| Tourney Name: | Copa Libertadores de América |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Other Titles: | 2012 Copa Libertadores da América |
| Dates: | January 24 – July 4, 2012 |
| Num Teams: | 38 |
| Associations: | 11 |
| Count: | 1 |
| Second Other: |  Boca Juniors |
| Matches: | 138 |
| Goals: | 364 |
| Top Scorer: | Matías Alustiza Neymar |
| Player: |  Emerson[1] |
| Prevseason: | 2011 |
| Nextseason: | 2013 |
The 2012 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2012 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. It ran from January 24 to July 4, 2012. Santos were the defending champions, but lost to Corinthians in the semifinals.
São Paulo-based club Corinthians won the competition, with an undefeated campaign, after defeating six-time champion Boca Juniors in the finals. It is Corinthians' first Libertadores title. By winning the competition, Corinthians won the right to play in the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2013 Recopa Sudamericana.
| width=130 | Association | width=210 | Team | Entry stage | Qualification method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Second Stage | 2011 Clausura champion | |||
| 2011 Apertura champion | |||||
| 2011 tournaments aggregate table best non-champion | |||||
| 2011 tournaments aggregate table 2nd best non-champion | |||||
| First Stage | 2011 Copa Sudamericana best performing team not yet qualified | ||||
 Bolivia | Second Stage | 2011 Adecuación champion | |||
| 2011 Apertura champion | |||||
| First Stage | 2011 Adecuación runner-up | ||||
| Brazil | Second Stage | 2011 Copa Libertadores de América champion | |||
| 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion | |||||
| 2011 Copa do Brasil champion | |||||
| 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd place | |||||
| First Stage | 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th place | ||||
| 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 5th place | |||||
| Chile | Second Stage | 2011 Apertura champion and 2011 Copa Sudamericana champion | |||
| 2011 Primera División aggregate table best non-champion | |||||
| First Stage | 2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best non-champion | ||||
 Colombia | Second Stage | 2011 Apertura champion | |||
| 2011 Finalización champion | |||||
| First Stage | 2011 Primera A aggregate table best non-champion | ||||
 Ecuador | Second Stage | 2011 Serie A champion | |||
| 2011 Serie A runner-up | |||||
| First Stage | 2011 Serie A 3rd place | ||||
| Paraguay | Second Stage | 2011 Primera División aggregate table best champion | |||
| 2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best champion | |||||
| First Stage | 2011 Primera División aggregate table best non-champion | ||||
 Peru | Second Stage | 2011 Descentralizado champion | |||
| 2011 Descentralizado runner-up | |||||
| First Stage | 2011 Descentralizado 3rd place | ||||
| Uruguay | Second Stage | 2010–11 Primera División champion | |||
| 2010–11 Primera División runner-up | |||||
| First Stage | 2010–11 Primera División aggregate table 3rd place | ||||
 Venezuela | Second Stage | 2010–11 Primera División champion | |||
| 2010–11 Primera División runner-up | |||||
| First Stage | 2010–11 Primera División aggregate table best non-finalist | ||||
 Mexico(CONCACAF) 3 invitees | Second Stage | 2011 Apertura classification phase best eligible team | |||
| 2011 Apertura classification phase 2nd best eligible team | |||||
| First Stage | 2011 Apertura classification phase 3rd best eligible team |
The draw of the tournament was held on November 25, 2011, at 15:00, in Luque, Paraguay.[2] [3]
For the first stage, each of the six ties contains one team from each pot. For the second stage, each of the eight groups contains one team from each pot. Teams from the same association in Pots 1 and 3 cannot be placed in the same group. However, a first stage winner may be drawn with a team from the same association in the second stage.
