1996 Copa Libertadores final stages explained

The 1996 Copa Libertadores final stages were played from 30 April to 26 June 1996 and consisted of the round of 16 (or second stage), quarter-finals, semi-finals and the finals. A total of 16 teams competed in the final stages to decide the champions of the 1996 Copa Libertadores.

Qualified teams

The winners, runners-up and third placed teams of each of the five groups in the group stage advanced to the round of 16, alongside defending champions Grêmio, who received a direct bye to this round.

Group	width=200	Winners	width=200	Runners-up	width=200	Third-placed teams
1	Barcelona	Cerro Porteño	ESPOLI
2	Peñarol	Defensor Sporting	Sporting Cristal
3	América de Cali	Junior	San José
4	Corinthians	Universidad de Chile	Botafogo
5	River Plate	San Lorenzo	Minervén

Seeding

In the final stages, the teams were seeded according to the pre-established numbering they received according to the final position they occupied in their respective group. Numbers 1, 5, 9, 13 and 17 correspond to each group winners; numbers 2, 6, 10, 14 and 18 to runners-up; and 3, 7, 11, 15 and 19 to third placed teams.

Format

In the final stages, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament with the following rules:

In the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on points after the two legs the goal difference would be applied. if still tied, extra time was not played, and a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winners.
In the event that the two Brazilian teams from the group stage qualify for the round of 16, the lower-seeded team between these two would face defending champion Grêmio in order to prevent three Brazilian teams from reaching the quarter-finals.
If two teams from the same national association reached the quarter-finals, they had to face each other, and those teams that had to face them formed another tie under the same conditions.
If one or more games are settled in the quarter-finals between clubs belonging to the same national association, the Match S1 would correspond to the pair including the lower-seeding team. The following matches would be determined according to the same criteria.
In all cases in which the order of legs could not be determined, the lower-seeding team had to host the first leg. Defending champions Vélez Sarsfield had to host the second leg in the round of 16.

The above criteria were established to ensure that the four semifinalists would be of different nationalities (Regulations Section III, Article 3).

Bracket

The original bracket for the final stages was determined as follows:^[1]

Round	Matchups
Round of 16 (Second stage)	(Home team in the first leg are marked with) Match A: Team seeded 1 vs. Team seeded 11 Match B: Team seeded 5 vs. Team seeded 15 Match C: Team seeded 9 vs. Team seeded 19 Match D: Team seeded 13 vs. Team seeded 3 Match E: Team seeded 17 vs. Team seeded 7 Match F: Team seeded 2 vs. Team seeded 10 Match G: Team seeded 14 vs. Team seeded 6
Quarter-finals	(Home team in the first leg are marked with) Match S1: Winner A vs. Winner B Match S2: Winner C vs. Winner D Match S3: Winner E vs. Winner F Match S4: Winner G vs. Winner H
Semi-finals	(Home team in the first leg are marked with) Match F1: Winner S1 vs. Winner S2 Match F2: Winner S3 vs. Winner S4
Finals	(Home team in the first leg are marked with) Winner F1 vs. Winner F2

Per regulations, the original bracket had the following modifications:

In the round of 16, Botafogo and San Lorenzo swapped positions. Botafogo had to faced Grêmio in order to avoid three possible Brazilians teams in the quarter-finals.
In quarter-finals, the two Colombian teams, the two Brazilians teams and the two Argentine teams had to face each other, and the order of the ties was rearranged according to the regulations.

Round of 16

The first legs were played on 30 April, 1 and 2 May. and the second legs were played on 8 and 9 May 1996.

Match A

----Tied 2–2 on aggregate, Barcelona won on penalties and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S4).

Match B

----San Lorenzo won 8–3 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S3).

Match C

----América de Cali won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S1).

Match D

----Corinthians won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S2).

Match E

----River Plate won 6–4 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S3).

Match F

----Junior won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S1).

Match G

----Tied 4–4 on aggregate, Universidad de Chile won on penalties and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S4).

Match H

----Grêmio won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S2).

Quarter-finals

The first legs were played on 15 May, and the second legs were played on 22 and 24 May 1996.

Match S1

----América de Cali won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals (Match F1).

Match S2

----Grêmio won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals (Match F1).

Match S3

----River Plate won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals (Match F2).

Match S4

----Universidad de Chile won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals (Match F2).

Semi-finals

The first legs were played on 9 August, and the second legs were played on 16 August 1995.

Match F1

----América de Cali won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.

Match F2

----River Plate won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.

Finals

See main article: 1996 Copa Libertadores Finals. The first leg was played on 19 June, and the second leg was played on 26 June 1996.

----River Plate won 2–1 on aggregate.

External links

Copa Libertadores de América 1996, at RSSSF.org

Notes and References

Web site: Revista CONMEBOL N° 43. CONMEBOL. 21 March 2023. es.