The draw for this year's rendition of the Copa Libertadores (the "Champions League of the Americas," for lack of a better comparison) was made earlier today. Not the entire thing, mind you, because not all participants are known yet. This is thanks to different countries having different ways of determining the qualifiers. Why they would draw out not only the qualifying games but the tournament's group stage without having a complete list of either does not make all that much sense to me, but what do I know?
Anyway, here are the qualifiers:
1) Olmedo (Ecuador) vs. Lanús (Argentina)
2) Cruzeiro (Brazil) vs. Cerro Porteño (Paraguay)
3) Arsenal de Sarandí (Argentina) vs. Mineros de Guyana (Venezuela)
4) 3rd Mexican qualifier vs. 3rd Bolivian qualifier
5) Cienciano (Peru) vs. Montevideo Wanderers (Uruguay)
6) 3rd Colombian qualifier vs. Audax Italiano (Chile)
Group 1
San Lorenzo de Almagro (Argentina)
Real Potosí (Bolivia)
Caracas (Venezuela)
Qualifier 2 (Cruzeiro or Cerro Porteño)
Group 2
Estudiantes de La Plata (Argentina)
Danubio (Uruguay)
Deportivo Cuenca (Ecuador)
Qualifier 1 (Olmedo or Lanús)
Group 3
Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Colo Colo (Chile)
Maracaibo (Venezuela)
Qualifier 4 (3rd qualifier from either Mexico or Colombia)
Group 4
Flamengo (Brazil)
Nacional (Uruguay)
Coronel Bolognesi (Peru)
Qualifier 5 (Cienciano or Montevideo Wanderers)
Group 5
River Plate (Argentina)
2nd Chilean qualifier
San Martín (Peru)
2nd Mexican qualifier
Group 6
Santos (Brazil)
San José (Bolivia)
2nd Colombian qualifier
Chivas de Guadalajara (Mexico)
Group 7
Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Sportivo Luqueño (Paraguay)
Atlético Nacional (Colombia)
Qualifier 6 (3rd Colombian qualifier or Audax Italiano)
Group 8
Fluminense (Brazil)
Libertad (Paraguay)
Liga de Quito (Ecuador)
Qualifier 3 (Arsenal or Mineros de Guyana)
I'm assuming the top two teams advance in every group? The qualifiers begin Jan. 30. I can't really pretend to know about every team here because I really just started following the South American leagues this year and even then I'm mostly limited to Mexico and Argentina. But it looks like River Plate's group may shape up as one of the easier ones--depending on who they get from Mexico. By the same token, Boca's group could be very tough if they draw a Mexican club. Either way, it should be exciting.
Dec 19, 2007
Copa Libertadores 2008: The (Nearly Complete) Draw
at 18:48
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copa libertadores is always fun to follow...
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