Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana Quarter-Final Preview

South America’s premier football competitions reach the business end as Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana hit the quarter-final stage this week.

Who will succeed Botafogo as Champions of South America in November?

The knockout stages of South America’s two continental cup competitions heat up this week as the quarter-finals of Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana kick off. Below, we’ll cover off what’s happened in the competitions to date and the matches to look out for in the last eight stage.

Copa Libertadores Quarter Finalists

Brazil’s stranglehold on South America’s premier club competition has a mathematical chance of ending this season. Brazilian sides have won the last six finals and six of the last seven. However, the Copa Libertadores last eight is formed of four teams from Argentina, three Brazilian clubs and a sole representative from Ecuador.

Group Stage

The Copa Libertadores group stage very nearly served up a huge shock as Brazilian giants Flamengo only qualified on goal difference ahead of Argentinian Cup winners Central Córdoba. And they were pushed into 2nd place in Group C, also on goal difference, by surprise group winners LDU Quito of Ecuador.

The big surprise of the groups was Argentina’s Talleres finishing bottom of Group D. In their place, Paraguay’s Libertad finished 2nd to São Paulo, despite only scoring 6 goals and letting in just 5. Colombia’s Atlético Nacional pulled off a surprise as a 1–0 win over Brazil’s Bahia ensured the Medellín side finished 2nd to Group F winners Internacional of Brazil.

Peru’s Universitario made it through to the last 16 on goal difference in a competitive Group B ahead of Ecuadorian sides Independiente del Valle and Barcelona SC, behind Argentina’s River Plate. Cerro Porteño ensured there would be two Paraguayan sides in the last 16 as they saw off Bolivian side Bolívar, despite finishing the group with a -4 goal difference courtesy of a 4–0 defeat in Bolivia.

Elsewhere, Argentina’s Estudiantes de la Plata and holders Botafogo qualified from Group A, Argentina’s Racing Club and Brazil’s Fortaleza qualified from Group E, and Argentina’s Vélez Sarsfield and Uruguay’s Peñarol eased through Group G.

Round of 16

LDU Quito, who play at altitude in the Ecuadorian capital, continued their surprise run by shocking last season’s South American champions Botafogo 2–1 on aggregate, thanks to a 2–0 second leg win in Quito. There were very nearly more upsets as Atlético Nacional and Libertad took São Paulo and River Plate to penalty shootouts, only for the latter duo to sneak through 4–3 and 3–1 respectively. While Estudiantes only narrowly defeated Cerro Porteño 1–0 on aggregate.

Peñarol won their home leg 1–0 against Racing Club, only for the Argentinian to win the second leg 3–1 to advance. Palmeiras eased past Universitario 4–0, Vélez impressed in a 2–0 success over Fortaleza, Flamengo dominated Internacional 3–0.

Quarter Final Lineup

The big ticket clash of the quarter finals sees four-time winners River Plate face off against 2020 and 2021 winners Palmeiras. Pushing that close will be all-Buenos Aires clash between 1994 winners Vélez and 1967 winners and last year’s Copa Sudamericana champions Racing Club.

Surprise factor LDU Quito, who won the competition back in 2008, take on three-time winners São Paulo, who last won it back in 2005, and three-time winners Flamengo, who won the competition in 2019 and 2022, face four-time winners Estudiantes, who last won it back in 2009.

Copa Sudamericana Quarter Finalists

South America’s second continental cup tends to throw up more surprises, as proven by three Ecuadorian sides winning it in the last six years. In fact, no Brazilian side has won the competition since Athletico Paranaense in 2018. This season’s quarter finals have an exciting lineup as two Brazilian clubs are joined by one from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Group Stage

The Copa Sudamericana group stage threw up some significant shocks, led by three Brazilian sides suffering the ignominy of an early exit. Corinthians were knocked out of Group C by Argentina’s Huracán and Colombia’s América de Cali. Last season’s runners-up Cruzeiro finished 3rd to Ecuador’s Mushuc Runa, who were statistically the best team in qualifying as they won 5 and drew the other, and Chile’s Palestino. Vitória was knocked out by Group B winners Universidad Católica of Ecuador and Uruguay’s Cerro Largo.

However, four Brazilian sides did make it through the groups. Fluminense topped Group F ahead of Colombia’s Once Caldas, Grêmio and Argentina’s Godoy Cruz finished level on 12 points in Group D, Vasco da Gama came 2nd to Argentina’s Lanús in Group G, and last season’s Copa Libertadores runners-up Atlético Mineiro came 2nd to surprise package Cienciano of Peru.

Elsewhere, Paraguay’s Guarani advanced by 1 point ahead of Uruguay’s Boston River and Bolivia’s Nacional Potosí behind Group A winners Independiente of Argentina — despite a 5–0 defeat in Uruguay.

Knockout Playoffs and Round of 16

Next up was the knockout playoff round, in which the 2nd place group finishers took on 3rd-place finishers from the Copa Libertadores groups. The surprises continued to flow as Peru’s Alianza Lima defeated Grêmio 3–1 on aggregate, América de Cali beat Bahia 2–0, and Independiente del Valle thumped Vasco da Gama 5–1. While Atlético Mineiro only snuck past Colombia’s Atlético Bucaramanga 3–1 on penalties.

Elsewhere, Bolivia’s Bahia demolished Palestino 6–0 with 3–0 wins in both legs and Once Caldas dominated Bolivia’s San Antonio Bulo Bulo 7–0. Centrál Cordoba eased past Cerro Largo 3–0 and Universidad de Chile beat Guarani 6–2 thanks to a 5–0 home first leg victory.

Moving into the round of 16, Once Caldas pulled off the big shock as a 3–1 second leg win defeated Huracán 4–1 on aggregate. Universidad de Chile advanced after chaotic scenes during their clash at Independiente saw the Argentinian side disqualified from the competition.

Alianza Lima eased past Universidad Católica 4–1, Fluminense beat América de Cali by the same scoreline, and Bolívar dominated Cienciano 4–0. Lanús won an all-Argentinian clash with Central Córdoba on penalties, but Mushuc Runa’s run ended with a 4–2 penalty shootout defeat to countrymen Independiente de Valle.

Quarter Final Lineup

The big game of the quarter finals is probably 2023 Copa Libertadores winners Fluminense taking on 2013 Sudamericana winners and 2022 runners-up Lanús. The other Brazilian representatives take on Bolívar, with the first leg taking place in Bolivia, which, as Brazil’s recent World Cup qualifying defeat attests, can be tricky.

Two tasty clashes see Alianza Lima take on Universidad de Chile, while Independiente del Valle — aiming to become the first club to win three Copa Sudamericana titles — take on Once Caldas.

Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana Knockouts

The quarter finals of both competitions take place this week and next, with the semi finals on 21–23 October and 28–30 October. The Copa Libertadores Final takes place on 29 November at Estadio Monumental in Lima, Peru, and the Copa Sudamericana Final takes place on 22 November in Asunción, Paraguay.

We’ll have our eye on the results of this week’s Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana quarter finals, which begin with Vélez hosting Racing at 11pm tonight (UK time). And we’ll be sure to follow up this article with quarter final, semi final and final reviews over the next few months.