2007 Copa Libertadores finals

The 2007 Copa Libertadores finals was a two-legged football match-up to determine the 2007 Copa Libertadores champion. The series was contested between Argentine club Boca Juniors and Brazilian club Grêmio. The first leg of the tie was played on June 13 at Boca Juniors' home field, La Bombonera, with the second leg played on June 20 at Gremio's Estádio Olímpico. Boca Juniors won the series 5–0 on aggregate,^[1] achieving their sixth Copa Libertadores title.^[2]

2007 Copa Libertadores finals

Event	2007 Copa Toyota Libertadores
Boca Juniors Grêmio 5 0
on aggregate
First leg
Boca Juniors Grêmio 3 0
Date	13 June 2007
Venue	La Bombonera, Buenos Aires
Man of the Match	Juan Román Riquelme
Referee	Jorge Larrionda
Attendance	50,993
Second leg
Grêmio Boca Juniors 0 2
Date	20 June 2007
Venue	Estádio Olímpico, Porto Alegre
Man of the Match	Juan Román Riquelme
Referee	Óscar Ruiz
Attendance	53,952
← 2006 2008 →

Qualified teams

Team	Previous finals app.
Boca Juniors	1963, 1977, 1978, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004
Grêmio	1983, 1984, 1995

Bold indicates winning years

Venues

La Bombonera (Buenos Aires) and Estádio Olímpico (Porto Alegre), venues for the finals

Route to the finals

Grêmio			Boca Juniors
São Paulo A 0–1		Round of 16 First leg		Vélez Sársfield H 3–0	Riquelme 9' Palermo 61' Rodríguez 89'
São Paulo H 2–0	Tcheco 17' Diego Souza 74'	Second leg		Vélez Sársfield A 1–3	Bustos (o.g.) 32'
Defensor Sporting A 0–2		Quarterfinals First leg		Libertad H 1–1	Palermo 90'
Defensor Sporting H 2–0 (p. 4–2)	Tcheco 22' Teco 45'	Second leg		Libertad A 2–0	Riquelme 61' Palacio
Santos H 2–0	Tcheco 34' Carlos Eduardo 36'	Semifinals First leg		Cúcuta Deportivo A 1–3	Ledesma 27'
Santos A 1–3	Diego Souza 34'	Second leg		Cúcuta Deportivo H 3–0	Riquelme 44' Palermo 61' Battaglia 90'

Matches

First leg

13 June 2007

21:45 (UTC-3)

First leg

Boca Juniors	3–0	Grêmio
Palacio 18' Riquelme 73' Patrício 89' (o.g.)	Report

La Bombonera, Buenos Aires

Attendance: 50,993

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)

Boca Juniors

Grêmio

GK 12 Mauricio Caranta RB 4 Hugo Ibarra  13' CB 6 Cata Díaz CB 3 Claudio Morel LB 21 Clemente Rodríguez CM 8 Pablo Ledesma CM 24 Éver Banega  34'  81' CM 19 Neri Cardozo  64'  67' AM 10 Juan Román Riquelme  53' CF 14 Rodrigo Palacio CF 9 Martín Palermo (c) Substitutes: GK 25 Pablo Migliore DF 2 Matías Silvestre MF 5 Sebastián Battaglia  81' MF 11 Bruno Marioni MF 15 Guillermo Marino FW 17 Mauro Boselli MF 23 Jesús Datolo  67' Manager: Miguel Ángel Russo

GK 1 Sebastián Saja RB 2 Patrício  15' CB 4 William CB 14 Teco LB 16 Lúcio CM 15 Sandro Goiano  53'  58' CM 22 Diego Gavilán CM 10 Tcheco (c)  80' AM 11 Carlos Eduardo CF 9 Tuta  72' CF 7 Diego Souza Substitutes: GK 12 Galatto DF 3 Rolando Schiavi MF 5 Edmílson DF 6 Bruno Teles MF 8 Lucas Leiva  72' MF 18 Ramón FW 20 Douglas  80' Manager: Mano Menezes

Man of the Match: Juan Román Riquelme (Boca Juniors) Assistant referees: Wálter Rial Edgardo Acosta Fourth official: Líber Prudente

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Second leg

20 June 2007

21:45 (UTC-3)

Second leg

Grêmio	0–2	Boca Juniors
	Report	Riquelme 69', 81'

Estádio Olímpico Monumental, Porto Alegre

Attendance: 51,851

Referee: Óscar Ruiz (Colombia)

Grêmio

Boca Juniors

GK 1 Sebastián Saja RB 2 Patrício CB 4 William CB 14 Teco  35' LB 16 Lúcio  88' CM 8 Lucas Leiva  70' CM 22 Diego Gavilán CM 10 Tcheco (c)  46' AM 11 Carlos Eduardo CF 9 Tuta  70' CF 7 Diego Souza  50' Substitutes: GK 12 Galatto DF 3 Rolando Schiavi  84'  35' DF 6 Bruno Teles MF 18 Ramón FW 19 Everton  70' FW 20 Douglas FW 21 Amoroso  46' Manager: Mano Menezes

GK 12 Mauricio Caranta RB 4 Hugo Ibarra CB 6 Cata Díaz CB 3 Claudio Morel LB 21 Clemente Rodríguez CM 8 Pablo Ledesma  74' CM 24 Éver Banega  82' CM 19 Neri Cardozo  59' AM 10 Juan Román Riquelme CF 14 Rodrigo Palacio  87' CF 9 Martín Palermo (c) Substitutes: GK 25 Pablo Migliore DF 2 Matías Silvestre MF 5 Sebastián Battaglia  59' FW 11 Bruno Marioni MF 16 Sergio Órteman  82' FW 17 Mauro Boselli  87' MF 23 Jesús Dátolo Manager: Miguel Ángel Russo

Man of the Match: Juan Román Riquelme (Boca Juniors) Assistant referees: Juan Carlos Bedoya Jovani Zapata Fourth official: Albert Duarte

Aftermath

Juan Román Riquelme was the most notable player of the competition, with 8 goals and 7 assists

With this appearance in the last stage Boca Juniors reached a record-equalling ninth final, winning on five of the eight previous occasions. At that point only Peñarol of Uruguay had played as many. The media praised Juan Román Riquelme's performance in the finals, crediting him as Boca's most notable player. Riquelme had returned to Argentina after a frustrating experience at Spanish club Villarreal where manager Manuel Pellegrini excluded him from the senior squad due to personal disputes.^[3] Under the guidance of manager Miguel Ángel Russo, Riquelme was the top scorer of the team (and second of the 2007 edition behind Salvador Cabañas) with 8 goals in 11 matches, three of them in the finals.^[4]

Riquelme made it easy to win the Copa Libertadores

— Sergio Orteman, Riquelme's teammate in 2007 ^[4]

The (Libertadores) Cup is like the girl you want but she ignores you

— Miguel Ángel Russo, Boca Juniors manager ^[5]

The 5–0 aggregate score remains the largest victory in the history of Copa Libertadores finals.^[5]

On the other hand, Grêmio – who had previously played three finals, winning two of them – moved up to second place among Brazilian clubs with most Copa Libertadores finals contested, behind São Paulo with six.