By Peter Mann
As dominance of tournaments go, Argentina’s dominance of the Copa Libertadores, first played in 1960, is one that will take some beating. For the first two decades, between 1963 and 1979, Argentina always had a side in the final, and of those seventeen successive finalists, ten would prove to be victorious with Independiente and Estudiantes de La Plata holding court with astonishing regularity.
Since then, alongside their Brazilian counterparts, it has been, on the main, one or the other, with the occasional exception. The eighties and nineties weren’t quite as successful, with only seven final appearances, and the fact that Newell’s Old Boys, who have reached the final twice, lost both. Since the turn of the millennium, the first decade belonged to Boca Juniors and the second swinging towards River Plate. There’s even been a few one hit wonders as well with Racing claiming their only title back in 1967, Argentinos Juniors followed suit in 1985, Velez Sarsfield claimed a famous victory in 1994 and most recently, San Lorenzo added their name to the mix just a few years ago, in 2014 – but there has, somewhat surprisingly, only been one all-Argentina final, when River Plate defeated Boca Juniors in 2018.
The first victory: Independiente (1964)
Argentina’s first success in the Copa Libertadores, following defeat the previous year by Boca Juniors to Brazilian side, Santos, befell the greater Buenos Aires-based side. Club Atletico Independiente with the first of what is a tournament record seven victories. Los Diablos Rojos (The Red Devils), were formed over 115 years ago, moving to their current location just a few years after their birth and, although they tasted minimal success in their formative years, including a handful of Primera Division championships in the thirties and forties, it would not be until the sixties they would make their break, lifting the title in 1960 and 1963 whilst competing at a continental championship for the first time.
In 1961, they would lose to Palmeiras over both legs in the quarter-finals, their first sojourn into this level of competition and, within three years, they topped the pile, and in doing so became the first Argentine to lift the Copa Libertadores, defeating Nacional of Uruguay in the two-legged final.
A short-and-sweet tournament, Independiente were one of only eleven sides to qualify in the early days of the competition, alongside defending champions, Santos.
Split into three groups of three, Independiente topped group two, winning three and drawing one of their four games, scoring eleven, and conceding just the three. Bizarrely, the semi-finals was also grouped, into two groups of two with the Argentinians facing Santos, defeating them away, 3-2, and at home, 2-1, for a comfortable passage to the final where they opposed the Uruguayans, Nacional, who had seen off Colo Colo in their semi-final group matches.
The final, in essence, would be classed as the same, a mini-group, with the first match being a goalless draw in Montevideo at the Estadio Centenario. The second was decided by a goal late in the first half from Mario Rodriguez, at the La Doble Visera in front of some 80,000 spectators.
Rodriguez’s goal in the final also saw him finish as the tournament’s joint top scorer with six goals, alongside Cerro Porteno’s Celino Mora. Independiente would keep up the early tradition of back-to-back titles (Penarol winning in 1960 & 1961, Santos 1962 & 1963) when they defeated another Uruguayan side, Penarol, 4-1 in a play-off after both sides had won one match each – an own-goal and one apiece from Bernao, Availlay and Mura sent the trophy back to Buenos Aires.
Dominance of Estudiantes de La Plata (1968-71)
With Argentinian sides making the final of the Copa Libertadores with annual occurrence, the period of the late sixties, through to mid-seventies, was about two sides, Estudiantes, and Independiente, the pair winning seven of the eight versions available.
To begin with, Estudiantes de La Plata, won three-in-a-row, before falling at the final hurdle when going for what would have been their fourth in four years but, with few honours to their name, it is the Copa that they have tasted most successful, adding a fourth title in 2009 as Argentine dominance traversed the decades.
In the late sixties though, under the guidance of Osvaldo Zubeldia, they ruled all on the South American continent. Zubeldia, who spent his entire playing career in his homeland, began his managerial career at one of his former clubs, Atlanta, before a brief period in charge of the national team ahead of a domineering spell at the helm of a club he was actually brought in to help stave off relegation.
He certainly turned that around, going on to portray one of the most successful sides in Argentinian football history, beginning in 1967 when they lifted the Metroplitana championship in 1967, before qualifying for the 1968 Copa Libertadores with a second place finish in the Nacional championship.
