| Tourney Name: | Copa Libertadores de América |
| Year: | 2009 |
| Other Titles: | 2009 Copa Libertadores da América |
| Size: | 175px |
| Dates: | January 27 - July 15 |
| Num Teams: | 38 |
| Associations: | 11 |
| Champion Other: |  Estudiantes |
| Count: | 4 |
| Second Other: |  Cruzeiro |
| Matches: | 134 |
| Goals: | 323 |
| Attendance: | 2416216 |
| Top Scorer: | Mauro Boselli (8 goals) |
| Player: | Juan Sebastián Verón[1] |
| Prevseason: | 2008 |
| Nextseason: | 2010 |
The 2009 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2009 Copa Santander Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 50th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament.
The tournament was won by Argentine club Estudiantes de La Plata, who achieved their fourth Copa Libertadores title and first in 39 years. Since the inception of a preliminary round in 2004, they are the first club to start in that round and win the Copa Libertadores. Estudiantes earned a berth to play in 2010 Recopa Sudamericana and in the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup but lost both titles to LDU Quito and Barcelona respectively.
| width=100 | Association | width=180 | Team | Qualification method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina 5 berths | Lanús | 2007 Apertura champion | ||
| River Plate | 2008 Clausura champion | |||
| Boca Juniors | 2008 Apertura champion | |||
| San Lorenzo | Best average of the 2007 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, & 2008 Apertura | |||
| Estudiantes | 2nd best average of the 2007 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, & 2008 Apertura | |||
 Bolivia3 berths | Universitario de Sucre | 2008 Apertura champion | ||
| 2008 Clausura champion | ||||
| Real Potosí | 2008 play-off champion | |||
| Brazil 5 berths | São Paulo | Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 champion | ||
| Grêmio | Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 runner-up | |||
| Cruzeiro | Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 3rd place | |||
| Sport Recife | 2008 Copa do Brasil champion | |||
| Palmeiras | Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 4th place | |||
| Chile 3 berths | Everton | 2008 Apertura champion | ||
| Colo-Colo | 2008 Clausura champion | |||
| Universidad de Chile | 1st place in 2008 Clausura general table | |||
 Colombia3 berths | Boyacá Chicó | 2008 Apertura champion | ||
| América | 2008 Finalización champion | |||
| Independiente Medellín | 2008 Primera A best-placed non-champion | |||
 Ecuador3 + 1 berths | LDU Quito | 2008 Copa Libertadores champion | ||
| Deportivo Quito | 2008 Serie A champion | |||
| Deportivo Cuenca | 2008 Serie A 3rd place | |||
| El Nacional | 2008 Serie A 4th place | |||
| Paraguay 3 berths | Libertad | 2008 Apertura & 2008 Clausura champion | ||
| Guaraní | 2008 Primera División best-placed non-champion | |||
| Nacional | 2008 Primera División 2nd best-placed non-champion | |||
 Peru3 berths | Universitario | 2008 Apertura champion | ||
| Universidad San Martín | 2008 Clausura champion | |||
| Sporting Cristal | 2008 Descentralizado best-placed non-champion | |||
| Uruguay 3 berths | 2007–08 Primera División champion | |||
| Nacional | 2008 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores champion | |||
| Peñarol | 2008 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores 3rd place | |||
 Venezuela3 berths | Deportivo Táchira | 2007–08 Primera División champion | ||
| Caracas | 2007–08 Primera División runner-up | |||
| Deportivo Anzoátegui | 2007–08 Primera División best-placed non-finalist | |||
 Mexico3 invitees (CONCACAF) | San Luis | 1st place in 2008 Apertura general table | ||
| Guadalajara | 2009 InterLiga champion | |||
| Pachuca | 2009 InterLiga runner-up |
The calendar shows the dates of the rounds and draw. All events occurred in 2009 unless otherwise stated.
| Stage | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First stage | November 25, 2008 | January 27–29 | February 3–5 |
| Second stage | February 10 – April 30 | ||
| Round of 16 | N/A | May 5–14 | May 12–21 |
| Quarterfinals | May 27–28 | June 17–18 | |
| Semifinals | June 24–25 | July 1–2 | |
| Finals | July 8 | July 15 | |
At each stage of the tournament teams receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and no points for a loss. If two or more teams are equal on points, the following criteria will be applied to determine the rankings in the group stage:
For the first stage, round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, the fourth criterion is replaced by a penalty shootout if necessary. The finals have their own set of criteria; see the finals section for more details.
