2009 Copa Libertadores finals

2009 Copa Libertadores finals

Players of Estudiantes celebrating the victory
Event	2009 Copa Libertadores
Estudiantes LP Cruzeiro 2 1
on points
First leg
Estudiantes LP Cruzeiro 0 0
Date	8 July 2009
Venue	Estadio Único, La Plata
Man of the Match	Fábio
Referee	Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)
Second leg
Cruzeiro Estudiantes LP 1 2
Date	15 July 2009
Venue	Mineirão, Belo Horizonte
Man of the Match	Juan Sebastián Verón
Referee	Carlos Chandía (Chile)
← 2008 2010 →

The 2009 Copa Libertadores finals was the final two-legged tie to determine the 2009 Copa Libertadores champion. It was contested by Argentine club Estudiantes de La Plata and Brazilian club Cruzeiro. The first leg of the tie was played on 8 July at Estudiantes' home field, with the second leg played on 15 July at Cruzeiro's.

Cruzeiro and Estudiantes played in their 4th and 5th Copa Libertadores finals, respectively. Cruzeiro last appearance was in 1997, in which they beat Sporting Cristal for their second title. Estudiantes returned after a 39-year absence. Their last finals appearance was in 1971, in which they lost to Uruguayan club Nacional.

Estudiantes de La Plata won the tie 4 points to 1 to earn their fourth Copa Libertadores title. ^[1]

Qualified teams

Team	Previous finals app.
Estudiantes LP	1968 , 1969 , 1970 , 1971
Cruzeiro	1976 , 1977, 1997

Bold indicates winning years

Rules

Estadio Ciudad de La Plata (left) and Mineirão, venues for the series

The final will be played over two legs, each at a finalists home venue. The higher seeded team will play the second leg at home. The team that accumulates the most points —three for a win, one for a draw, zero for a loss— after the two legs will be crowned the champion. Unlike the previous rounds, the away-goals rule will not be used. Should the two teams be tied on points after the second leg, the team with the best goal difference will win. If the two teams have equal goal difference, extra time will be used. The extra time will consist of two 15-minute halves. If the tie is still not broken, a penalty shoot-out, consisting of a maximum of five penalties per team, will ensue according to the Laws of the Game (although it is possible to win the penalty shootout before the fifth penalty kick is taken). If there is no clear winner after the 10 penalty kicks, then a sudden-death penalty shootout will ensue.

Route to the finals

Cruzeiro qualified to the 2009 Copa Libertadores as the 3rd place team in the 2008 Série A. This gave them the Brazil 3 spot and a direct qualification into the Second Stage. Estudiantes qualified into the Argentina 5 spot by having the 2nd best average of the 2007 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, & 2008 Apertura tournaments. The spot qualified them into the First Stage.

Estudiantes in the First Stage

Estudiantes started this year's Copa Libertadores run in the First Stage in a two-legged tie against Peruvian club Sporting Cristal for a spot in Group 5. Sporting Cristial took the first leg, played in Lima, 2−1. Enzo Pérez scored the lone goal for Estudiantes. In the second leg, Estudiantes' Ramón Lentini scored the lone goal of the match, assuring that Estudiantes advanced to the Second Stage on the away goals tie-breaker.

Group 5 of the Second Stage

Final Group 5 standings

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Cruzeiro	6	4	1	1	9	5	+4	13
Estudiantes	6	3	1	2	9	4	+5	10
Deportivo Quito	6	2	2	2	6	9	−3	8
Universitario de Sucre	6	0	2	4	2	8	−6	2

Cruzeiro was drawn into Group 5, with Estudiantes advancing into it. They were joined by the defending Ecuadorian champion, Deportivo Quito, and the Bolivian 2008 Apertura champion, Universitario de Sucre. Their first group match was against each other in Belo Horizonte. Cruzeiro won 3−0 with goals by Fernandinho and Kléber (two). The next group match between the both of them was their respective fifth group-play match. Playing in La Plata, Estudiantes won 4−0 with goals by Juan Sebastián Verón, Gastón Fernández, and Cristian Sánchez Prette (two).

