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 6 November 2021,[6] but on 27 July 2021 the final was eventually confirmed to have been rescheduled to 20 November 2021.[7]
Defensa y Justicia were the defending champions, but did not play this edition since they qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores group stage as Copa Sudamericana champions and later advanced to the knockout stage.
Format changes
On 2 October 2020, CONMEBOL's Council approved the implementation of format changes to the Copa Sudamericana starting from this edition, aimed at ensuring that each of the countries is better represented in the different stages of the competition. The following changes were implemented:[9][10]
The tournament was expanded from 54 to 56 teams, with all four Copa Libertadores third stage losers entering the competition instead of the two best teams eliminated.
In the first stage, teams from all associations other than Argentina and Brazil played against a team from their same association in double-legged ties with the winners qualifying for a 32-team group stage, ensuring that at least two teams from each association will take part in the group stage.
A group stage was included, with teams from Argentina and Brazil directly entering the Copa Sudamericana entering the competition at this stage, joining the 16 first stage winners and the four teams eliminated in the Copa Libertadores third stage. The winners of each group qualified for the round of 16.
The eight third-placed teams of the Copa Libertadores group stage entered the competition at the round of 16.
Teams
The following 44 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL associations qualified for the tournament:[11]
A further 12 teams eliminated from the 2021 Copa Libertadores were transferred to the Copa Sudamericana, entering the group stage (four teams) and the round of 16 (eight teams).
Bolivia (BOL): The 2020 Clausura tournament was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bolivia, therefore the four Bolivia berths of the 2021 Copa Sudamericana were reallocated to the four best teams of the 2020 Apertura not qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores.
Colombia (COL): On 25 July 2020, DIMAYOR decided that the Colombia 4 berth, which was originally allocated to the 2020 Primera A aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores, would be awarded to the winners of a play-off tournament between said team and the 12 teams that failed to qualify for the 2020 Primera A knockout stage.[15][16]
Ecuador (ECU): The 2020 Copa Ecuador was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador, therefore the Ecuador 4 berth which was originally allocated to the winners of said competition passed over to the 2020 Serie A aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores.
Paraguay (PAR): The 2020 Copa Paraguay was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Paraguay, therefore the Paraguay 4 berth which was originally allocated to the winners of said competition passed over to the 2020 Primera División aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores.[17]
Peru (PER): The 2020 Copa Bicentenario was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, therefore the Peru 4 berth which was originally allocated to the winners of said competition passed over to the 2020 Liga 1 aggregate table 4th best team not qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores.[18]
Venezuela (VEN): On 15 May 2020, the Venezuelan Football Federation decided the permanent suspension of the 2020 Venezuelan Primera División season and the voiding of the standings and results recorded due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela.[19][20] The allocation of the four Venezuela berths of the 2021 Copa Sudamericana would be announced at a later time, with the FVF confirming a will to organize a new tournament in which sporting merit, club licensing requirements, and medical protocols were applied.[21] The definitive berth allocations were confirmed by the FVF on 18 September 2020.[22]
Schedule
The schedule of the competition will be as follows:[9][23]
Location of teams of the 2021 Copa Sudamericana. Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H; White: First stage; Turquoise: Round of 16 entrants. (L) Teams transferred from the 2021 Copa Libertadores.
The draw for the first stage was held on 5 February 2021, 12:00 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[24][27] For the first stage, the 32 teams involved were divided into eight pots according to their national association.
The 32 teams were drawn into 16 ties, with the four teams from each national association drawn against each other into two ties per association (e.g., the four teams from Bolivia were drawn into ties BOL 1 and BOL 2), and the first team drawn in each tie hosting the second leg. The draw for the group stage was held on 9 April 2021, 12:00 PYT (UTC−4), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[25][28]
Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL Clubs ranking as of 1 February 2021 (shown in parentheses),[29][30] taking into account the following three factors:[31]
Performance in the last 10 years, taking into account Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana results in the period 2011–2020.
Historical coefficient, taking into account Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana results in the period 1960–2010 and 2002–2010 respectively.
Local tournament champion, with bonus points awarded to domestic league champions of the last 10 years.
For the group stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups (Groups A–H) of four containing a team from each of the four pots. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group, excluding the four losers of the Copa Libertadores third stage, which were seeded in Pot 4 and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same group with another team from the same association.
URU The identity of the two first stage winners from Uruguay was not known at the time of the draw, and they were seeded in Pot 4.
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 1 June 2021, 12:00 PYT (UTC−4), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[26] For the round of 16, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (A–H) between a Copa Sudamericana group winner (Pot 1) and a Copa Libertadores group third-placed (Pot 2), with the Copa Sudamericana group winners hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association or the same group could be drawn into the same tie (Regulations Article 2.2.3.2).[1]
In the first stage, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was used. If still tied, extra time will not be played, and a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 2.4.2).[1]
The 16 winners of the first stage advanced to the group stage to join the 12 teams directly qualified for that stage (six from Argentina and six from Brazil), and four teams transferred from the Copa Libertadores (the four teams eliminated in the third stage of qualifying).
In the group stage, each group is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams are ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Away goals scored; 5. CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 2.4.3).[1]
In the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg (Regulations Article 2.2.3). If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule will be used. If still tied, extra time will not be played, and a penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 2.4.4).
The final is played as a single match at a venue pre-selected by CONMEBOL, with the higher-seeded team designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes (Regulations Article 2.2.6). If tied after regulation, 30 minutes of extra time will be played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 2.4.5).
Seeding
Starting from the round of 16, the teams are seeded according to their results in the group stage, with the Copa Sudamericana group winners (Pot 1) seeded 1–8, and the Copa Libertadores group third-placed teams (Pot 2) seeded 9–16.
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Athletico Paranaense (2nd title)
Agustín Álvarez Martínez (10 goals)
