2009 Copa Libertadores

The 2009 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2009 Copa Santander Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 50th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament.

The tournament was won by Argentine club Estudiantes de La Plata, who achieved their fourth Copa Libertadores title and first in 39 years. Since the inception of a preliminary round in 2004, they are the first club to start in that round and win the Copa Libertadores. Estudiantes earned a berth to play in 2010 Recopa Sudamericana and in the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup but lost both titles to LDU Quito and Barcelona respectively.

Qualified teams

Association	Team	Qualification method
Template:Flagicon Argentina 5 berths	Lanús	2007 Apertura champion
	River Plate	2008 Clausura champion
	Boca Juniors	2008 Apertura champion
	San Lorenzo	Best average of the 2007 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, & 2008 Apertura
	Estudiantes (LP)	2nd best average of the 2007 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, & 2008 Apertura
Template:Flagicon Bolivia 3 berths	Universitario de Sucre	2008 Apertura champion
	Aurora	2008 Clausura champion
	Real Potosí	2008 play-off champion
Template:Flagicon Brazil 5 berths	São Paulo	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 champion
	Grêmio	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 runner-up
	Cruzeiro	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 3rd place
	Sport Recife	2008 Copa do Brasil champion
	Palmeiras	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 4th place
Template:Flagicon Chile 3 berths	Everton	2008 Apertura champion
	Colo-Colo	2008 Clausura champion
	Universidad de Chile	1st place in 2008 Clausura general table
Template:Flagicon Colombia 3 berths	Boyacá Chicó	2008 Apertura champion
	América	2008 Finalización champion
	Independiente Medellín	2008 Primera A best-placed non-champion
Template:Flagicon Ecuador 3 + 1 berths	LDU Quito	2008 Copa Libertadores champion
	Deportivo Quito	2008 Serie A champion
	Deportivo Cuenca	2008 Serie A 3rd place
	El Nacional	2008 Serie A 4th place
Template:Flagicon Paraguay 3 berths	Libertad	2008 Apertura & 2008 Clausura champion
	Guaraní	2008 Primera División best-placed non-champion
	Nacional	2008 Primera División 2nd best-placed non-champion
Template:Flagicon Peru 3 berths	Universitario	2008 Apertura champion
	Universidad San Martín	2008 Clausura champion
	Sporting Cristal	2008 Descentralizado best-placed non-champion
Template:Flagicon Uruguay 3 berths	Defensor Sporting	2007–08 Primera División champion
	Nacional	2008 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores champion
	Peñarol	2008 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores 3rd place
Template:Flagicon Venezuela 3 berths	Deportivo Táchira	2007–08 Primera División champion
	Caracas	2007–08 Primera División runner-up
	Deportivo Anzoátegui	2007–08 Primera División best-placed non-finalist
Template:Flagicon Mexico 3 invitees (CONCACAF)	San Luis	1st place in 2008 Apertura general table
	Guadalajara	2009 InterLiga champion
	Pachuca	2009 InterLiga runner-up

Round and draw dates

The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw. All events occurred in 2009 unless otherwise stated.

Stage	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
First stage	November 25, 2008	January 27–29	February 3–5
Second stage		February 10 – April 30
Round of 16	N/A	May 5–14	May 12–21
Quarterfinals		May 27–28	June 17–18
Semifinals		June 24–25	July 1–2
Finals		July 8	July 15

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. If two or more teams are equal on points, the following criteria will be applied to determine the rankings in the group stage:

1. superior goal difference;
2. higher number of goals scored;
3. higher number of away goals scored;
4. draw.

For the first stage, round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, the fourth criterion is replaced by a penalty shootout if necessary. The finals have their own set of criteria; see the finals section for more details.

First stage

In the First Stage, twelve teams played a two-legged tie (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.

Teams			Scores		Tie-breakers
Team #1	Points	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg	GD	AG	Pen.
Peñarol Template:Flagicon	1:4	Template:Flagicon Independiente Medellín	0–4	0–0	—	—	—
Estudiantes (LP) Template:Flagicon	3:3	Template:Flagicon Sporting Cristal	1–2	1–0	0:0	1:0	—
Nacional Template:Flagicon	4:1	Template:Flagicon El Nacional	5–0	3–3	—	—	—
Deportivo Cuenca Template:Flagicon	3:3	Template:Flagicon Deportivo Anzoátegui	0–2	3–0	+1:−1	—	—
Real Potosí Template:Flagicon	0:6	Template:Flagicon Palmeiras	1–5	0–2	—	—	—
Pachuca Template:Flagicon	3:3	Template:Flagicon Universidad de Chile	0–1	2–1	0:0	0:1	—

Second stage

A total of 26 teams qualified directly to this phase and were joined by six teams from the First Stage, bringing the total to 32 teams. The top two teams from each group advanced to the Third Stage.

Knockout stages

The last four stages of the tournament (round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) form a single-elimination tournament, commonly known as a knockout stage. Sixteen teams advanced into the first of these stages: the third stage.

