Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana Quarter Final Reviews

Brazil has dominated South America’s premier continental competition, Copa Libertadores, in recent years. While its little sister, Copa Sudamericana, has typically thrown up more interesting results. We’ll explore who reached the last four in this season’s big two South American club tournaments, which threw up their fair share of surprise results.

Copa Libertadores Quarter Finals

The Copa Libertadores last eight was formed of four Argentinian sides, three Brazilian clubs, and a team from Ecuador.

LDU Quito v São Paulo

The first tie of the quarter finals also saw the biggest shock or, as seasoned South American football fans may argue, the very much expected. Brazil’s São Paulo made the trip to high altitude to face LDU Quito and succumbed to a 2–0 defeat in Ecuador. The Brazilians had the better of the first leg, with 11 shots to 7, but the hosts scored once in each half through Bryan Ramírez and Michael Estrada.

The return leg in Brazil saw a similar story as São Paulo racked up an incredible 26 shots and 11 on target. But they couldn’t score and were punished by Jeison Medina scoring the only goal of the game to secure a 3–0 aggregate victory.

LDU Quito 2–0 São Paulo
São Paulo 0–1 LDU Quito (0–3 on aggregate)

River Plate v Palmeiras

The glamour tie of the last eight was arguably Argentina’s four-time winners River Plate taking on Brazil’s Palmeiras, who won the competition in 2020 and 2021. River dominated their home leg by 17 shots to 8, but were wasteful and were punished by first half Gustavo Gómez and Vitor Roque strikes. But the home side did get a late consolation through Lucas Martínez Quarta.

River struck early on in the return leg, with Maximiliano Salas making the tie interesting. But Marcos Acuna got sent off on 87 minutes and Palmeiras didn’t waste any time punishing the former Sporting man, as José Manuel López scoring two injury-time goals to send Palmeiras through.

River 1–2 Palmeiras
Palmeiras 3–1 River (5–2 on aggregate)

Flamengo v Estudiantes

Brazil and Argentina also went head-to-head in this tie. 2019 and 2022 winners Flamengo scored twice inside 9 minutes of their home leg through Pedro and Guillermo Varela. But Gonzalo Plate was sent off 8 minutes from time and Estudiantes got a goal back thanks to Léo Pereira’s own goal in injury time.

That goal proved costly as Gastón Benedetti’s goal in first-half injury time was enough for Estudiantes to claim a 1–0 second-leg victory. The tie went all the way to penalties, but Benedetti and Santiago Ascacibar missed their spotkicks to send Flamengo into the semis.

Flamengo 2–1 Estudiantes
Estudiantes 1–0 Flamengo (2–2 on aggregate. Flamengo win 4–2 on penalties)

Vélez Sarsfield v Racing Club

The final quarter-final tie was an all-Buenos Aires tie as Vélez took on last year’s Copa Sudamericana winners Racing Club. The first leg at Vélez was tight but the hosts, especially striker Michael Santos, were made to pay for missing chances. They also had centre back Lisandro Magallán sent off before halftime, and Racing nicked a 1–0 win through Adrián Martínez.

In the return leg, Racing completely dominated the game by 23 shots to 4. But they had to wait until the 82nd minute to decide the tie with a goal from Santiago Solari.

Vélez Sarsfield 0–1 Racing Club
Racing Club 1–0 Vélez Sarsfield (2–0 on aggregate)

Copa Libertadores Semi Final Lineup

Those results mean another all-Brazilian final is the most likely outcome. Palmeiras take on LDU Quito, with the first leg taking place in Ecuador, while Flamengo face Racing Club.

Copa Sudamericana Quarter Finals

The Copa Sudamericana last eight had a more interesting look with two Brazilian teams joined by one each from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Lanús v Fluminense

The most exciting prospect was arguably Argentina and Brazil facing off in the first quarter final. Lanús edged a tight home first leg with Marcelino Moreno’s 89th-minute winner.

Back in Brazil, 2023 Libertadores winners Fluminense bossed things with 71% possession and 20 shots to 10. They made that count as winger Agustín Canobbio opened the scoring after 20 minutes. But Lanús equalised through Diego Aquino on 67 minutes and they held firm to deny the Brazilian side.

Lanús 1–0 Fluminense
Fluminense 1–1 Lanús (1–2 on aggregate)

Bolívar v Atlético Mineiro

Last season’s defeated Copa Libertadores finalists Atlético Mineiro faced the daunting task of a trip to altitude in Bolivia. But they just about overcame it. The visitors struck twice late in the first half through Alexsander and Vitor Hugo. Bolívar struck back 3 minutes after the break through Robson Matheus, only to see Ignacio Gariglio sent off 9 minutes later. But they dominated the game by 19 shots to 7 and got a much-deserved late equaliser through Dorny Romero’s penalty.

Back in Brazil, Atlético bossed the ball but both sides had 7 shots and it remained goalless through to the final minute. However, the home side nicked it with Bernard’s goal in the 1st minute of injury time.

Bolívar 2–2 Atlético Mineiro
Atlético Mineiro 1–0 Bolívar (3–2 on aggregate)

Independiente de Valle v Once Caldas

An intriguing tie saw Ecuador face Colombia. The first leg in Salgolquí saw visitors Once Caldas land the first punch as Daylo Moreno scored after 22 minutes. The hosts were up against it when Mateo Carabajal was sent off 12 minutes later, and Once Caldas secured the win as Moreno doubled his tally 4 minutes after halftime.

Back in Manizales, Independiente mounted a response as Michael de Hoyos’ double levelled the scores up and took the tie to a penalty shootout. Robert Mejia missed Once Caldas’ 2nd only for Renato Ibarra to miss Independiente’s 3rd. Both teams scored the next two to go to sudden death, and James Hernandez’s miss sent Independiente into the semis.

Independiente del Valle 0–2 Once Caldas
Once Caldas 0–2 Independiente del Valle (2–2 on aggregate, Independiente del Valle win 5–4 on penalties)

Alianza Lima v Universidad de Chile

The final last eight tie saw Peru and Chile go head-to-head. The sides played out a goalless draw in Peru, which saw Alianza reduced to 10 men by Carlos Zambrano’s red card just after the hour mark.

Back in Santiago, Universidad de Chile took an early lead with Lucas Assadi’s 5th-minute strike. And they doubled their lead through Javier Altamirano 6 minutes after halftime. Alianza got a goal back through Erick Castillo 13 minutes later, but they couldn’t prevent the Chileans from progressing.

Alianza Lima 0–0 Universidad de Chile
Universidad de Chile 2–1 Alianza Lima (2–1 on aggregate)

Copa Sudamericana Semi-Final Lineup

Those results mean the semi finals will feature one team apiece from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador. Universidad de Chile will face off against Lanús and Independiente del Valle will take on Atlético Mineiro.

The semi finals of both competitions will take place in the weeks of 23 and 30 October. The Copa Sudamericana Final is on 22 November in Asunción, Paraguay, and the Copa Libertadores Final is on 29 November in Lima, Peru.