| Tourney Name: | Copa Libertadores |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Num Teams: | 47 |
| Associations: | 10 |
| Champion Other: |  River Plate |
| Count: | 4 |
| Second Other: | Boca Juniors |
| Matches: | 156 |
| Goals: | 353 |
| Top Scorer: |  Miguel Borja Wilson Morelo(9 goals each) |
| Player: | Gonzalo Martínez |
| Prevseason: | 2017 |
| Nextseason: | 2019 |
The 2018 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 59th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the Copa Libertadores), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
River Plate defeated Boca Juniors in the finals by an aggregate score of 5–3 to win their fourth tournament title.[1] As champions, they qualified as the CONMEBOL representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2018 Copa Sudamericana in the 2019 Recopa Sudamericana.[2] They also automatically qualified for the 2019 Copa Libertadores group stage. Grêmio were the defending champions, but were defeated by River Plate in the semifinals.
The first leg of the final was played at the Estadio Alberto J. Armando in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 11 November 2018, while the second leg took place outside South America at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain (a neutral venue) on 9 December 2018.[3] [4] The New York Times reported that the second leg was referred to as the "Final to End All Finals" and the biggest game in Argentine sport history but it was postponed and moved due to violence against the Boca Juniors team.[5]
The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations qualified for the tournament:[6]
Teams from Mexico, as they did in 2017, withdrew from the 2018 Copa Libertadores, citing schedule conflicts.[7]
The entry stage was determined as follows:[6]
| Association | Team | Entry stage | Qualification method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Group stage | 2017 Copa Sudamericana champions | |
| 2016–17 Primera División champions[8] | |||
| 2016–17 Primera División runners-up | |||
| 2016–17 Copa Argentina runners-up | |||
| 2016–17 Primera División 3rd place | |||
| 2016–17 Primera División 4th place | |||
| Second stage | 2016–17 Primera División 5th place | ||
 Bolivia | Group stage | 2016 Apertura champions[9] | |
| 2017 Apertura champions | |||
| Second stage | 2017 Clausura best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2016–17 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
 Brazil | Group stage | 2017 Copa Libertadores champions | |
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champions[10] | |||
| 2017 Copa do Brasil champions | |||
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runners-up | |||
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd place | |||
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 6th place | |||
| Second stage | 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 7th place | ||
| 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 8th place | |||
| Chile | Group stage | 2017 Clausura champions[11] | |
| 2017 Transición champions[12] | |||
| Second stage | 2017 Copa Chile champions | ||
| 2017 Primera División runners-up playoff winners | |||
| Colombia | Group stage | 2017 Apertura champions[13] | |
| 2017 Finalización champions | |||
| Second stage | 2017 Primera A aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| 2017 Copa Colombia champions | |||
 Ecuador | Group stage | 2017 Serie A champions[14] | |
| 2017 Serie A runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2017 Serie A aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2017 Serie A aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | ||
| Paraguay | Group stage | 2017 Primera División tournament champions with better record in aggregate table[15] | |
| 2017 Primera División tournament champions with worse record in aggregate table | |||
| Second stage | 2017 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2017 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | ||
 Peru | Group stage | 2017 Torneo Descentralizado champions[16] | |
| 2017 Torneo Descentralizado runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2017 Torneo de Verano winners | ||
| First stage | 2017 Torneo Descentralizado aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| Uruguay | Group stage | 2017 Primera División champions[17] | |
| 2017 Primera División runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2017 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2017 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | ||
 Venezuela | Group stage | 2017 Primera División champions[18] | |
| 2017 Primera División runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2017 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2017 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified |
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[19] The first stage matches were played on Monday and Friday, instead of the usual midweek of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. The finals were initially scheduled for 7 and 28 November, but were moved to 10 and 24 November after the finalists were confirmed.[3]
| Stage | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First stage | 20 December 2017 (Luque, Paraguay)[20] | 22 January 2018 | 26 January 2018 |
| Second stage | 30 January – 1 February 2018 | 6–8 February 2018 | |
| Third stage | 13–15 February 2018 | 20–22 February 2018 | |
| Group stage | |||
| Round of 16 | 4 June 2018 (Luque, Paraguay) | 7–9 & 21 August 2018 | 28–30 August 2018 |
| Quarterfinals | 18–20 September 2018 | 2–4 October 2018 | |
| Semifinals | 23–25 October 2018 | 30 October – 1 November 2018 | |
| Finals | 10 November 2018 (postponed to 11 November) | 24 November 2018 (postponed to 9 December) | |
See main article: 2018 Copa Libertadores qualifying stages.
See main article: 2018 Copa Libertadores group stage.
See main article: 2018 Copa Libertadores final stages.
See main article: 2018 Copa Libertadores Finals.
| Rank | Player | Team | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miguel Borja | Palmeiras | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| Wilson Morelo | Santa Fe | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Jádson | Corinthians | x | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Ramón Ábila | Boca Juniors | x | 2 | 1 | x | x | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Darío Benedetto | Boca Juniors | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Óscar Cardozo | Libertad | x | x | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Éverton | Grêmio | 1 | 2 | x | x | x | 1 | 1 | x | ||||||||||||||
| Lautaro Martínez | Racing | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Lucas Pratto | River Plate | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sassá | Cruzeiro | x | 2 | 2 | x | x | x | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Thiago Neves | Cruzeiro | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |