| Tourney Name: | Copa Libertadores |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Other Titles: | Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores 2021 |
| Size: | 275 |
| Num Teams: | 47 |
| Associations: | 10 |
| Champion Other: | Palmeiras |
| Count: | 3 |
| Second Other: | Flamengo |
| Matches: | 155 |
| Goals: | 423 |
| Top Scorer: |  Gabriel Barbosa (11 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 2020 |
| Nextseason: | 2022 |
The 2021 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 62nd edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the Copa Libertadores), South America's premier 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 20 November 2021,[6] but on 27 July 2021 the final was eventually confirmed to have been rescheduled to 27 November 2021.[7]
Defending champions Palmeiras won their third Copa Libertadores title after beating fellow Brazilian club Flamengo by a 2–1 score after extra time in the final match.[8] As winners of the 2021 Copa Libertadores, Palmeiras qualified for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup, and earned the right to play against the winners of the 2021 Copa Sudamericana in the 2022 Recopa Sudamericana. They also automatically qualified for the 2022 Copa Libertadores group stage.
The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations qualified for the tournament:[9]
The entry stage is determined as follows:[9]
| Association | Team | Entry stage | Qualification method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | 2020 Copa Sudamericana champions | ||
| 2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Liga Profesional champions[10] [11] | |||
| 2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table best team not yet qualified[12] | |||
| 2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | |||
| 2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table 3rd best team not yet qualified | |||
| 2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table 4th best team not yet qualified | |||
| Second stage | 2019–20 Superliga Argentina and 2020 Copa de la Superliga aggregate table 5th best team not yet qualified | ||
| Group stage | 2020 Apertura champions | ||
| 2020 Apertura runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2020 Apertura 3rd place | ||
| First stage | 2020 Apertura 4th place | ||
| Group stage | 2020 Copa Libertadores champions | ||
| 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champions | |||
| 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runners-up | |||
| 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd place | |||
| 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th place | |||
| 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 5th place | |||
| Second stage | 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 6th place | ||
| 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 8th place | |||
| Group stage | 2020 Primera División champions | ||
| 2020 Primera División runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2020 Primera División 3rd place | ||
| 2020 Primera División 4th place | |||
| Group stage | 2020 Primera A champions | ||
| 2020 Primera A runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2020 Primera A aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| 2020 Primera A aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | |||
| Group stage | 2020 Serie A champions | ||
| 2020 Serie A runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2020 Serie A aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2020 Serie A aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | ||
| Group stage | 2020 Primera División tournament (Apertura or Clausura) champions with better record in aggregate table | ||
| 2020 Primera División tournament (Apertura or Clausura) champions with worse record in aggregate table | |||
| Second stage | 2020 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| First stage | 2020 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best team not yet qualified | ||
| Group stage | 2020 Liga 1 champions | ||
| 2020 Liga 1 runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2020 Liga 1 3rd place | ||
| First stage | 2020 Liga 1 aggregate table best team not yet qualified | ||
| Group stage | 2020 Primera División champions | ||
| 2020 Primera División runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2020 Primera División aggregate table 5th place as of 21 February 2021 | ||
| First stage | 2020 Primera División aggregate table 5th place as of 7 February 2021 | ||
| Group stage | 2020 Primera División champions | ||
| 2020 Primera División runners-up | |||
| Second stage | 2020 Primera División 3rd place | ||
| First stage | 2020 Primera División 4th place |
The schedule of the competition will be as follows:[13] [14]
On 4 February 2021, CONMEBOL announced a rescheduling for the qualifying stages.[15]
| Stage | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First stage | 5 February 2021 | 23–24 February 2021 (originally 16–18 February 2021) | 2–3 March 2021 (originally 23–25 February 2021) |
| Second stage | 9–11 March 2021 (originally 2–4 March 2021) | 16–18 March 2021 (originally 9–11 March 2021) | |
| Third stage | 6–9 April 2021 (originally 16–18 March 2021) | 13–15 April 2021 (originally 6–8 April 2021) | |
| Group stage | 9 April 2021 | ||
| Round of 16 | 1 June 2021 | 13–15 July 2021 | 20–22 July and 3 August 2021 (originally 20–22 July 2021) |
| Quarter-finals | 10–12 August 2021 | 17–19 August 2021 | |
| Semi-finals | 21–22 September 2021 | 28–29 September 2021 | |
| Final | 27 November 2021 at Estadio Centenario, Montevideo | ||
See main article: 2021 Copa Libertadores qualifying stages.
See main article: 2021 Copa Libertadores group stage.
See main article: 2021 Copa Libertadores final stages.
The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage advanced to the round of 16.
See main article: 2021 Copa Libertadores Final.
| Rank | Player | Team | Total | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriel Barbosa | Flamengo | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Fred | Fluminense | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||||||||||||
| Hulk | Atlético Mineiro | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 |  Miguel Borja | Junior | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Bruno Henrique | Flamengo | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Rony | Palmeiras | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Jarlan Barrera | Atlético Nacional | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
 Tomás Chancalay | Racing | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Christian Ortiz | Independiente del Valle | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Braian Romero | Defensa y Justicia River Plate | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Raphael Veiga | Palmeiras | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
The CONMEBOL technical study group selected the following 11 players as the team of the tournament.[16]
| Position | Player | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Weverton | Palmeiras | |
| Defenders |  Byron Castillo | Barcelona | |
| Gustavo Gómez | Palmeiras | ||
| Guilherme Arana | Atlético Mineiro | ||
| Midfielders | Raphael Veiga | Palmeiras | |
| Willian Arão | Flamengo | ||
| Giorgian de Arrascaeta | Flamengo | ||
| Dudu | Palmeiras | ||
| Forwards | Hulk | Atlético Mineiro | |
| Gabriel Barbosa | Flamengo | ||
| Roni | Palmeiras | ||
| Manager | Abel Ferreira | Palmeiras |