The 2012 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2012 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. It ran from January 24 to July 4, 2012. Santos were the defending champions, but lost to Corinthians in the semifinals.

São Paulo-based club Corinthians won the competition, with an undefeated campaign, after defeating six-time champion Boca Juniors in the finals. It is Corinthians' first Libertadores title. By winning the competition, Corinthians won the right to play in the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2013 Recopa Sudamericana.

Qualified teams AssociationTeam Entry stageQualification method ArgentinaVélez Sársfield Second Stage2011 Clausura championBoca Juniors 2011 Apertura championLanús 2011 tournaments aggregate table best non-championGodoy Cruz 2011 tournaments aggregate table 2nd best non-championArsenal First Stage2011 Copa Sudamericana best performing team not yet qualified BoliviaBolívar Second Stage2011 Adecuación championThe Strongest 2011 Apertura championReal Potosí First Stage2011 Adecuación runner-up BrazilSantos Second Stage2011 Copa Libertadores de América championCorinthians 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A championVasco da Gama 2011 Copa do Brasil championFluminense 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd placeFlamengo First Stage2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th placeInternacional 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 5th place ChileUniversidad de Chile Second Stage2011 Apertura champion and 2011 Copa Sudamericana championUniversidad Católica 2011 Primera División aggregate table best non-championUnión Española First Stage2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best non-champion ColombiaAtlético Nacional Second Stage2011 Apertura championJunior 2011 Finalización championOnce Caldas First Stage2011 Primera A aggregate table best non-champion EcuadorDeportivo Quito Second Stage2011 Serie A championEmelec 2011 Serie A runner-upEl Nacional First Stage2011 Serie A 3rd place ParaguayOlimpia Second Stage2011 Primera División aggregate table best championNacional 2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best championLibertad First Stage2011 Primera División aggregate table best non-champion PeruJuan Aurich Second Stage2011 Descentralizado championAlianza Lima 2011 Descentralizado runner-upSport Huancayo First Stage2011 Descentralizado 3rd place UruguayNacional Second Stage2010–11 Primera División championDefensor Sporting 2010–11 Primera División runner-upPeñarol First Stage2010–11 Primera División aggregate table 3rd place VenezuelaDeportivo Táchira Second Stage2010–11 Primera División championZamora 2010–11 Primera División runner-upCaracas First Stage2010–11 Primera División aggregate table best non-finalist Mexico(CONCACAF)3 inviteesGuadalajara Second Stage2011 Apertura classification phase best eligible teamCruz Azul 2011 Apertura classification phase 2nd best eligible teamUANL First Stage2011 Apertura classification phase 3rd best eligible team

Draw The draw of the tournament was held on November 25, 2011, at 15:00 UTC−03:00, in Luque, Paraguay.

For the first stage, each of the six ties contains one team from each pot. For the second stage, each of the eight groups contains one team from each pot. Teams from the same association in Pots 1 and 3 cannot be placed in the same group. However, a first stage winner may be drawn with a team from the same association in the second stage.

As per agreement when deciding the seeding for the 2011 Copa Libertadores, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay all had their berth 1 teams be seeded teams for 2012 instead of the berth 1 teams from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela for 2011.

First StagePot 1Pot 2 Arsenal† Flamengo† Internacional† Libertad† Peñarol UANL Real Potosí† Unión Española† Once Caldas† El Nacional† Sport Huancayo† Caracas

Second StagePot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4 Santos Vélez Sársfield Boca Juniors† Corinthians† Bolívar Universidad de Chile Olimpia† Nacional Atlético Nacional Junior† Deportivo Quito† Emelec† Juan Aurich† Alianza Lima† Deportivo Táchira Zamora Lanús† Godoy Cruz† Vasco da Gama Fluminense† The Strongest† Universidad Católica† Nacional† Defensor Sporting Arsenal† Flamengo† Peñarol Libertad† Internacional† Unión Española† Guadalajara Cruz Azul

† Teams had not yet fully qualified to the specific berth when the draw took place.

Schedule All dates listed are Wednesdays, but matches may be played on the day before (Tuesdays) and after (Thursdays) as well.

