Yesterday, the Libertadores Cup concluded its group phase, with 16 clubs now classified for the knockouts. The draw will be held on June 4 at Conmebol’s headquarters in Paraguay. The top eight teams who won their respective groups are found in batch 1 (column to the left, pictured below), and these will play the runner-ups, found in batch 2. Teams that played each other in the group phase can come face to face again, and there is no restriction regarding clubs from the same country being drawn against each other to battle it out.
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Palmeiras enjoyed the best campaign among all teams in the group phase and, as such, carry the advantage of always playing the second leg at home throughout the rest of the competition.
Grêmio, Cruzeiro, Corinthians, Santos and Flamengo are the other five Brazilian teams through. Only Flamengo qualified in second, meaning the chance of a domestic duel is 62.5% (since of the eight possible opponents of Flamengo, five are Brazilian). Furthermore, at least two of the duels for a spot in the quarterfinals will be between Brazilian and Argentine sides.
Out of the four teams with the most Libertadores Cup titles, three our found in this year’s group of 16: Independiente (7), Boca Juniors (6), and Estudiantes (4). Only Peñarol (5) is absent. In total, there are 13 champions among the 16 teams, totalling 35 Libertadores titles.
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ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 