The 2021 Copa Libertadores qualifying stages were played from 23 February to 15 April 2021.[1] A total of 19 teams competed in the qualifying stages to decide four of the 32 places in the group stage of the 2021 Copa Libertadores.[2]
The qualifying stages had been originally scheduled to be played from 16 February to 8 April 2021.[3]
The draw for the qualifying stages was held on 5 February 2021, 12:00 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[4] [5]
Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL Clubs ranking as of 1 February 2021 (shown in parentheses),[6] [7] taking into account the following three factors:[8]
For the first stage, the six teams were drawn into three ties (E1–E3), with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg.
For the second stage, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (C1–C8), with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, excluding the three winners of the first stage, which were seeded in Pot 2 and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.
For the third stage, the eight winners of the second stage were allocated without any draw into the following four ties (G1–G4), with the team in each tie with the higher CONMEBOL ranking hosting the second leg. As their identity was not known at the time of the draw, they could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.
In the qualifying stages, each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule will be used. If still tied, extra time will not be played, and a penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 2.4.3).[2]
The qualifying stages are structured as follows:
The bracket was decided based on the first stage draw and second stage draw, which was held on 5 February 2021.
The first legs were played on 23 and 24 February, and the second legs were played on 2 and 3 March 2021.[5] [9] |}
----Universidad Católica won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second stage (Match C1).
----Caracas won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the second stage (Match C6).
----Guaraní won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the second stage (Match C8).
The first legs were played on 9–11 March, and the second legs were played on 16–18 March 2021.[5] [9] |}
----Libertad won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G1).
----Grêmio won 8–2 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G2).
----Bolívar won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G3).
----San Lorenzo won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G4).
----Santos won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G4).
----Junior won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G3).
----Independiente del Valle won 6–3 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G2).
----Atlético Nacional won 5–0 on aggregate and advanced to the third stage (Match G1).
The first legs were played on 6–9 April, and the second legs were played on 13–15 April 2021.[10] [11] |}
----Atlético Nacional won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the group stage (Group F).
----Independiente del Valle won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the group stage (Group A).
----Junior won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the group stage (Group D).
----Santos won 5–3 on aggregate and advanced to the group stage (Group C).