2021 Copa Sudamericana Explained

Tourney Name:	Copa Sudamericana
Year:	2021
Other Titles:	Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2021
Size:	275
Dates:	16 March – 20 November 2021
Num Teams:	44+12
Associations:	10
Count:	2
Second Other:	Red Bull Bragantino
Matches:	157
Goals:	389
Top Scorer:	Agustín Álvarez Martínez (10 goals)
Prevseason:	2020
Nextseason:	2022

The 2021 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 20th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the Copa Sudamericana, or Portuguese: Copa Sul-Americana), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.^[1]

Starting from this season, teams must be in the top division of their member association to play in South American club competitions,^[2] except for teams which are champions of the qualifying tournaments or cups.^[3]

On 14 May 2020, CONMEBOL announced the candidate venues for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 club competition finals.^{[4] [5]} On 13 May 2021, CONMEBOL announced that the final would be played at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay on 6 November 2021,^[6] but on 27 July 2021 the final was eventually confirmed to have been rescheduled to 20 November 2021.^[7]

Brazilian club Athletico Paranaense defeated fellow Brazilian club Red Bull Bragantino by a 1–0 score in the final to win their second tournament title.^[8] As winners of the 2021 Copa Sudamericana, Athletico Paranaense earned the right to play against the winners of the 2021 Copa Libertadores in the 2022 Recopa Sudamericana. They also automatically qualified for the 2022 Copa Libertadores group stage.

Defensa y Justicia were the defending champions, but did not play this edition since they qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores group stage as Copa Sudamericana champions and later advanced to the knockout stage.

Format changes

On 2 October 2020, CONMEBOL's Council approved the implementation of format changes to the Copa Sudamericana starting from this edition, aimed at ensuring that each of the countries is better represented in the different stages of the competition. The following changes were implemented:^{[9] [10]}

• The tournament was expanded from 54 to 56 teams, with all four Copa Libertadores third stage losers entering the competition instead of the two best teams eliminated.
• In the first stage, teams from all associations other than Argentina and Brazil played against a team from their same association in double-legged ties with the winners qualifying for a 32-team group stage, ensuring that at least two teams from each association will take part in the group stage.
• A group stage was included, with teams from Argentina and Brazil directly entering the Copa Sudamericana entering the competition at this stage, joining the 16 first stage winners and the four teams eliminated in the Copa Libertadores third stage. The winners of each group qualified for the round of 16.
• The eight third-placed teams of the Copa Libertadores group stage entered the competition at the round of 16.

Teams

The following 44 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL associations qualified for the tournament:^[11]

• Argentina and Brazil: 6 berths each
• All other associations: 4 berths each

The entry stage is determined as follows:^[9]

• Group stage: 12 teams (teams from Argentina and Brazil)
• First stage: 32 teams (teams from all other associations)

Association	Team	Entry stage	Qualification method
		Group stage	2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores^[12] ^[13]
			2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table 5th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table 6th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
		First stage	2020 Apertura best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Apertura 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Apertura 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Apertura 4th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
		Group stage	2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 5th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 6th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
		First stage	2020 Primera División best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División 4th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
		First stage	2020 Primera A aggregate table best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera A aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera A aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera A Copa Sudamericana play-off winners
		First stage	2020 Serie A aggregate table best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Serie A aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Serie A aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Serie A aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
		First stage	2020 Primera División aggregate table best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
		First stage	2020 Liga 1 aggregate table best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Liga 1 aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Liga 1 aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Liga 1 aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
		First stage	2020 Primera División aggregate table best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
		First stage	2020 Primera División aggregate table best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores
			2020 Primera División aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for 2021 Copa Libertadores

A further 12 teams eliminated from the 2021 Copa Libertadores were transferred to the Copa Sudamericana, entering the group stage (four teams) and the round of 16 (eight teams).

Teams eliminated in third stage	Entry stage
Libertad	Group stage
Grêmio
Bolívar
San Lorenzo
Third-placed teams in group stage	Entry stage
Independiente del Valle	Round of 16
Deportivo Táchira
Santos
Junior
Sporting Cristal
Nacional
LDU Quito
América de Cali

Notes

Schedule

The schedule of the competition will be as follows:^{[9] [14]}

Stage	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
First stage	5 February 2021	16–18 March 2021 6–7 April 2021	6–8 April 2021 13–14 April 2021
Group stage	9 April 2021
Round of 16	1 June 2021	13–15 July 2021	20–22 July 2021
Quarter-finals		10–12 August 2021	17–19 August 2021
Semi-finals		22–23 September 2021	29–30 September 2021
Final		20 November 2021 at Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Draws

First stage

See main article: 2021 Copa Sudamericana first stage.

Group stage

See main article: 2021 Copa Sudamericana group stage.

Group H

Final stages

See main article: 2021 Copa Sudamericana final stages.

Final

See main article: 2021 Copa Sudamericana Final.

Statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team																Total
1	Agustín Álvarez Martínez	Peñarol		2	2			3	1				1		1			10
2	Artur	Red Bull Bragantino					1					3	1	1	1		7
3	Gustavo Del Prete	Montevideo City Torque		1		1	2	1	1			6
	Jonathan Herrera	Independiente		3	1	1	1
5	Lucas Albertengo	Arsenal				1		1	2		1		5
	Bernardo Cuesta	Melgar		1	1	2		1
	Ferreira	Grêmio			1	2	2
	Humberto Osorio	Jorge Wilstermann	1	1	1			1	1
9	Marcelo González	River Plate		1		2		1				4
	Nikão	Athletico Paranaense								1	1					1	1
	David Terans	Peñarol Athletico Paranaense	1		1	1										1
	Facundo Torres	Peñarol		1	1		1							1
	Vitinho	Athletico Paranaense					1		1		2

See also

• 2021 Copa Libertadores

External links

• CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2021, CONMEBOL.com

Notes and References

1. Web site: Manual de Clubes / Reglamento CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2021. CONMEBOL.com.
2. Web site: CONMEBOL actualiza criterios de elegibilidad de clubes para sus torneos del 2020. CONMEBOL.com. 22 May 2019.
3. Web site: CONMEBOL recuerda los requisitos exigibles para participar en la Libertadores y Sudamericana 2021. CONMEBOL.com. 10 December 2019.
4. Web site: Ciudades postulantes para las Finales Únicas de los próximos tres años. CONMEBOL.com. 14 May 2020.
5. Web site: POSTULANTES A LAS FINALES 2021, 2022 Y 2023. CONMEBOL.com.
6. Web site: El Estadio Centenario de Montevideo será la sede de las finales de CONMEBOL Libertadores y Sudamericana. ESPN Argentina. 13 May 2021.
7. Web site: Fechas confirmadas para las Finales Únicas. CONMEBOL.com. 27 July 2021.
8. Web site: Athletico Paranaense, bicampeón de la CONMEBOL Sudamericana. es. CONMEBOL. 20 November 2021.
9. Web site: Se viene una CONMEBOL Sudamericana más competitiva y representativa. CONMEBOL.com. 2 October 2020.
10. Web site: CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2021. CONMEBOL.com. 2 October 2020.
11. Web site: La Copa Sudamericana 2017 reunirá a 44 clubes. CONMEBOL.com. 6 December 2016.
12. Web site: Cómo será la clasificación a las copas Libertadores y Sudamericana de 2021. ambito.com. 19 July 2019. es.
13. Web site: Boletín N° 5768. Asociación del Fútbol Argentino. 28 April 2020.
14. Web site: CALENDÁRIO 2021: CONMEBOL Libertadores - CONMEBOL Sudamericana - RECOPA. CONMEBOL.com.