Cruzeiro second group match was on the road against Deportivo Quito. Ramires scored for Cruzeiro before Giovanny Caicedo tied it for Deportivo Quito. They stayed on the road (to Sucre) to play Universitario. Thiago Ribeiro scored the lone goal of the match to get the win. The next two game Cruzeiro played were at home. Universitario visited first and lost the match thanks to two goals by Wellington Paulista. In Cruzeiro's last match of group play, they played host to Deportivo Quito, whom they beat 2−0 with goals by Léo Fortunato and Wagner.

Estudiantes continued group play by hosting Universitario. Juan Manuel Salgueiro scored the only goal for Estudiantes, and subsequently the win. They then went to Quito to play Deportivo Quito. Estudiantes lost the match 1−0. Deportivo Quito then visited Estudiantes for their next match. Estudiantes soundly won the match 4−0 thanks to a goal by Enzo Pérez and a hat-trick by Mauro Boselli. Estudiantes' last match of group play ended in a scoreless tie against Universitario.

Cruzeiro and Estudiantes finished 1 & 2, respectively, which advanced them to the Round of 16.

Cruzeiro in the knockout stages

Cruzeiro was seeded 5 for the last stages of the tournament. In the round of 16, they played against Chilean club Universidad de Chile (seeded 12). The first leg was played in Santiago. Cruzeiro won the match 1−2 with goals by Soares and Marquinhos Paraná. second leg, played at home, was won by a lone goal from Kléber. Cruzeiro advanced on points 6−0.

Cruzeiro's quarterfinal match-up was against fellow Brazilian side São Paulo (seeded 4). The first leg, played at home, was won 2−1 with goals by Leonardo Silva and Zé Carlos. The second leg, played in São Paulo, was also won 0−2 with goals by Henrique and Kléber. Cruzeiro advanced on points 6−0.

Cruzeiro's semifinal match-up was against another Brazilian side, top-seeded Grêmio. Cruzeiro won the first leg 3−1 thanks to goals by Wellington Paulista, Wágner, and Fabinho. The second leg, played in Porto Alegre, ended in a 2−2 tie. Wellington Paulista scored twice for Cruzeiro in as many minutes, but Grêmio came back and tied it in the second half. Cruzeiro advanced 4−1 on points.

As of the finals, Cruzeiro is the most effective team in the tournament, with an efficacy rating of 80.56% (9 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss).

Estudiantes in the knockout stages

Estudiantes was seeded 10 for the last stages of the tournament. Estudiantes' round of 16 match-up was against Paraguayan club Libertad. Seeded 7, Libertad was the first team to advance to the round of 16. Estudiantes won the first match 3−0 with goals by Gastón Fernández (with the fastest goal of the tournament) and Mauro Boselli (2). A 0−0 tie was enough in the second leg to advance Estudiantes 4−1 on points.

The quarterfinals match-up was against Uruguayan club Defensor Sporting (seeded 15). Estudiantes won both legs 1−0 with goals by Leandro Desábato (first leg) and Leandro Benítez (second leg). Estudiantes advanced 6−0 on points.

In the semifinals, Estudiantes met another Uruguayan club, 3 seeded Nacional. In the first leg, played at home, Estudiantes won with a lone goal by Diego Galván. In the second leg, Estudiantes won 1−2 with a pair of goals by Mauro Boselli. Estudiantes advanced 6−0 on points.

As of the finals, Estudiantes has an efficacy rating of 69.05% (9 wins, 2 draws, 3 loss). Striker Mauro Boselli is currently tied as the top-scorer of the tournament, with 7 goals.