See main article: 2009 Copa Libertadores First Stage. In the First Stage, twelve teams played a two-legged tie (one game at home and one game away) against another opponent. The winner of each tie advanced to the Second Stage. Team #1 played the second leg at home.
| Teams | Scores | Tie-breakers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team #1 | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||
| 1:4 | Independiente Medellín | 0–4 | 0–0 | — | — | — | ||
| Estudiantes | 3:3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0:0 | 1:0 | — | ||
| Nacional | 4:1 | El Nacional | 5–0 | 3–3 | — | — | — | |
| Deportivo Cuenca | 3:3 | Deportivo Anzoátegui | 0–2 | 3–0 | +1:−1 | — | — | |
| Real Potosí | 0:6 | Palmeiras | 1–5 | 0–2 | — | — | — | |
| Pachuca | 3:3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0:0 | 0:1 | — | ||
See main article: 2009 Copa Libertadores Second Stage. A total of 26 teams qualified directly to this phase and were joined by six teams from the First Stage, bringing the total to 32 teams. The top two teams from each group advanced to the Third Stage.
See main article: 2009 Copa Libertadores knockout stages. The last four stages of the tournament (round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) form a single-elimination tournament, commonly known as a knockout stage. Sixteen teams advanced into the first of these stages: the third stage.
The 16 qualified teams were seeded according to their results in the Second Stage. The top teams from each group were seeded 1–8, with the team with the most points as seed 1 and the team with the least as seed 8. The second-best teams from each group were seeded 9–16, with the team with the most points as seed 9 and the team with the least as seed 16.
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The first match of the Round of 16 began on 5 May, with the last match played on 21 May. Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.
| Teams | Scores | Tie-breakers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team #1 | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||
| Grêmio | 6:0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | — | — | — | ||
| Boca Juniors | 1:4 | Defensor Sporting | 2–2 | 0–1 | — | — | — | |
| Nacional | w/o | San Luis | — | — | — | — | — | |
| São Paulo | w/o | Guadalajara | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Cruzeiro | 6:0 | Universidad de Chile | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | — | — | |
| Sport Recife | 3:3 | Palmeiras | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0:0 | 0:0 | 1:3 | |
| 1:4 | Estudiantes | 0–3 | 0–0 | — | — | — | ||
| Caracas | 3:3 | Deportivo Cuenca | 1–2 | 4–0 | +3:−3 | — | — | |
Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.
| Teams | Scores | Tie-breakers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team #1 | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||
| Grêmio | 2:2 | Caracas | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0:0 | 1:0 | — | |
| Nacional | 2:2 | Palmeiras | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0:0 | 1:0 | — | |
| São Paulo | 0:6 | Cruzeiro | 1–2 | 0–2 | — | — | — | |
| Estudiantes | 6:0 | Defensor Sporting | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | — | — | |
Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.
| Teams | Scores | Tie-breakers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team #1 | Team #2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||
| Grêmio | 1:4 | Cruzeiro | 1–3 | 2–2 | — | — | — | |
| 0:6 | Estudiantes | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | — | — | ||
See main article: 2009 Copa Libertadores Finals.
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A. Guadalajara and San Luis withdrew from the tournament following concerns raised by both Nacional and São Paulo over the H1N1 flu outbreak in Mexico, South American teams refused to travel to Mexico to play the match; no agreement was reached on alternative venues for the first-leg matches, both scheduled to be played in Mexico. Both Guadalajara and San Luis were later secured a place in the round of 16 for the 2010 Copa Libertadores.