As per agreement when deciding the seeding for the 2011 Copa Libertadores, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay all had their berth 1 teams be seeded teams for 2012 instead of the berth 1 teams from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela for 2011.
| First Stage | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| width=190 | Pot 1 | width=190 | Pot 2 |
| Second Stage | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=190 | Pot 1 | width=190 | Pot 2 | width=190 | Pot 3 | width=190 | Pot 4 |
† Teams had not yet fully qualified to the specific berth when the draw took place.[3]
All dates listed are Wednesdays, but matches may be played on the day before (Tuesdays) and after (Thursdays) as well.[3]
| Stage | First leg | Second leg | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Stage | January 25 | February 1 | |
| Second Stage | February 8, 15, 22 March 7, 14, 21, 28 April 4, 11, 18 | ||
| Round of 16 | April 25 May 2 | May 9 | |
| Quarterfinals | May 16 | May 23 | |
| Semifinals | June 13 | June 20 | |
| Finals | June 27 | July 4 | |
See main article: article and 2012 Copa Libertadores first stage. The First Stage, played in home-and-away two-legged format, began on January 24 and ended on February 2.[4] Team 1 played the second leg at home.
|}
See main article: article and 2012 Copa Libertadores second stage. The second stage, played in home-and-away round-robin format, began on February 7 and ended on April 19.[4] The top two teams from each group advanced to the round of 16.
See main article: article and 2012 Copa Libertadores knockout stages. The last four stages of the tournament (round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals), played in home-and-away two-legged format, form a single-elimination tournament, contested by the sixteen teams which advance from the Second Stage.[5]
The 16 qualified teams are seeded in the knockout stages according to their results in the second stage, with the group winners seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up seeded 9–16.[5] The teams were ranked by: 1. Points (Pts); 2. Goal difference (GD); 3. Goals scored (GF); 4. Away goals (AG); 5. Drawing of lots.
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The Round of 16 began on April 25 and ended on May 10.[6] Team 1 played the second leg at home.
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The Quarter-finals began on May 16 and ended on May 24.[7] Team 1 played the second leg at home.
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The Semifinals began on June 13 and ended on June 21.[8] Team 1 played the second leg at home.
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See main article: article and 2012 Copa Libertadores Finals. The Finals were played over two legs, with the higher-seeded team playing the second leg at home. If the teams were tied on points and goal difference at the end of regulation in the second leg, the away goals rule would not be applied and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the title would be decided by penalty shootout.[5]
----Corinthians won on points 3–1.
| width=28 | Pos ! | Player | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center rowspan=2 | 1 | 8 | |||
| 8 | |||||
| 3 | 7 | ||||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 4 | 6 | |||
| 6 | |||||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 6 | align=center | 5 | ||
| 5 | |||||
| 5 | |||||
| align=center rowspan=8 | 9 | align=center | 4 | ||
| 4 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 4 |
| Week | Player | Team | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 31 – Feb 2 | Andrés D'Alessandro | Internacional | [10] | |
| Feb 7–9 | Javier Orozco | Cruz Azul | [11] | |
| Feb 14–16 | Pablo Escobar | The Strongest | [12] | |
| Feb 21–23 | Dorlan Pabón | Atlético Nacional | [13] | |
| Mar 6–8 | Deco | Fluminense | [14] | |
| Mar 13–15 | Leandro Damião | Internacional | [15] | |
| Mar 20–22 | Mario Regueiro | Lanús | [16] | |
| Mar 27–29 | Sergio Órteman | Olimpia | [17] | |
| Apr 3–5 | Luciano Figueroa | Emelec | [18] | |
| Apr 10–12 | Darío Cvitanich | Boca Juniors | [19] | |
| Apr 17–19 | Matías Alustiza | Deportivo Quito | [20] | |
| May 1–3 | Fidel Martínez | Deportivo Quito | [21] | |
| May 8–10 | Juan Román Riquelme | Boca Juniors | [22] | |
| May 16–17 | Iván Obolo | Vélez Sársfield | [23] | |
| May 23–24 | Johnny Herrera | Universidad de Chile | [24] |
The Samsung Fair Play Trophy was awarded to Brazilian club Corinthians.[25]
Brazilian coach Ricardo Ferretti sent a team of substitutes of Tigres UANL, and was heavily criticized by the Latin press that claimed that he had "ignored" the competition.