2014 Copa Libertadores, map of the 38 clubs in the competition
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‘COPA LIBERTADORES [fixtures, results, tables]‘ (soccerway.com).
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The competition, run by CONMEBOL, features qualifying clubs from the 10 South American nations under CONMEBOL’s jurisdiction, plus, since 1998, clubs from Mexico (despite the fact that Mexican football is under the jurisdiction of CONCACAF). 9 of the 11 countries involved are allotted 3 qualifying spots, while Argentina and Brazil get 5 spots. The Holder – Atlético Mineiro (of Belo Horizonte, Brazil) – gets an automatic spot, so Brazil has 6 spots in the 2014 Copa Libertadores. The football associations of each country involved have different criteria for awarding their Copa Libertadores spots, and you can see those details here {‘Copa Libertadores/Format/Qualification‘ (en.wikipedia.org)}. In general terms, with three exceptions, each country’s most recent champion or champions will qualify, plus the best-placed non-champions. The three exceptions are Brazil and Argentina (see next paragraph) and also Mexico, which, since 2011, treats the Copa Libertadores as its second-tier international competition (with the CONCACAF Champions League treated as Mexico’s first-tier international competition. This is either illogical on the FMF’s part, or unfortunate (if the FMF is being forced to do this by CONCACAF), because there is no fútbol fan on Earth who considers the CONCACAF Champions League title to be a more prestigious title than the much-coveted Copa Libertadores title {note: see comments #3 and #4 in the Comments section at the end of this post, for further discussion on this sub-topic}.
In Brazil’s case, their 5 qualifiers are first place through 4th place in the previous year’s Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (Cruzeiro were champions in 2013, Grêmio qualified as 2nd place finishers, Atlético Paranaense qualified as 3rd place finishers, and Botofogo qualified as 4th place finishers), plus the current Copa do Brasil holders (Flamengo were the Brazilian Cup winners in 2013). In Argentina’s case, their 5 qualifying spots are pretty complicated. First off, a new spot has been created, with it going to the winner of the newly-instituted Super Final, which was won in June 2013 by Vélez Sarsfield (who were 2012 Inicial champions), over Newell’s Old Boys (who were the 2013 Final champions), by a score of 1-0 in Mendoza in the northwest of the country on 29 June 2013. Two of Argentina’s spots still go to the previous two half-season winners…the 2013 Final champions (Newell’s Old Boys won it in May, 2013), and the 2013 Inicial champions (San Lorenzo won it in December, 2013). The 4th Argentine spot goes to the relatively-recently-introduced Copa Argentina (founded in 1969, scrapped after 1970, and re-introduced in 2011-12), which was won for 2012-13 by Arsenal di Sarandi. Finally, since 2010, the 5th Argentine spot goes to the Argentine team with the best Copa Sudamericana finish. Lanús qualified this way. Lanús won the 2013 Copa Sudamericana, by beating Brazilian side Ponte Preta by the score of 3-1 aggregate in December 2013. (The Copa Sudamericana is analogous to the UEFA Europa League tournament in Europe, and features clubs who won national cups or who placed in the 2nd-to-14th-place range in their respective leagues.).
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Below: 2014 Copa Libertadores clubs – All-time tournament appearances by club, with Copa Libertadores titles listed
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Below, 2013 Copa Libertadores Finals (17 & 24 July 2013).
-1st Leg in Asunción, Paraguay: Olimpia 2-0 Atlético Mineiro.
-2nd Leg in Belo Horizonte, Brazil: Atletico Mineiro 2-0 Olimpia.
-Aggregate score: Atlético Mineiro (Brazil) 2-2 Olimpia (Paraguay) AET / Atlético Miniero wins 4-3 on penalties.
Photo credits above -
Ronaldinho during 2nd leg of final v Olimpia, photo by AFP/Evaristo SA via talkvietnam.com/2013/07/copa-glory-for-atletico-and-ronaldinho
The two teams lined up to await the results of the penalty kicks, photo by Ricardo Matsulawa via esportes.terra.com.br.
The Galo squad congratulating their goalkeeper Victor, photo from espnfc.com.
Photo of Galo trophy celebration from peru.com/futbol/internacional/copa-libertadores-2013-atletico-mineiro-vs-olimpia-disputan-final-noticia.
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Thanks to CAM official site, photo of Galo players with trophy (on map page) from http://www.atletico.com.br/site/.
Thanks to FootieMap.com, for finding stadium-locations of various clubs, such as footiemap.com/chile.
Thanks to RSSSF – I used this list for all-time Copa Libertadores appearances chart, ‘Copa Libertadores 1960-2013 Club Histories’ at rsssf.com .
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘2014 Copa Libertadores‘.
