The 2015 Copa Sudamericana () (officially the 2015 Copa Total Sudamericana for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
Colombian team Santa Fe qualified to play in the 2016 Copa Libertadores, the 2016 Recopa Sudamericana, and the 2016 Suruga Bank Championship, after winning the final against Argentinian team Huracán 3–1 on penalties (0–0 on aggregate after extra time). River Plate were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Huracán in the semifinals.
Teams The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL associations qualified for the tournament: Title holders Brazil: 8 berths Argentina: 6 berths All other associations: 4 berths each
The entry stage was determined as follows: Round of 16: Title holders Second stage: 14 teams (teams from Argentina and Brazil) First stage: 32 teams (teams from all other associations)
AssociationTeam Entry stageQualification method ArgentinaRiver Plate Round of 162014 Copa Sudamericana championHuracán Second stage2014 Supercopa Argentina championLanús 2014 Torneo Transición best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores second stageIndependiente 2014 Torneo Transición 2nd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores second stageTigre 2014 Torneo Transición 3rd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores second stageArsenal 2014 Torneo Transición 4th best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores second stageBelgrano 2014 Torneo Transición 5th best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores second stage BoliviaReal Potosí First stage2014 Clausura 4th placeBolívar 2014 Clausura 5th placeAurora 2014 Clausura 6th placeOriente Petrolero 2014 Clausura 7th place BrazilAtlético Paranaense Second stage2014 Série A or 2014 Série B best team eliminated before 2015 Copa do Brasil round of 16Sport Recife 2014 Série A or 2014 Série B 2nd best team eliminated before 2015 Copa do Brasil round of 16Goiás 2014 Série A or 2014 Série B 3rd best team eliminated before 2015 Copa do Brasil round of 16Chapecoense 2014 Série A or 2014 Série B 4th best team eliminated before 2015 Copa do Brasil round of 16Joinville 2014 Série A or 2014 Série B 5th best team eliminated before 2015 Copa do Brasil round of 16Ponte Preta 2014 Série A or 2014 Série B 6th best team eliminated before 2015 Copa do Brasil round of 16Bahia 2015 Copa do Nordeste best team eliminated before 2015 Copa do Brasil round of 16Brasília 2014 Copa Verde champion ChileUniversidad de Concepción First stage2014–15 Copa Chile championHuachipato 2014–15 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores second stageUniversidad Católica 2015 Clausura Liguilla winnerSantiago Wanderers 2014 Apertura Liguilla runner-up ColombiaDeportes Tolima First stage2014 Copa Colombia championSanta Fe 2015 Superliga Colombiana championÁguilas Doradas 2014 Primera A aggregate table best team not qualified for 2015 Copa LibertadoresJunior 2014 Primera A aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores EcuadorEmelec First stage2014 Serie A championLDU Quito 2014 Serie A aggregate table best team not qualified for 2015 Copa LibertadoresLDU Loja 2014 Serie A aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa LibertadoresUniversidad Católica 2014 Serie A aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores ParaguayLibertad First stage2014 Apertura champion and 2014 Clausura championSportivo Luqueño 2014 Primera División aggregate table best team not qualified for 2015 Copa LibertadoresOlimpia 2014 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa LibertadoresNacional 2014 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores PeruMelgar First stage2014 Descentralizado aggregate table best team not qualified for 2015 Copa LibertadoresUnión Comercio 2014 Descentralizado aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa LibertadoresUniversitario 2014 Descentralizado aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2015 Copa LibertadoresLeón de Huánuco 2014 Descentralizado aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2015 Copa Libertadores UruguayNacional First stage2014–15 Primera División championDanubio 2014–15 Primera División aggregate table best team not qualified for 2016 Copa LibertadoresDefensor Sporting 2014–15 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2016 Copa LibertadoresJuventud 2014–15 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2016 Copa Libertadores VenezuelaDeportivo La Guaira First stage2014 Copa Venezuela championDeportivo Anzoátegui 2014–15 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2016 Copa LibertadoresZamora 2014–15 Primera División Serie Sudamericana winner with better record in aggregate tableCarabobo 2014–15 Primera División Serie Sudamericana winner with worse record in aggregate table
Draw
The draw of the tournament was held on July 16, 2015, at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.
For the first stage, the 32 teams were divided into two zones: South Zone: The 16 teams from Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay were drawn into eight ties. North Zone: The 16 teams from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela were drawn into eight ties.
Teams which qualified for berths 1 were drawn against teams which qualified for berths 4, and teams which qualified for berths 2 were drawn against teams which qualified for berths 3, with the former hosting the second leg in both cases. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie.
For the second stage, the 30 teams, including the 16 winners of the first stage (eight from South Zone, eight from North Zone), whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and the 14 teams which entered the second stage, were divided into three sections: Winners of the first stage: The 16 winners of the first stage were drawn into eight ties, with the order of legs decided by draw. Teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie. Brazil: The eight teams from Brazil were drawn into four ties. Teams which qualified for berths 1–4 were drawn against teams which qualified for berths 5–8, with the former hosting the second leg. Argentina: The six teams from Argentina were drawn into three ties. Teams which qualified for berths 1–3 were drawn against teams which qualified for berths 4–6, with the former hosting the second leg.
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows (all dates listed were Wednesdays, but matches could also be played on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well).
StageFirst legSecond legFirst stageAugust 12August 19Second stageAugust 19, 26August 26September 16Round of 16September 23September 30QuarterfinalsOctober 21October 28SemifinalsNovember 4November 25FinalsDecember 2December 9
Notes
Elimination stages
In the elimination stages (first stage and second stage), 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, the penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (no extra time was played). The 15 winners of the second stage (eight from winners of the first stage, four from Brazil, three from Argentina) advanced to the round of 16 to join the defending champions (River Plate).
First stage
Second stage
Final stages
In the final stages, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the following rules: Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg. In the round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, if tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would be used. If still tied, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played). In the finals, if tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner. If there were two semifinalists from the same association, they would have to play each other.
The qualified teams were seeded in the final stages according to the draw of the tournament, with each team assigned a "seed" 1–16 by draw.
Bracket
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Semifinals Since there were two semifinalists from Argentina, they had to play each other instead of their original opponents as determined by the seeding.
Finals
The finals were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.
Top goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Ramón Ábila Huracán5 Miller Bolaños Emelec5 Wilson Morelo Santa Fe5 José Ariel Núñez Olimpia55 Guido Di Vanni Sportivo Luqueño4 Cristian Espinoza Huracán4 Jorge Ortega Sportivo Luqueño48 Mauro Bogado Huracán3 José Leguizamón Sportivo Luqueño3 Hernán Rodrigo López Libertad3 Matías Mirabaje Juventud3 Rodrigo Mora River Plate3 Carlos Andrés Sánchez River Plate3
See also 2015 Copa Libertadores 2016 Recopa Sudamericana 2016 Suruga Bank Championship
References
External links
Copa Sudamericana 2015, CONMEBOL.com