First stage E1 - Delfín vs. Nacional (PAR) 22 Jan 30 Jan E2 - Deportivo La Guaira vs. El Garcilaso 23 Jan 29 Jan E3 - BOLIVIA 4 vs Defensor Sporting 23 Jan 30 Jan Second stage C1 - Danubio vs Atlético Mineiro 5 Feb 12 Feb C2 - Melgar vs Universidad de Chile 5 Feb 13 Feb C3 - BOLIVIA 3 vs Libertad 5 Feb 13 Feb C4 - Palestino vs Independiente Medellín 6 Feb 12 Feb C5 - Talleres vs São Paulo 6 Feb 13 Feb C6 - E2 vs Atlético Nacional 7 Feb 14 Feb C7 - E1 vs Caracas 6 Feb 13 Feb C8 - E3 vs Barcelona 6 Feb 12 Feb Third stage G1 - C1 v C8 19–21 Feb 26–28 Feb G2 - C2 v C7 19–21 Feb 26–28 Feb G3 - C3 v C6 19–21 Feb 26–28 Feb G4 - C4 v C5 19–21 Feb 26–28 Feb Group stage Grupo A: River Plate, Internacional, Alianza Lima, G4 Grupo B: Cruzeiro, Emelec, Huracán, Deportivo Lara Grupo C: Olimpia, Sporting Cristal, Godoy Cruz, Universidad de Concepción Grupo D: Peñarol, Flamengo, Liga de Quito, BOLIVIA 2 Grupo E: Nacional, Cerro Porteño, Zamora, G1 Grupo F: Palmeiras, San Lorenzo, Junior, G2 Grupo G: Boca Juniors,Atlético Paranaense, Jorge Wilsermann, Deportivo Tolima Grupo H: Grêmio, Universidad Católica, Rosario Central, G3 Miscellaneous - 12 champions in group stage, and 3 champions in 2nd stage; if Atlético Mineiro, São Paulo, and Atlético Nacional, all reach group stage: 15 champions out of 32 teams, with Groups A and D 3 champions each. Groups A, D, E, and F will all have at least 2 champions regardless of second stage results. - 8 Brazilians, 7 Argentines, and 4 from every other nation. - 37 previous Copa Libertadores titles represented by the 15 champions from the qualifying rounds to the group stage out of 59. - 2019 will be the first time CONMEBOL will have a single-match final, to be held in Santiago.
Starting this year no more flags or flares in stadiums. In 2021 you have to buy ticket via internet and fans will be required to be seated. At least that's the plan.
Peruvians already off to a bad start, with Real Garcilaso losing to La Guiara. La Guiara have pulled off some shocks before, but they were absolutely terrible the other day and Garcilaso should be ashamed of the result. You could see the technical superiority the other day. Bad decision making and wastefulness cost them. Thankfully it's only 1-0 and I hope Garcilaso can make use of the altitude to turn it around.
My annual assesment of argentine teams: Boca Juniors: went out shopping hard in the summer, changed their loser coach for a better one, shipped out some players that weren't doing them much good. They have started well in the league and just have an insane depth. IMO biggest candidate to win the cup this year. River Plate: lost pity Martínez ( a BIG loss), other than that it's pretty much the same squad. Bought a couple of good players but nothing that extraordinary. They could get complacent this year and struggle in a tough group but if they can get through they will be a threat to everyone in the knockouts. San Lorenzo: trash. Nobody has any clue of how they qualified to this and nobody has any clue how they can get out of the hole they are now. Notably lacking talent in attack, don't see them advancing from group stage. Huracan: lost their coach to Boca. They have okay players but no big talent. Think they can take second place behind Cruzeiro in that group, but that's it. Godoy Cruz: lost their good coach as well. They rebuild every 6 months signing players with very low fees. No clue how they can do here but their group without brazilians looks accesible. Rosario Central: more trash. Qualified by winning a flukey edition of Copa Argentina. They have Bauza as coach playing ugly 90s football with aged players and total lack of creativity. They also landed a tough group. Won't advance to R16. Talleres: an actual nice balanced team with good attacking players. Too bad they have to get through Sao Paulo and possibly DIM just to make the group (which is also a hard one). Think they can upset but wouldn't bet on it.