Knockout stages summary

Cruzeiro			Estudiantes
Universidad de Chile A 2–1	Soares 8' Marquinhos Paraná 52'	Round of 16 First leg		Libertad H 3–0	Fernández 1' Boselli 64' (pen.), 70'
Universidad de Chile H 1–0	Kléber 74'	Second leg		Libertad A 0–0
São Paulo H 2–1	Leonardo Silva 45' Zé Carlos 66'	Quarterfinals First leg		Defensor Sporting A 1–0	Desábato 12'
São Paulo A 2–0	Henrique 65' Kléber 81' (pen.)	Second leg		Defensor Sporting H 1–0	Benítez 13'
Grêmio H 3–1	Wellington Paulista 38' Wagner 47' Fabinho 67'	Semifinals First leg		Nacional H 1–0	Galván 14'
Grêmio A 2–2	Wellington Paulista 34', 36'	Second leg		Nacional A 2–1	Boselli 52', 90+1'

Match details

First leg

2009 Copa Libertadores finals

8 July 2009

21:50 (UTC-3)

First leg

Estudiantes LP	0–0	Cruzeiro
	Report

Estadio Único , La Plata

Attendance: 52,000

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)

Estudiantes LP

Cruzeiro

GK 21 Mariano Andújar RB 3 Christian Cellay DF 14 Rolando Schiavi  26' DF 2 Leandro Desábato  66' LB 16 Germán Ré MF 22 Rodrigo Braña MF 8 Enzo Pérez MF 11 Juan Sebastián Verón (c) MF 23 Leandro Benítez  14'  75' FW 17 Mauro Boselli FW 10 Gastón Fernández  82' Substitutes: GK 25 Damián Albil DF 13 Juan Díaz DF 6 Federico Fernández MF 5 Cristian Sánchez Prette MF 18 Maximiliano Núñez  75' FW 9 José Calderón FW 7 Juan Salgueiro  82' Manager: Alejandro Sabella

GK 1 Fábio (c) RB 2 Jonathan DF 22 Leonardo Silva DF 3 Anderson LB 20 Gérson Magrão  64'  86' DM 7 Marquinhos Paraná DM 15 Henrique AM 8 Ramires AM 10 Wágner  39' FW 9 Wellington Paulista  84' FW 25 Kléber  41' Substitutes: GK 12 Andrey DF 14 Jancarlos MF 21 Fabinho  86' MF 17 Elicarlos MF 16 Bernardo FW 11 Thiago Ribeiro FW 18 Zé Carlos Manager: Adílson Batista

Man of the Match: Fábio Assistant referees: Pablo Fandiño Mauricio Espinosa Fourth official: Martín Vázquez

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Second leg

15 July 2009

21:50 (UTC-3)

Second leg

Cruzeiro	1–2	Estudiantes LP
Henrique 52'	Report	Fernández 57' Boselli 72'

Mineirão , Belo Horizonte

Attendance: 65,000

Referee: Carlos Chandía (Chile)

Cruzeiro

Estudiantes LP

GK 1 Fábio (c) RB 2 Jonathan DF 22 Leonardo Silva DF 4 Thiago Heleno LB 20 Gérson Magrão CM 7 Marquinhos Paraná CM 15 Henrique PM 8 Ramires AM 10 Wágner  71' FW 9 Wellington Paulista  74' FW 25 Kléber  37' Substitutes: GK 12 Andrey LB 18 Athirson  71' MF 5 Fabrício MF 21 Fabinho MF 17 Elicarlos MF 16 Bernardo FW 11 Thiago Ribeiro  74' Manager: Adílson Batista

GK 21 Mariano Andújar RB 3 Christian Cellay DF 14 Rolando Schiavi DF 2 Leandro Desábato LB 16 Germán Ré MF 22 Rodrigo Braña  44'  86' MF 8 Enzo Pérez MF 11 Juan Sebastián Verón (c)  37' MF 23 Leandro Benítez  79' FW 17 Mauro Boselli FW 10 Gastón Fernández  90' Substitutes: GK 25 Damián Albil DF 13 Juan Díaz  79' DF 6 Federico Fernández MF 5 Cristian Sánchez Prette  86' MF 18 Maximiliano Núñez FW 9 José Luis Calderón  90' FW 7 Juan Salgueiro Manager: Alejandro Sabella

Man of the Match: Juan Sebastián Verón Assistant referees: Patricio Basualto Francisco Mondría Fourth official: Pablo Pozo

References

1. "Cruzeiro 1 - 2 Estudiantes La Plata". ESPN. 2009-07-16. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2009-09-22.