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.

Teams qualified as a group winner Seed Team Pts GD GF AG 1 Template:Flagicon Grêmio 16 +10 11 5 2 Template:Flagicon Boca Juniors 15 +8 11 4 3 Template:Flagicon Nacional 14 +9 12 4 4 Template:Flagicon São Paulo 13 +4 10 5 5 Template:Flagicon Cruzeiro 13 +4 9 2 6 Template:Flagicon Sport Recife 13 +3 10 6 7 Template:Flagicon Libertad 12 +2 7 3 8 Template:Flagicon Caracas 10 +3 7 1

Teams qualified as a runner-up Seed Team Pts GD GF AG 9 Template:Flagicon Deportivo Cuenca 10 +5 9 1 10 Template:Flagicon Estudiantes (LP) 10 +5 9 0 11 Template:Flagicon Palmeiras 10 +2 9 5 12 Template:Flagicon Universidad de Chile 10 +2 8 2 13 Template:Flagicon Guadalajara 9 +3 9 2 14 Template:Flagicon San Luis 8 0 7 0 15 Template:Flagicon Defensor Sporting 8 0 5 1 16 Template:Flagicon Universidad San Martín 8 −2 7 2

Round of 16

The first match of the Round of 16 began on 5 May, with the last match played on 21 May. Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.

Teams			Scores		Tie-breakers
Team #1	Points	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg	GD	AG	Pen.
Grêmio Template:Flagicon	6:0	Template:Flagicon Universidad San Martín	3–1	2–0	—	—	—
Boca Juniors Template:Flagicon	1:4	Template:Flagicon Defensor Sporting	2–2	0–1	—	—	—
Nacional Template:Flagicon	w/o[A]	Template:Flagicon San Luis	—	—	—	—	—
São Paulo Template:Flagicon	w/o[A]	Template:Flagicon Guadalajara	—	—	—	—	—
Cruzeiro Template:Flagicon	6:0	Template:Flagicon Universidad de Chile	2–1	1–0	—	—	—
Sport Recife Template:Flagicon	3:3	Template:Flagicon Palmeiras	0–1	1–0	0:0	0:0	1:3
Libertad Template:Flagicon	1:4	Template:Flagicon Estudiantes	0–3	0–0	—	—	—
Caracas Template:Flagicon	3:3	Template:Flagicon Deportivo Cuenca	1–2	4–0	+3:−3	—	—

Quarterfinals

Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.

Teams			Scores		Tie-breakers
Team #1	Points	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg	GD	AG	Pen.
Grêmio Template:Flagicon	2:2	Template:Flagicon Caracas	1–1	0–0	0:0	1:0	—
Nacional Template:Flagicon	2:2	Template:Flagicon Palmeiras	1–1	0–0	0:0	1:0	—
São Paulo Template:Flagicon	0:6	Template:Flagicon Cruzeiro	1–2	0–2	—	—	—
Estudiantes Template:Flagicon	6:0	Template:Flagicon Defensor Sporting	1–0	1–0	—	—	—

Semifinals

Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.

Teams			Scores		Tie-breakers
Team #1	Points	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg	GD	AG	Pen.
Grêmio Template:Flagicon	1:4	Template:Flagicon Cruzeiro	1–3	2–2	—	—	—
Nacional Template:Flagicon	0:6	Template:Flagicon Estudiantes (LP)	0–1	1–2	—	—	—

Finals

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Copa Libertadores de América 2009 Champion
Template:Flagicon Estudiantes (LP) Fourth Title

Top goalscorers

Pos	Player	Team	Goals
1	Template:Flagicon Mauro Boselli	Template:Flagicon Estudiantes (LP)	8
2	Template:Flagicon Jorge Núñez	Template:Flagicon Nacional	7
	Template:Flagicon Rodrigo Teixeira	Template:Flagicon Deportivo Cuenca	7
4	Template:Flagicon Keirrison	Template:Flagicon Palmeiras	6
	Template:Flagicon Souza	Template:Flagicon Grêmio	6
6	Template:Flagicon Borges	Template:Flagicon São Paulo	5
	Template:Flagicon Darío Figueroa	Template:Flagicon Caracas	5
	Template:Flagicon Rodrigo Palacio	Template:Flagicon Boca Juniors	5
	Template:Flagicon Martín Palermo	Template:Flagicon Boca Juniors	5
	Template:Flagicon Wellington Paulista	Template:Flagicon Cruzeiro	5

Footnotes

A. ^ Guadalajara and San Luis withdrew from the tournament following concerns raised by both Nacional and São Paulo over the H1N1 flu outbreak in Mexico, South American teams refused to travel to Mexico to play the match; no agreement was reached on alternative venues for the first-leg matches, both scheduled to be played in Mexico. Both Guadalajara and San Luis were later secured a place in the round of 16 for the 2010 Copa Libertadores.

References

General

External links

• CONMEBOL's official website Template:In lang