Stage First leg Second leg First Stage January 25 February 1 Second StageFebruary 8, 15, 22 March 7, 14, 21, 28 April 4, 11, 18 Round of 16 April 25May 2 May 9 Quarterfinals May 16 May 23 Semifinals June 13 June 20 Finals June 27 July 4

First stage

The First Stage, played in home-and-away two-legged format, began on January 24 and ended on February 2. Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Second stage

The second stage, played in home-and-away round-robin format, began on February 7 and ended on April 19. The top two teams from each group advanced to the round of 16.

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), played in home-and-away two-legged format, form a single-elimination tournament, contested by the sixteen teams which advance from the Second Stage. In each tie, the team with the higher seed will play at home in the second leg.

Seeding The 16 qualified teams are seeded in the knockout stages according to their results in the second stage, with the group winners seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up seeded 9–16. The teams were ranked by: 1. Points (Pts); 2. Goal difference (GD); 3. Goals scored (GF); 4. Away goals (AG); 5. Drawing of lots.

+Teams qualified as group winnersSeedTeam 1 Fluminense 15 +3 7 5 2 Corinthians 14 +11 13 4 3 Santos 13 +7 12 5 4 Universidad de Chile 13 +5 11 2 5 Libertad 13 +4 11 4 6 Vélez Sársfield 12 +4 10 5 7 Lanús 10 +5 11 3 8 Unión Española 10 +3 10 5+Teams qualified as group runners-upSeedTeam 9 Boca Juniors 13 +5 9 4 10 Vasco da Gama 13 +4 10 4 11 Atlético Nacional 11 +8 16 9 12 Cruz Azul 11 +7 11 3 13 Deportivo Quito 10 +7 11 1 14 Bolívar 10 +2 9 3 15 Emelec 9 −1 7 3 16 Internacional 8 +4 10 2

Bracket

Round of 16 The Round of 16 began on April 25 and ended on May 10. Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Quarter-finals The Quarter-finals began on May 16 and ended on May 24. Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Semi-finals The Semifinals began on June 13 and ended on June 21. Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Finals

The Finals were played over two legs, with the higher-seeded team playing the second leg at home. If the teams were tied on points and goal difference at the end of regulation in the second leg, the away goals rule would not be applied and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the title would be decided by penalty shootout.

Corinthians won on points 3–1.

Copa Libertadores de América2012 ChampionCorinthiansFirst Title

Top goalscorers Pos Player Club Goals 1 Matías Alustiza Deportivo Quito 8 Neymar Santos 8 3 Dorlan Pabón Atlético Nacional 7 4 Junior Fernándes Universidad de Chile 6 Leandro Damião Internacional 6 6 Emerson Corinthians 5 Emanuel Herrera Unión Española 5 Javier Orozco Cruz Azul 5 9 Danilo Corinthians 4 Ángelo Henríquez Universidad de Chile 4 Alan Kardec Santos 4 Luis Fernando Mosquera Atlético Nacional 4 José Ariel Núñez Libertad 4 Mariano Pavone Lanús 4 Mario Regueiro Lanús 4 Matías Rodríguez Universidad de Chile 4

Awards

Player of the week WeekPlayerTeamNotesJan 31 – Feb 2 Andrés D'Alessandro InternacionalFeb 7–9 Javier Orozco Cruz AzulFeb 14–16 Pablo Escobar The StrongestFeb 21–23 Dorlan Pabón Atlético NacionalMar 6–8 Deco FluminenseMar 13–15 Leandro Damião InternacionalMar 20–22 Mario Regueiro LanúsMar 27–29 Sergio Órteman OlimpiaApr 3–5 Luciano Figueroa EmelecApr 10–12 Darío Cvitanich Boca JuniorsApr 17–19 Matías Alustiza Deportivo QuitoMay 1–3 Fidel Martínez Deportivo QuitoMay 8–10 Juan Román Riquelme Boca JuniorsMay 16–17 Iván Obolo Vélez SársfieldMay 23–24 Johnny Herrera Universidad de Chile

Fair play award The Samsung Fair Play Trophy was awarded to Brazilian club Corinthians.

Notes Brazilian coach Ricardo Ferretti sent a team of substitutes of Tigres UANL, and was heavily criticized by the Latin press that claimed that he had "ignored" the competition.

See also 2012 FIFA Club World Cup 2012 Copa Sudamericana 2013 Recopa Sudamericana

References

External links

Official webpage