Copa Libertadores Group Stage Review
The 2024 edition of the Copa Libertadores is the richest in history with over $225 million of prize money up for grabs. That includes the eventual winners taking home $23 million, which is more than the $20 million Real Madrid earned for winning the UEFA Champions League.
Brazilian clubs have dominated the competition in recent years, with Fluminense winning its first Libertadores in 2023 after Flamengo in 2019 and 2022 and Palmeiras in 2020 and 2021. But can anybody release that Brazilian stranglehold? Below, we’ll explore how the group stages played out.
Copa Libertadores Group A
Holders Fluminense took their place in Group A alongside Peru’s Alianza Lima, Chile’s Colo-Colo and Paraguay’s Cerro Porteño.
Matchday one saw Colo-Colo lead the way as they defeated Cerro Porteño 1–0 and Alianza drew 1–1 at home to Fluminense. But that didn’t last too long as Fluminense defeated 10-man Colo-Colo 2–1 next time out, with Germán Cano scoring the winner, while Cerro Porteño beat Alianza 1–0 in Paraguay.
Two 0–0s followed in matchday three but Fluminense won their remaining three games — 1–0 at Colo-Colo, 2–1 at home to 10-man Cerro Porteño and 3–2 at home to Alianza Lima — to top the group. Behind them, it was very tight as Colo-Colo, again reduced to 10 men, earned 1–1s at Alianza and Cerro Porteño. That left Colo-Colo and Cerro Porteño tied not only on 6 points and -1 on goal difference but also 4 goals scored and 5 conceded. So Colo-Colo qualified by virtue of drawing 1–1 at Cerro Porteño compared to the 0–0 they achieved at home.
Copa Libertadores Group B
Group B saw São Paulo matched up with Argentinian side Talleres, Ecuador’s Barcelona SC and Chile’s Cobresal, who were playing in the competition for the third time in club history and had never won a Libertadores match.
Matchday one saw Talleres defeat São Paulo 2–1 in Argentina and Cobresal draw 1–1 at home to Barcelona. São Paulo then defeated Cobresal 2–0 and Barcelona held Talleres 2–2. But the favourites took control as Talleres and São Paulo won 2–0 at Cobresal and Barcelona respectively then Talleres beat Barcelona 3–1 at home and São Paulo won 3–1 at Cobresal.
Talleres moved top with a 1–0 win at home to Cobresal while São Paulo were held to a 0–0 at home by Barcelona. On the final day, São Paulo beat 10-man Talleres 2–0 to win the group, with Lucas Moura scoring the opener from the penalty spot, and Cobresal’s woes continued with a 2–1 loss in Ecuador.
Copa Libertadores Group C
Group C was arguably the most interesting with Brazil’s Grêmio drawn alongside Argentina’s Estudiantes de la Plata, surprise Chilean champions Huachipato and Bolivian side The Strongest.
Going to Bolivia is tough, given The Strongest’s Estadio Hernando Siles is one of the highest stadiums in the world at 3,637 metres (11,932 feet) above sea level. And so it proved, as The Strongest shocked Grêmio with a 2–0 win in Bolivia in week one, while Huachipato drew 1–1 at home to Estudiantes. The shocks continued as Huachipato went to Brazil and won 2–0 while Estudiantes edged out 10-man The Strongest 2–1. Grêmio got on the board with a 1–0 win at Estudiantes and Huachipato claimed top spot at the halfway point as they drew 0–0 at home to The Strongest.
Home advantage continued as The Strongest beat Estudiantes 1–0 and thrashed Huachipato 4–0. However, two Grêmio games were delayed, which left The Strongest sitting top on 10 points having completed their six games, leading Huachipato by 2 points and Grêmio by 4 points. Grêmio qualified and closed the gap on The Strongest as a Diego Costa (yep, that Diego Costa) goal earned a fortuitous 1–0 win at Huachipato. Franco Cristaldo’s goal seemed to be winning the group until Estudiantes nicked a point through Mauro Méndez after 83 minutes. And what a result that is for the Bolivian side!
Copa Libertadores Group D
Another interesting group saw Ecuador’s Copa Sudamerican champions Liga de Quito (LDU Quito) alongside Botafogo, who bottled the Brazilian title last season, Colombia’s Junior FC and Peru’s Universitario.
The group began with a big upset as Junior went to Botafogo and won 3–1 while Universitario defeated LDU Quito 2–1. Junior then drew 1–1 at home to Universitario and another upset saw LDU Quito beat Botafogo 1–0 in Ecuador (hello again, altitude). Junior drew 1–1 again at home to LDU Quito and Botafogo beat Universitario 3–1.
Junior made it three consecutive 1–1s at Universitario while Botafogo recorded back-to-back wins by downing LDU Quito 2–1. The penultimate matchday saw Junior win 1–0 in Ecuador and Botafogo won 1–0 at Universitario to secure both sides qualification. The final day saw LDU Quito claim 3rd place by beating Universitario 2–0 at home while the top two faced off in a tame 0–0 that boasted one shot on target.
Copa Libertadores Group E
The big favourites for Group E were 3-time winners Flamengo, alongside Bolivia’s Bolívar, Colombia’s Millonarios and Chile’s Palestino.