Their first success, from a twenty-one team tournament, saw them top their opening group a good six points clear of second placed Independiente, with Colombian duo Deportivo Cali and Millonarios making up the numbers. In winning five and drawing one of their six group matches, the ‘Clash of the Argentines’ both finished in favour of Estudiantes, 4-2 and 2-0.
Independiente, and Universitario (Peru) were drawn in the second group stage, Estudiantes again inflicting home and away defeats on their opponents, 2-1 and 1-0 before a semi-final ‘group’ pairing with another countryman, this time the 1967 winners, Racing. After both sides won a match apiece, and the play-off finishing in a 1-1 draw, Estudiantes progressed via a better goal difference, helped in no small part by Juan Veron Sr, who notched a brace in the first leg, and notched again in the play-off.
Veron Sr would also score two of Estudiantes’ three goals in the final, against Brazilian side, Palmeiras, which also went to a play-off, Veron Sr netting the second that day in a 2-0 win, the first coming from regular Estudiantes scorer, Felipe Ribaudo. Veron Sr, though, would finish as the third highest scorer, behind Tupazinho (Palmeiras) and Alberto Spencer (Penarol). A successful defence followed in a tournament that saw no Brazilian participation due to the tournament clashing with preparation for 1970 World Cup qualifying matches. Meanwhile, the Copa Libertadores began in the semi-finals for Estudiantes, defeating Chile’s Universidad Catolica 6-2 on aggregate, winning both legs 3-1 before comfortably taking care of Uruguayan side, Nacional, 3-0 on aggregate, in the final.
They again went all the way in 1970, again receiving a bye through to the semi-finals, Brazilian sides still boycotting due to the format being used at the time.
In the semis, Estudiantes dismissed rivals River Plate, who had already played ten matches to get this far, 4-1 on aggregate, including a 3-1 success at home in La Plata, whilst the final, against Uruguay’s Penarol, was a somewhat tame affair, a solitary goal settling the two-legged contest, Nestor Togneri registering in the first leg.
Estudiantes would eventually taste Copa Libertadores defeat in the 1971 edition, again reaching the final, but this time with the inclusion of Brazilian sides, Los Pincharratas making an appearance in the second group phase (semi-final group of two sets of three), finishing top of a group that consisted of Barcelona and Union Espanola. Nacional, meanwhile, their opponents in the final, saw off Palmeiras and Universitario in their group. It would be Nacional that would claim success in the final, in another play-off, after both sides had won their respective home matches 1-0 before a trip to Lima, Peru, resulted in a 2-0 victory for the Uruguayans, their first of just three Libertadores successes.
Dominance of Independiente (1972-75)
Having claimed both their, and Argentina’s, first Copa Libertadores title back in 1964, Club Atletico Independiente have been rather successful throughout their 115 year history. The Copa Libertadores shows no exception to that fact. Winning back-to-back titles in the mid-sixties, the Argentine giants followed it up in glorious fashion with supreme dominance throughout the seventies, claiming four-in-a-row in the middle of that decade as well as appearing in three Intercontinental Cup finals.
At home, they’d win back-to-back league championships at the beginning, and end, of the decade, in 1970 and 1971, and again in 1977 and 1978, the third of which was especially memorable for the club. However, it was their domineering conquering of the Libertadores that set them apart for the rest, defeating Peruvians Universitario in ’72, Chile’s Colo-Colo the following year after a third play-off, then it was Brazilian’s Sao Paulo who succumbed in ’74, and in ’75, a historic fourth in succession, saw another Chile club, Union Espanola, beaten. That marathon, against Colo Colo in 1973, made Independiente the most successful side in Copa Libertadores history, and what a marathon it was as well. Colo-Colo reached the knockout stages by topping a group that consisted of Colombian pair Emelec and El Nacional, as well as compatriots Union Espanola, losing just one and scoring sixteen times in six group matches; Independiente automatically qualified for the semi-finals group stages as defending champions. With six sides in this stage, two groups of three would see Colo-Colo paired with Paraguayan’s Cerro Porteno and Brazilian’s Botafogo whilst Independiente faced countrymen San Lorenzo, and Colombian’s Millonarios.