I am watching this tournament for the first time on bein sports. tonight I watched Melgar vs Universidad de Chile. I know nothing about this tournament. What should I expect and is there any info about this years tournament in english that you would recommend? Thanks.
It's true that Sao Paulo has been a hot mess for a while, but that shouldn't discredit Talleres' great work over the last years. They have a pretty solid team with a nice mixture of veterans with solid experience and talented youngsters. I think they'll end up being a dark horse in this Copa for those who aren't too familiar with them. If they manage to make it to the group stage, I'd expect them to make a nice run in the competition and maybe even surprise many by eliminating Internacional or River early on (they'd share Group A, along with Alianza Lima).
Following in the controversial footsteps of 2018, CONMEBOL has already penalized a club for fielding a player irregularly. Sebastián Pérez was on the pitch for Barcelona's visit to Defensor Sporting last week (a 1-2 win for the Ecuadorian club), but Defensor contacted CONMEBOL 1 day after the match. Pérez had been included in Barcelona's Libertadores roster after the required time period implemented by CONMEBOL. The disciplinary tribunal yesterday awarded the 3 points of last week's match to the Uruguayan team, thus turning the score from a 1-2 to a 3-0. Pérez had been part of Atlético Nacional's championship team in 2016 and also played for Boca Juniors, where he did not succeed, in part due to injuries.
Alianza Lima will get at around 4 points this year. They have built one hell of a team and got Russo as their manager. I think some people will be very surprised. They just have a tough group and that will be their undoing. Don't have much faith in the other 2 Peruvian teams, but maybe Cristal will scrape it as they have a manageable group. Melgar will get 4 points at most. I think they'll beat San Lorenzo but that's it.
I find it funny how Russo has been constantly complaining publicly about only getting 3 days rest between league play and the Libertadores matches, when that's historically the norm for every participating team. The self-victimization is pathetic and it's sad to hear excuses before game play has even commenced. Melgar is screwed with Palmeiras and Junior in their group (although to their advantage, this is a very poor San Lorenzo side). They best they can aspire for is a good 3rd place finish that would get them into the Sudamericana, IMO. I am not familiar with Sporting Cristal's present form, but they got the easiest group in the cup, in my opinion. Godoy Cruz has been hot trash this year, getting smacked left and right every weekend: 1 win, 6 losses so far in 2019, including 4-0 and 3-0 defeats. They're no threat. If the Peruvians manage to get some decent results vs Concepcion, I'd say they have a good chance of advancing.
Cristal have had a shocking pre-season. Brought in a trash manager like Alexis Mendoza, who resigned a week before the season started. Him leaving was a blessing in disguise, but you've got to think that they shouldn't have wasted time with him. I like Claudio Vivas but I'm not sure if he's up to the task of the Libertadores. That said, Cristal have looked only slightly worse to last season, so there is every chance they will scrape it.
I respect Russo a lot but getting 4 points in that group would be an accomplishment. We shall see. Melgar is screwed for sure against Palmeiras and Junior. I can't wait to see if Angulo gets some playing time for Scolari. He and Borja up front can be really deadly as the months go by for Palmeiras.
Alianza have built a team around talented young footballers like Quevedo, and players that helped Peru get to the World Cup. Gallese and Cartagena. They reinforced with the best full backs in the league and Luis Ramirez (ex international) is looking a lot better than the past 2 seasons. Honestly if they don't get 4 points, it is a failure. They built this team to do well in the Libertadores. The Peruvian league is talented, for years it's been plagued with average managers that didn't get the best out of them.
River Plate is still River Plate. I like what I have seen from Palestino against both DIM and Talleres. Have not seen much of Inter but Brazilian teams usually don't lose to Peruvians. That said, I do respect Russo a lot. I am hoping he gets 4 points at least. I just doubt it.
I think you are forgetting that this is the Libertadores and not the champions league. River Plate are better than Alianza in every way but I'd say this current team is just as capable of beating them as River are. I may be clutching at straws with this next statement but let's not forget Alianza were underdogs against the current champions in 2010 Estudiantes and beat them 4-1 at home. Honestly I'd be disappointed if they didn't get 4 or 5 points this year.