Template:Infobox International Football Competition

The 2008 Copa Libertadores was the 49th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. 38 teams qualified for this tournament and 6 of them were knocked-out in the First Stage. Due to the competition's sponsor Santander Bank, it will be known as the Copa Santander Libertadores for the next five years.^[1][2]

Qualified teams

38 teams qualified for this edition, with 26 teams directly qualifying to the group stage (Second Stage) and 12 having to play in the First Stage. Seven countries sent their Apertura champions and Clausura champions for their first two berths. The remaining berth, or berths in Argentina's case, went to the best-placed non-champions shown by an aggregate table. Brazil's league uses a European-style format and thus does not have an Apertura and Clausura tournament. Therefore, they sent their cup champion and the best four of the Brazilian Serie A. Ecuador sent the top three finishers of their national tournament as determined by the Liguilla Final. Uruguay had a Mini-League (Liguilla) to determine who qualified, and Mexico uses the InterLiga to determine two of its qualifiers. The last qualified team in each country played in the First Stage; the defending champion's country had two teams in the first stage because the defending champion automatically qualified.

Qualifying Methods

Round and draw dates

The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw.

Tie breakers

Teams at every stage of the tournament will be awarded points depending on the result of a game: 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss. The following criteria will be used for breaking ties on points:

1. Goal difference
2. Goals scored
3. Away goals
4. Draw

For the First Stage, Round of 16, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals, the fourth criteria is replaced by a penalty shoot-out if necessary. The Finals have their own set of criteria; see the finals section for more details.

First stage

The teams that have qualified for the First Stage. A total of 12 teams played in a two-legged tie. 6 teams advanced to the Second Stage. Team 1 played the first leg at home. The away goals rule was employed in this round. The First Stage was played between January 29 and February 12.^[3]

Second stage

A total of 26 teams qualified directly for this stage and 6 joined them from the First Stage, making a total of 32 teams. The top two of each group advanced the Round of 16. This stage was played between February 12 and April 23.^[3]

In results tables, the home team is listed in the left-hand column.

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

Group 6

Group 7

Group 8

Knockout stage

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

Qualified teams

The 16 qualified teams in the knockout round were seeded according to their results in the Second Stage. The top teams from each group are 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 are seeded 9-16, with the team with the most points as seed 9 and the team with the least as seed 16.

Bracket

Round of 16

The round of 16 was played between April 29, 30 and May 1, 6, 8.^[4] Template:TwoLegStart |- |style="text-align: right;"|Atletico Nacional Template:Country data COL |style="text-align: center;"|1–3 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data BRA Fluminense |style="text-align: center;"|1–2 |style="text-align: center;"|0–1

|- |style="text-align: right;"|América Template:Country data MEX |style="text-align: center;"|5–4 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data BRA Flamengo |style="text-align: center;"|2–4 |style="text-align: center;"|3–0

|- |style="text-align: right;"|San Lorenzo Template:Country data ARG |style="text-align: center;"|4–3 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data ARG River Plate |style="text-align: center;"|2–1 |style="text-align: center;"|2–2

|- |style="text-align: right;"|Lanús Template:Country data ARG |style="text-align: center;"|2–3 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data MEX Atlas |style="text-align: center;"|0–1 |style="text-align: center;"|2–2

|- |style="text-align: right;"|Boca Juniors Template:Country data ARG |style="text-align: center;"|4–2 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data BRA Cruzeiro |style="text-align: center;"|2–1 |style="text-align: center;"|2–1

|- |style="text-align: right;"|LDU Quito Template:Country data ECU |style="text-align: center;"|3–2 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data ARG Estudiantes |style="text-align: center;"|2–0 |style="text-align: center;"|1–2

|- |style="text-align: right;"|Santos Template:Country data BRA |style="text-align: center;"|4–0 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data COL Cúcuta Deportivo |style="text-align: center;"|2–0 |style="text-align: center;"|2–0

|- |style="text-align: right;"|Nacional Template:Country data URU |style="text-align: center;"|0–2 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data BRA São Paulo |style="text-align: center;"|0–0 |style="text-align: center;"|0–2

|}

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were played between May 14, 15 and May 21, 22.^[4] Template:TwoLegStart |- |style="text-align: right;"|São Paulo Template:Country data BRA |style="text-align: center;"|2–3 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data BRA Fluminense |style="text-align: center;"|1–0 |style="text-align: center;"|1–3

|- |style="text-align: right;"|América Template:Country data MEX |style="text-align: center;"|2–1 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data BRA Santos |style="text-align: center;"|2–0 |style="text-align: center;"|0–1

|- |style="text-align: right;"|San Lorenzo Template:Country data ARG |style="text-align: center;"|2–2
(3–5p) |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data ECU LDU Quito |style="text-align: center;"|1–1 |style="text-align: center;"|1–1

|- |style="text-align: right;"|Boca Juniors Template:Country data ARG |style="text-align: center;"|5–2 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data MEX Atlas |style="text-align: center;"|2–2 |style="text-align: center;"|3–0

|}

Semifinals

The semifinals were played between May 27, 28 and June 3, 4.^[4] Template:TwoLegStart |- |style="text-align: right;"|Boca Juniors Template:Country data ARG |style="text-align: center;"|3–5 |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data BRA Fluminense |style="text-align: center;"|2–2 |style="text-align: center;"|1–3

|- |style="text-align: right;"|América Template:Country data MEX |style="text-align: center;"|1–1 (a) |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data ECU LDU Quito |style="text-align: center;"|1–1 |style="text-align: center;"|0–0

|}

Finals

The first and second legs of the final were played on June 25 and July 2, respectively.^[4] Template:TwoLegStart |- |style="text-align: right;"|LDU Quito Template:Country data ECU |style="text-align: center;"|5–5 a.e.t. (3–1p) |style="text-align: left;"|Template:Country data BRA Fluminense |style="text-align: center;"|4–2 |style="text-align: center;"|1–3

|}

Top scorers

References

Template:Fb start

|-

Template:Fb inner start |- style="text-align:center;" |Champion
LDU Quito |- style="font-size:90%;text-align:center;" |Runner-up
Fluminense |- style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;" |Eliminated in Semi-finals
América • Boca Juniors |- style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;" |Eliminated in Quarter-finals
Atlas • San Lorenzo • Santos • São Paulo |- style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;" |Eliminated in Round of 16
Atlético Nacional • Cruzeiro • Cúcuta • Estudiantes • Flamengo • Lanús • Nacional • River Plate |- style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;" |Eliminated in Group Stage
Arsenal • Audax Italiano • Caracas • Cienciano • Colo-Colo • Coronel Bolognesi • Deportivo Cuenca • Danubio • Guadalajara • Libertad • Maracaibo • Real Potosí • San José • Sportivo Luqueño • Universidad Católica • Universidad San Martín |- style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;" |Eliminated in Preliminary Round
Boyacá Chicó • Cerro Porteño • La Paz • Mineros de Guayana • Montevideo Wanderers • Olmedo Template:Fb inner end Template:International Club Football |-

Template:Copa Libertadores Seasons Template:2007-08 in South American Football (CONMEBOL) Template:Fb end