Of the two groups, Independiente’s was low-scoring with just ten goals between the three over six matches; Colo-Colo’s meanwhile saw twenty-six goals with Colo-Colo netting ten themselves.
The finals, as it would become, Colo-Colo playing in their first, would see the first game, on May 22, finish in a 1-1 draw, Mario Mendoza’s 75th minute effort cancelling out an own-goal minutes earlier from captain Francisco Sa. The second leg, a week later, would finish goalless in front of over 72,000 spectators. Early June would see the play-off played at the Estadio Centario in Montevideo, Uruguay. After the two-legged affair would finish level over the two games, the play-off would be of a similar ilk, heading into extra-time.
Mendoza would open the scoring midway through the first half, Carlos Caszely equalising shortly before the interval; the game staying that way and going into extra-time, substitute Miguel Giachello, netting the winning goal having replaced opening scorer Mendoza.
Either side of that record-breaking ’73 final, Independiente first saw off Universitario of Peru, reaching the final having topped their group which consisted of fellow Argentines, Rosario Central, and Colombian duo Santa Fe and Atletico Nacional, undefeated and scoring thirteen times along the way. Progression would see them win their three home games all by the same, 2-0 score-line, but it was much tighter in the semi-final group stage, against Brazilian side Sao Paulo, and Ecuadorian outfit, Barcelona, winning two and drawing one of their four games to reach the final where they would meet Universitario.
In the final itself, after a goalless first leg in Peru, a brace from striker Eduardo Maglioni, one in each half, sent the trophy to Argentina, the Peruvians pulling a goal back late on through Percy Rojas.
In 1974, with the victors being granted a bye to the semi-finals, Independiente overcame Uruguay’s Penarol, and countrymen Huracan, winning two and drawing two of their four matches; meanwhile their opponents in the final, Sao Paulo, had topped their first round group, finishing four clear of Palmeiras, and the Bolivian pair of Municipal and Jorge Wilstermann. Their semi-final group was much simpler than Independiente’s, winning three and drawing one whilst not conceding, the final however, was a pretty even affair.
At the Estadio do Pacaembu, Sao Paulo won the first leg 2-1 as Saggoriato’s opener for the Argentines was cancelled out by second half goals from Rocha, and Mirandinha (not that one who played for Newcastle, the other one who is much older). The second leg went the way of the Argentines, as they claimed a 2-0 success at the Doble Visera, Ricardo Bochini late in the first and Agustin Balbuena early in the second, with the goals.
One win apiece meant a play-off was needed, and so to the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Peru, in mid-October 1974 and, late in the first half, Independiente’s only foreigner, Uruguayan defender Ricardo Pavoni, would score what would be the winner.
A fourth success, their sixth overall, was won in 1975 (they claimed a record seventh in 1984), and again with the need of a play-off, this time against Union Espanola of Chile.
Again, receiving a bye to the semis benefitted the Argentines and they edged past Rosario Central and Cruzerio in the final six, all three winning two games apiece, progression being ascertained on goal-difference, one goal for that matter. Union Espanola meanwhile came through an enjoyably, high-scoring, first round group ahead of countrymen Huachipato, and the Bolivian pair of The Strongest, and Jorge Wilstermann. Undefeated they won three, drew three, and scored seventeen goals in a group that would witness a haul of 39 goals between the four sides; in the semis they notched another seven when seeing off Universitario, and Ecuadorian side LDU Quito.
The Chilean side shocked South American football in the first leg of their first final, winning 1-0 at home, Sergio Ahumada with the only goal three minutes from time.
Independiente righted that wrong to take the second leg 3-1, although at one stage the underdogs were still looking to pull off a shock. Rojas opened the scoring in the first minute but, as the game hit the fifteenth, the visitors were level through Francisco Las Heras, and it remained that way until shortly before the hour, Pavoni breaking Chilean resolve and, with eight minutes remaining, Daniel Bertoni sent the final to a play-off, a game in which the Argentines cemented their place in history with a 2-0 win with goals from Rui Moreno, and Bertoni.
