázquez Libertad3 Mauro Boselli Estudiantes4 Wilmer Aguirre Alianza Lima5 Sebastián Blanco Lanús6 Washington São Paulo7 Pedro Ascoy Juan Aurich8 Santiago Ostolaza Racing9 Kléber Cruzeiro10 José Carlos Fernández Alianza Lima11 Hernán Rodrigo López Vélez Sársfield12 Andrezinho Internacional13 Thiago Ribeiro Cruzeiro14 Roberto Gamarra Libertad15 Omar Bravo Guadalajara16 Hernanes São Paulo17 Giuliano Internacional18 Xavier Báez Guadalajara19 Pablo Guiñazú Internacional20 Tinga Internacional
See also 2010 Copa Sudamericana 2011 Recopa Sudamericana 2010 FIFA Club World Cup
Footnotes
A. Estudiantes, as the defending champion, take the Argentina 1 berth. Therefore the teams with the lowest two berths enter the First Stage
References General
Specific
External links CONMEBOL Official Website Soccernet 2010 Copa Libertadores on ESPN Soccerway 2010 Copa Libertadores coverage South American Futbol Copa Libertadores News Website