| Tourney Name: | Copa Libertadores |
| Year: | 2015 |
| Dates: | February 3 – August 5, 2015 |
| Num Teams: | 38 |
| Associations: | 11 |
| Champion Other: |  River Plate |
| Count: | 3 |
| Second Other: |  UANL |
| Matches: | 138 |
| Goals: | 342 |
| Player: |  Joffre Guerrón |
| Prevseason: | 2014 |
| Nextseason: | 2016 |
The 2015 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2015 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 56th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
Argentine team River Plate qualified to play in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2016 Recopa Sudamericana as the best-placed South American team,[2] before winning the final against Mexican team UANL 3–0 on aggregate to win their third title.[3] San Lorenzo were the defending champions, but they were eliminated in the group stage.
The following 38 teams from 11 associations (the 10 CONMEBOL members plus Mexico which were invited to compete) qualified for the tournament:
The entry stage is determined as follows:
| Association | Team | Entry stage | Qualification method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Second stage | 2014 Copa Libertadores champion | |
| 2014 Copa Sudamericana champion and 2014 Torneo Final champion[4] | |||
| 2014 Torneo Transición champion[5] | |||
| 2013–14 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | |||
| First stage | 2013–14 Copa Argentina champion | ||
| 2014 Copa Sudamericana best Argentine team not yet qualified | |||
 Bolivia | Second stage | 2014 Clausura champion[6] | |
| 2014 Clausura runner-up | |||
| First stage | 2014 Clausura 3rd place | ||
 Brazil | Second stage | 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion[7] | |
| 2014 Copa do Brasil champion | |||
| 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up | |||
| 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd place | |||
| First stage | 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th place | ||
| Chile | Second stage | 2014 Clausura champion[8] | |
| 2014 Apertura champion[9] | |||
| First stage | 2014 Apertura Liguilla winner | ||
 Colombia | Second stage | 2014 Apertura champion[10] | |
| 2014 Finalización champion | |||
| First stage | 2014 Primera A aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| Ecuador | Second stage | 2014 Serie A champion[11] | |
| 2014 Serie A runner-up | |||
| First stage | 2014 Serie A aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| Mexico | Second stage | 2014 Apertura classification table best team not qualified for 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League | |
| 2014 Apertura classification table 2nd best team not qualified for 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League | |||
| First stage | 2014 Supercopa MX champion[12] | ||
| Paraguay | Second stage | 2014 Apertura champion and 2014 Clausura champion[13] | |
| 2014 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team | |||
| First stage | 2014 Primera División aggregate table 3rd best team | ||
 Peru | Second stage | 2014 Descentralizado champion[14] | |
| 2014 Descentralizado runner-up | |||
| First stage | 2014 Torneo del Inca champion | ||
| Uruguay | Second stage | 2013–14 Primera División champion[15] | |
| 2013–14 Primera División runner-up | |||
| First stage | 2013–14 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
 Venezuela | Second stage | 2013–14 Primera División champion[16] | |
| 2013–14 Primera División runner-up | |||
| First stage | 2013–14 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified |
The draw of the tournament was held on December 2, 2014, at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[17]
For the first stage, the 12 teams were drawn into six ties containing a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, with the former hosting the second leg. The seeding of each team was determined by which associations reached the furthest stage in the previous Copa Libertadores.[2]
| +Pots for the first stage draw | ||||
| width=190 | Pot A | width=190 | Pot B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | valign=top |
For the second stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four containing one team from each of the four seeding pots. The seeding of each team was determined by their association and qualifying berth (as per the rotational agreement established by CONMEBOL, the teams which qualified through berths 1 from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela were seeded into Pot 1 for odd-numbered years, while the teams which qualified through berths 1 from Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay were seeded into Pot 1 for even-numbered years).[2] Teams from the same association in Pots 1 and 2 could not be drawn into the same group. However, a first stage winner, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, could be drawn into the same group with another team from the same association.
| +Pots for the second stage draw | ||||||||
| width=190 | Pot 1 | width=190 | Pot 2 | width=190 | Pot 3 | width=190 | Pot 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top |
The schedule of the competition was as follows (all dates listed were Wednesdays, but matches could also be played on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well).[18] There was a two-month break between the quarterfinals and semifinals due to the 2015 Copa América.
| Stage | First leg | Second leg | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First stage | February 4 | February 11 | |
| Second stage | February 18, 25 March 4, 11, 18 April 1, 8, 15, 22 | ||
| Round of 16 | April 29 May 6 | May 6, 13 | |
| Quarterfinals | May 20 | May 27 | |
| Semifinals | July 15 | July 22 | |
| Finals | July 29 | August 5 | |
See main article: 2015 Copa Libertadores first stage.
In the first stage, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would be used. If still tied, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played). The six winners of the first stage advanced to the second stage to join the 26 automatic qualifiers.[2]
See main article: 2015 Copa Libertadores second stage.
In the second stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order: 1. Goal difference; 2. Goals scored; 3. Away goals scored; 4. Drawing of lots. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16.[2]
See main article: 2015 Copa Libertadores final stages.
In the final stages, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the following rules:[2]
The qualified teams were seeded in the final stages according to their results in the second stage, with the group winners seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up seeded 9–16.[2]
See main article: 2015 Copa Libertadores Finals.
The finals were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.[2]
Since UANL are not a South American club, by rule they had to host the first leg regardless of seeding.[2]
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center rowspan=1 | 1 | Gustavo Bou | Racing | 8 |
| align=center rowspan=1 | 2 | Guido Carrillo | Estudiantes | 7 |
| align=center rowspan=2 | 3 | Miler Bolaños | Emelec | 6 |
| Federico Santander | Guaraní | 6 | ||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 5 | Esteban Paredes | Colo-Colo | 5 |
| Valdívia | Internacional | 5 | ||
| align=center rowspan=16 | 7 | Ramón Ábila | Huracán | 4 |
| Andrés D'Alessandro | Internacional | 4 | ||
| Elias | Corinthians | 4 | ||
| Pablo Daniel Escobar | The Strongest | 4 | ||
| Enrique Esqueda | UANL | 4 | ||
| Fernando Fernández | Guaraní | Align=center | 4 | |
| Paolo Guerrero | Corinthians | 4 | ||
| Joffre Guerrón | UANL | 4 | ||
| Leandro Damião | Cruzeiro | 4 | ||
| Diego Milito | Racing | 4 | ||
| Rodrigo Mora | River Plate | 4 | ||
| Wilson Morelo | Santa Fe | 4 | ||
| Carlos Sánchez | River Plate | 4 | ||
| Rafael Sóbis | UANL | 4 | ||
| Luis Carlos Ruiz | Atlético Nacional | 4 | ||
| Zamir Valoyes | Mineros | 4 |