Los Diablos Rojos were, at that time, the team to beat, and they would attempt to take that dominance onto the global stage in the shape of participation in the Intercontinental Cup, winning one of their three attempts. In 1972, Independiente lost to Dutch giants, Ajax, 4-1 on aggregate, the Argentines undone by the brilliance of Cruyff, Rep and Neeskens over two legs, Johnny Rep netting twice in a 3-0 second-leg victory. In the 1974 final, Spanish side Atletico Madrid edged it, 2-1 on aggregate. Success would arrive in the 1973 edition, against Italian giants, Juventus, a game surrounded in controversy. Ajax had defeated Juventus in the 1973 European Cup final but refused to play the final with Independiente, thus affording Juve the opportunity. However, they were unwilling to travel to Buenos Aires and a one-off final was played in Rome instead.
That game, at the Stadio Olimpico on November 28, was settled ten minutes from time by a Bochini effort, he being the breakout star for the Argentines that year at the tender age of nineteen.
Spending his entire career with Independiente, Bochini won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986, won four league titles, five Cope Libertadores, three Copa Interamericana, and two Intercontinental Cups over a career spanning 1972 to 1991.
The eighties and nineties
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Argentinian sides stepped off a little in the Copa Libertadores, it was also a period that would last see a Uruguayan success (1988 against Newell’s Old Boys). During this two-decade period there was only five victories, and two runners-up from the South American powerhouse as Argentinos Juniors, Independiente and River Plate claimed the title in the mid-eighties, Velez Sarsfield in ’94, and River Plate again in ’96, the second of their four titles. It was also during this period that luck was seemingly against some sides, like Newell’s Old Boys whose only two trips to the final, in 1988 and 1992, resulted in defeat, to Nacional of Uruguay, and Sao Paulo of Brazil respectively. Those three victories in the mid-eighties, the 1984 success an Argentine first since Boca Juniors won in 1978, came at the expense of Brazilian’s Gremio, and America de Cali, Independiente winning their last Libertadores title in the first of the three. Reaching their first final since winning in 1975, Independiente faced defending champions Gremio. A goal from Argentinian legend, Jorge Burruchaga, was enough to split the two sides, Independiente taking the first leg 1-0, before a goalless draw in the second. Burruchaga, who scored the winning goal for Argentina in the 1986 World Cup final, had two spells with Independiente in 1981-85 and 1995-98, either side of a spell in France, primarily with Nantes, and a brief stint at Valenciennes. Although he never won anything in France, the World Cup winner did win a league title, Copa Libertadores, Intercontinental Cup, Supercopa Sudamericana, and Recopa Sudamericana with Los Diablos Rojos.
Argentinos Juniors claimed victory in 1985, overcoming holders, and rivals, Independiente in their semis group. The games between the two Argentine sides opening and closing the semi-final stage, the first being a 2-2 draw, and winning the last 2-1 away from home, to book their place in the final. Yet again it would be a final that a play-off was needed, both sides winning their respective home games 1-0, Emilio Commisso with the goal in the first leg, Willington Ortiz in the second leg; the play-off would go all the way to penalties. After Commisso had opened the scoring and Ricardo Gareca, an Argentine, equalised, nobody else could find a way through. Juniors eventually taking the title 5-4 on penalties.
America de Cali lost again to an Argentine side the following year, this time River Plate taking the plaudits for, surprisingly, their first Libertadores title. River dismissed defending champions Argentinos Juniors on their way to the final. No play-off, or extra-time, or penalties, was needed in the ’86 final, River winning both legs against America de Cali to take a 3-1 aggregate win, Juan Gilberto Fuenes netting in both legs to afford victory, Norberto Alonso the other.
It was to be a River side consisting of Argentine greats, Nery Pumpido and Oscar Ruggeri. It would be another eight years before an Argentine side would lift the Libertadores, with Velez Sarsfield, in 1994, and another ten before River added their second, against, of all teams, America de Cali, poor souls – four finals, four losses.