The group began with a slight surprise as Millonarios held Flamengo 1–1 and Bolívar ran riot 4–0 at Palestino. Flamengo then defeated Palestino 2–0 and a feisty game saw Bolívar beat Millonarios 3–2 despite having a man sent off after 25 minutes. Bolívar’s impressive start continued as they beat Flamengo 2–1 at home with Bruno Sávio’s strike deciding the game on 62 minutes, while Palestino defeated Millonarios 3–1.
The shocks kept coming as Palestino beat Flamengo 1–0 with a 63rd-minute goal by Fernando Cornejo and Millonarios drew 1–1 at home to Bolívar. The penultimate matchday saw Millonarios draw 1–1 again with Palestino, which secured 3rd place for the Chileans, but Flamengo responded by thumping Bolívar 4–0. Bolívar wrapped up a surprise group win by defeating Palestino 3–1 and Flamengo qualified with them by beating Millonarios 3–0.
Copa Libertadores Group F
3-time winners Palmeiras were huge favourites for Group F, in which they faced Ecuador’s Independiente de Valle, Uruguay’s Liverpool F.C. and Argentina’s San Lorenzo.
On matchday one, San Lorenzo held Palmeiras 1–1 in Argentina and Liverpool drew 1–1 with IdV in Montevideo. Palmeiras beat Liverpool 3–1 at home while IdV beat San Lorenzo 2–0. San Lorenzo’s struggles continued with a 1–0 loss at Liverpool while Palmeiras took control with a 3–2 win at IdV decided by Luis Guilherme’s 95th-minute winner.
Palmeiras strolled on with a 5–0 win in Uruguay, with Endrick leading a late 3-goal flurry, and qualified by beating IdV 2–1. Elsewhere, San Lorenzo beat IdV 2–0 and Liverpool 3–2 with an 87th-minute Gáston Campi winner. On the final day, San Lorenzo earned a 0–0 at Palmeiras and IdV beat Liverpool 2–1 to secure 3rd place.
Copa Libertadores Group G
Atlético Mineiro were the favourites for Group G alongside Venezuela’s Caracas FC, Uruguay’s Peñarol and Argentina’s Rosario Central.
Atlético began well by winning 4–1 in Venezuela while Rosario won 1–0 at home to Peñarol. Caracas’ chastening start continued by being thumped 5–0 at Peñarol led by a Maximiliano Silvera hat trick and Atlético beat Rosario 2–1. Caracas stopped the rot by drawing 1–1 at home to Rosario while Atlético edged Peñarol 3–2 with a Gustavo Scarpa brace.
Atlético wrapped up the group with a fourth win out of four 1–0 at Rosario and Peñarol won 1–0 at Caracas. The Uruguayans then made a huge statement with a 2–0 home win over Atlético with Silvera scoring again and Rosario hammered Caracas 4–1. That teed up a decider in Uruguay and Peñarol secured qualification by defeating Rosario 2–1, while Atlético thumped 10-man Caracas, who conceded a competition-high 19 goals, 4–0.
Copa Libertadores Group H
Four-time winners River Plate were big favourites for Group H alongside Venezuala’s Deportivo Táchira, Paraguay’s Libertad and Uruguay’s Nacional.
The tale of the group was set out in matchday one as River began with a 2–0 win in Venezuela while Nacional beat Libertad 2–0. River then beat Nacional 2–0 and Libertad won 3–0 at home to Táchira. Nacional got back on track by beating Táchira 2–1 and River made it 3 from 3 with the same scoreline at Libertad decided by Franco Mastantuono’s 80th-minute winner.
River dropped points with a 2–2 at Nacional, who fought back from 2–0 down as Gonzalo Carneiro scored in the 78th and 79th minutes, while Libertad drew 1–1 at Táchira. River wrapped up the group by beating Libertad 2–0 at home and Nacional joined them in qualification by beating 10-man Táchira 1–0. River finished with a 2–0 win at home to Táchira, who again had a player sent off, and Nacional lost 2–1 at Libertad, for whom 41-year-old FM legend Óscar Cardozo opened the scoring.
Looking Ahead To Copa Libertadores Knockouts
The qualifiers for the Copa Libertadores last 16 are Atlético Mineiro, Bolívar, Botafogo, Colo-Colo, Flamengo, Fluminense, Grêmio, Junior FC, Nacional, Palmeiras, Peñarol, River Plate, San Lorenzo, São Paulo, Talleres and The Strongest. That’s seven Brazilian teams, three from Argentina, two from Uruguay and Bolivia, and one from Chile and Colombia. The round of 16 games take place over the weeks of 13–15 August and 20–22 August.
The quarter finals then take place in the weeks of 17–19 September and 24–26 September before the semi finals in the weeks of 22–24 October and 29–31 October. The Copa Libertadores Final is due to be played in Buenos Aires on 30 November.
The third-place sides Barcelona SC, Cerro Porteño, Huachipato, Independiente del Valle, Libertad, Liga de Quito, Palestino and Rosario Central drop into the Copa Sudamericana knockouts. And you can read about the Copa Sudamericana group stages here.
We’ll be back with more Copa Libertadores updates when the knockout stages progress in a few months.