Winning their second title in 1996, ten years after their first, River Plate, led by Ramon Diaz had a star-studded line-up that consisted of Ariel Ortega, Hernan Crespo, and Enzo Francescoli. In topping their group stage they saw off San Lorenzo and the Venezuelan pair of Minerven and Caracas before the first knockout stage pitted them against Peru’s Sporting Cristal, winning 6-4 on aggregate, the second leg being a 5-2 success after losing the first. The quarter-finals saw River face countrymen San Lorenzo again over a tight, two-legged affair. River eventually edged the tie 3-2 on aggregate, before facing Universidad de Chile in the semis. After a 2-2 draw in the first leg, River won the second 1-0 to make the final, Matias Almeyda with the decisive goal before a two-legged affair with a Colombian side no doubt still hurting from those earlier losses.
Having missed a spot-kick in the aforementioned 1985 final, Anthony de Avila made amends with the only goal of the first leg of this one to claim a famous victory on home soil, for the Colombians. But again, it wasn’t to be for, in the second leg at the Estadio Monumental, they would come up short.
An budding Argentine goal machine in Hernan Crespo, who was only 21-years-old at the time, notched a brace in the second leg to give River the Libertadores title as his leaving present, before heading to Italian side, Parma, the following season and embarking on a glittering career which would see him lift trophies at Parma, Lazio, AC Milan, Chelsea and Inter Milan including four league titles and the 1999 UEFA Cup in ‘that’ Parma side.
Velez Sarsfield’s solitary success (1994)
Some four Argentine sides have lifted the Copa Libertadores just once in their respective history beginning with Racing back in 1967, Argentinos Juniors in 1985, Velez Sarsfield in 1994 and most recently, San Lorenzo in 2014. Of those four, the success of Velez, in 1994, and the presence of a certain Paraguayan goalkeeper, Jose Louis Chilavert. The opening group phase, five groups of four teams, would see Velez alongside the Brazilian duo of Cruzeiro and Palmeiras, and Argentine rivals Boca Juniors, who finished bottom on three points with Velez top on eight. If the group games were tight, the knockout stages were as similar with Velez drawing Defensor Sporting form Uruguay, both games finishing in draws, 1-1 and 0-0, before Velez edged through courtesy of a 4-2 penalty shoot-out success.
Venezuelan side, Minerven, were a tough ask in the quarters as well, the first leg finishing goalless, Velez winning 2-0 in the second to progress to the semis where they would face Colombian outfit, Junior de Baranquilla. A tasty affair was witnessed here, both sides winning their respective home legs 2-1 for a 3-3 aggregate score before, again on penalties, Velez went through, this time 5-4, and a date with destiny, and the Brazilians Sao Paulo, in the final.
Up stepped Chilavert, a prominent star throughout the run to the final. In the two-legged final, on August 24 and 31, would see both Velez and Sao Paulo win their respective home games 1-0, Omar Asad netting for Velez in the first and Muller equalising from the spot for the Brazilians in the second, the final being decided on penalties. The legend that is Chilavert saved the opposition’s first spot-kick, from Palinha, and scored his side’s second, after captain Roberta Trotta had put away the first.
The Brazilians would net their remaining three penalties, via Andre Luiz, Muller, and Euller, but the Argentines stole victory with further strikes from Flavio Zandona, Hector Almandoz, and substitute Roberto Pompei.
During the tournament, the legendary goalkeeper would save four penalties, and score three himself, a key component of both the team, and of the title success in which they enjoyed.
It was also a somewhat feisty affair that second leg, from an Argentinian perspective anyway, as Chilavert would be one of six Velez players to receive a yellow card, and there would be two reds as well, defender Raul Cardozo, and manager Carlos Bianchi, Uruguayan referee Ernesto Filippi certainly having his work cut out.
Victory for Velez, although their first and only to date in the tournament, was Argentina’s sixteenth overall and their first for eight years. Success was also perhaps helped more by the fact that Velez rested their bigger players during the league campaign, choosing to field reserves instead, and playing the stars in the Copa Libertadores.
Boca Juniors’ joy in the early noughties
Not be outshone by their compatriots, Boca Juniors returned to top the table throughout the noughties, registering four victories (2000, 2001, 2003 and 2007) and two final losses (2004 and 2012) in the space of twelve years. Boca’s first in 2000, their first success since 1978, and their third overall, came in rather impressive fashion. When they lost the first leg of the quarters 2-1 to city rivals River Plate, Boca needed a strong second leg back home if they were to make the semis, and a strong one they got, emerging victorious on the back of an impressive 3-0 win to win 4-2 on aggregate and progress to face the Mexican side, America, in the final four – the other side of the draw meanwhile would see the two remaining Brazilian sides, Palmeiras and Corinthians, go head-to-head. As with the quarters, Boca lost one of the two legs, having done just about enough in the first to keep them ahead. Winning 4-1 in the first leg, Antonio Barrijho scoring two for Boca, they were fortunate in the second, only losing 3-1, Walter Samuel with the decisive goal as they progressed 5-4 on aggregate after a tough two matches.
Their opponents in the final, Palmeiras. If you thought Boca’s progression was tough, the two Brazilian sides would share twelve goals over their two legs, and a penalty shoot-out for added excitement. Two evenly matched sides faced off over two legs with the Brazilians looking to defend the trophy they’d won the previous season. The first leg, at La Bombonera, would see the sides share four goals, both netting once in each half for a 2-2 draw. Rodolfo Arruabarrena netted twice for Boca, Palmeiras replied through strikers Pena and Euller.
The second leg, albeit goalless, did see a few bookings before penalties was required. Tino Asprilla and Roque Junior missed for the Brazilians whilst Boca netted all four of theirs via Schelotto, Riquelme, Palermo and Bermudez, winning 4-2.
Defending the Libertadores the following season saw them face Mexican side Cruz Azul in the showcase final. Boca only netted seven goals in the six group matches, a worrying sign for the defending champions. Boca then saw off Junior de Barranquilla 4-3 on aggregate in the first knockout stage, then, impressively, Vasco Da Gama 4-0 on aggregate in the quarters, Guillermo Schelotto scoring three of the four goals to book a place in the semis, where Boca would oppose another Brazilian side, Palmeiras again on penalties, following two, 2-2 draws, winning 3-2 on penalties and progress to the final.
As with the previous campaign, the likes of Schelotto, Delgado and Riquleme were among the scorers for Boca, the middle of that trio, Marcelo Delgado, a substitute in the first leg, netting the only goal of the game five minutes from time. At home in the second leg, Boca fell to a 1-0 defeat themselves, Juan Palencia with the only goal just before the break, penalties again required to decide the victor. The Mexicans, though, proved poor from twelve yards when it was most needed, Palencia the only one of their four takers to scorer whilst Riquleme, Serna and that man Delgado sealed a 3-1 win. Victory for Boca manager Carlos Bianchi was to be his third success in the Libertadores, having won it with Velez in ’94, and Boca in 2000 and 2001, a record that would move him level with Estudiantes manager Osvaldo Zubelchia, who also won it three times, in 1968, 1969 and 1970.
A third success, their fifth overall, arrived just two years later, in 2003, defeating Santos 5-1 on aggregate in the final, The two-legs, against a Santos side who were scoring goals for fun, went slightly emphatically in favour of Boca as Marcelo Delgado bagged two in the first leg at home.
Then, in Morumbi, Sao Paulo, Carlos Tevez, Marcelo Delgado and Rolando Schiavi all netted to wrap up a 5-1 aggregate success. Although Boca made the final the following year, losing out to Once Caldas of Colombia 2-0 on penalties, it would be a few years before they tasted success again, and again it would be against a Brazilian side for, in 2007, Boca would defeat Gremio 5-0 on aggregate to claim their sixth Libertadores championship. In the semis, Colombian side Cucuta Deportivo were beaten 4-3 on aggregate, Boca fighting back in dramatic fashion having lost the first leg 3-1. With Riquelme and Palermo still among the Boca scorers, hopes were high ahead of the final with Gremio, and Boca did to them as they had to Santos a few years earlier, this time without conceding.
At La Bombonera in the first leg, goals from Rodrigo Palacio, Riquelme and a late own-goal sealed a 3-0 win, one which was followed up at the Estadio Olimpico Monumental with a 2-0 success, Riquelme with a second half double to put the gloss on the victory.
Boca would return to the final in 2012, this time losing out to a Brazilian side, Corinthians claiming a 3-1 aggregate win, and again in 2018 when they lost to rivals River Plate 5-3 on aggregate (after extra-time) and have now appeared in a record eleven finals, winning six.
The last decade
The past decade, dominated more by Brazilian sides, has still bore witness to Argentine success, even if Boca have lost twice.
San Lorenzo with their only Libertadores win, and a third title for River Plate, came in successive years, 2014 and 2015, whilst in 2018, River saw off rivals Boca in the final for title number four.
The success of San Lorenzo in 2014, finally, would see them become the last of Argentina’s ‘Big Five’ to lift the trophy, and in doing so broke a four-year streak from Brazil. In fact, San Lorenzo nearly never made it out of the group stage, finishing second behind Chilean side Union Espanola by a point, but ahead of Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle on goal difference with Brazilian side Botafogo a point further behind.
It would then be a narrow progression through the knockout stages for San Lorenzo, edging past Gremio on penalties, Cruzeiro 2-1 on aggregate, before a comfortable semi-final success over Bolivar, winning 5-1 on aggregate, Emmanuel Mas with a brace in the 5-0, first leg win.
The final, against Nacional, saw the first leg finish 1-1, both goals coming in the second half from Mauro Matas for San Lorenzo, and a late equaliser from Julio Santa Cruz. The second leg was settled by a first-half penalty from Paraguayan midfielder, Nestor Ortigoza, that sealed a 2-1 aggregate win. The following season would see River Plate defeat Tigres of Mexico comfortably in the final, the pair having begun the tournament in the same group, which Tigres won comfortably finishing seven points clear of River, their progression not really helped by the fact that they drew four of their six games and progressed by a point from Peruvian side, Juan Aurich.
The first knockout round saw River oppose Boca, going through on the back of a 1-0 aggregate win after Boca suffered the embarrassment of being disqualified due to an attack from Boca fans on the players of River Plate with the use of pepper spray when they returned for the second half of the second leg.
CONMEBOL, following a disciplinary hearing, decided to disqualify Boca and River progressed to face Brazilian side Cruzeiro in the quarters. Having lost the first leg 1-0, goals from Carlos Sanchez, Jonatan Maidana and Teofilo Gutierrez turned the game around and sent River through to the final four where they would oppose Paraguayan side, Guarani where the first leg was settled by second half goals from Gabriel Mercado and Rodrigo Mora, with the second leg finishing level at one apiece, Lucas Alario with the decisive third.
In qualifying for the final, River would come up against Tigres and, after a goalless first leg in Mexico, they took over the second leg at home to win comfortably. Lucas Alario opened the scoring at the end of the first half and his goal was added to late in the second by Uruguayan midfielder Carlos Sanchez, and defender Funes Mori.
With nine yellow cards dished out, the final result would be River’s first success in the competition for near two decades, their last coming in 1996. They would return again in 2018, defeating rivals Boca Juniors, before losing last year to Flamengo. A game that was live on the BBC, saw Rafael Borre open the scoring for River in a final decided over just one match. The score stayed that way until closing stages when it exploded into life, Flamengo striker Gabriel Barbosa scoring twice in a matter of minutes before he, and River’s Exequiel Palacios, both saw red.
The 2020 Copa Libertadores
Due to the current global pandemic the 2020 Copa Libertadores is in a state of suspension whilst the world around sorts itself out, although expected to restart in the not-too-distant future with a revised schedule. Having played three qualifying stages, Argentinian side Atletico Tucuman falling by the wayside in the last of the three losing to Independiente Medellin 4-2 on penalties, the group stage sees the presence of five Argentine sides in the eight groups.
After four matches, Tigre have all but been eliminated from Group A, currently bottom with one point from a possible twelve; River Plate are in a good position in Group D, second to LDU Quito with seven points to their name (the group also contains Sao Paulo); Racing are second in Group F behind runaway leaders Nacional and hold a comfortable margin and goal difference; as do Defensa y Justicia, second to Santos in Group G where two points split the top three; and Boca Juniors, they head up Group H on goal difference from Venezuelan side, Caracas, with Libertad a point behind.
At present, the final of the 2020 Copa Libertadores, is scheduled to take place in late January 2021, in the famed Maracana in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
By Peter Mann
Featured Image: Velez Sarsfield
Football’s Finest 