2008 Copa Sudamericana

The 2008 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes was the seventh edition of the Copa Sudamericana football tournament. The draw for the tournament took place on June 10, 2008 in Buenos Aires and the competition was played between July 30 and December 3.^[1] Arsenal de Sarandí were the defending champions, having won the trophy the previous season. Brazilian side Internacional won the 2008 tournament, becoming the first Brazilian winners of the trophy.

2008 Copa Sudamericana

2008 Copa Nissan Sudamericana de Clubes 2008 Copa Nissan Sul-americana do Clubes
Tournament details
Dates	July 30 - December 3
Teams	34 (from 12 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Internacional (1st title)
Runners-up	Estudiantes
Tournament statistics
Matches played	66
Goals scored	181 (2.74 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Alex Nilmar (5 goals each)
← 2007 2009 → All statistics correct as of December 3, 2008.

Qualified teams

A total of 34 teams are participating in the 2008 Copa Sudamericana, from 12 associations (10 from CONMEBOL and 2 from CONCACAF).

Association	Team	Qualify method
Argentina 6 + 1 berths	Arsenal	2007 Copa Sudamericana champion
	Boca Juniors	Invitee
	River Plate	Invitee
	Estudiantes	2007–08 Primera División 2nd place
	San Lorenzo	2007–08 Primera División 4th place
	Argentinos Juniors	2007–08 Primera División 5th place
	Independiente	2007–08 Primera División 6th place
Bolivia 2 berths	Bolívar	2007 Apertura & Clausura Runners-up Playoff runner-up
	Blooming	2007 Apertura & Clausura 3rd place Playoff winners[2]
Brazil 8 berths	São Paulo	2007 Série A champion
	Grêmio	2007 Série A 6th place
	Palmeiras	2007 Série A 7th place
	Atlético Mineiro	2007 Série A 8th place
	Botafogo	2007 Série A 9th place
	Vasco da Gama	2007 Série A 10th place
	Internacional	2007 Série A 11th place
	Atlético Paranaense	2007 Série A 12th place
Chile 2 berths	Ñublense	2008 Apertura league stage 1st place
	Universidad Católica	2008 Apertura league stage 2nd place
Colombia 2 berths	Deportivo Cali	2007 Reclasificación 4th place
	América de Cali	2007 Reclasificación 5th place
Ecuador 2 berths	LDU Quito	2007 Serie A Second Stage winner
	Deportivo Quito	2008 Serie A First Stage winner
Paraguay 2 berths	Libertad	2007 Primera División champion
	Olimpia	2007 Primera División 2nd best-placed non-champion
Peru 2 berths	Sport Áncash	2007 Descentralizado 2nd best-placed non-champion
	Universitario	2007 Descentralizado 3rd best-placed non-champion
Uruguay 2 berths	Defensor Sporting	2007–08 Uruguayan Primera División champion
	River Plate	2008 Liguilla 4th place
Venezuela 2 berths	Aragua	2007–08 Copa Venezuela champion
	Maracaibo	2007–08 Primera División 2nd best-placed non-finalist
Mexico 2 berths	Guadalajara	Best-placed eligible team in 2008 Clausura[3]
	San Luis	2nd best-placed eligible team in 2008 Clausura[3][4]
Honduras 1 berth	Motagua	Invitee[5][6][7]

Preliminary stage

Main article: 2008 Copa Sudamericana Preliminary Stage

The Preliminary Stage opened the Copa Sudamericana. All the second berths of 8 South American football associations contested this round. The four winners advanced to the First Round. Team #1 played at home first.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
River Plate	2–4	Universidad Católica	2–0	0–4
Maracaibo	2–4	América de Cali	0–0	2–4
Universitario	1–2	Deportivo Quito	0–0	1–2
Olimpia	4–3	Blooming	4–2	0–1

First stage

The First Stage consisted of twenty-eight teams each playing two-legged matches. Twenty-four teams qualified directly to this round. The fourteen winners advanced to the Round of 16. Team #1 played at home first.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Defensor Sporting	5–4	Libertad	2–1	3–3
LDU Quito	5–4	Bolívar	4–2	1–2
América de Cali	2–1	Deportivo Cali	2–0	0–1
Ñublense	1–4	Sport Áncash	1–0	0–4
Universidad Católica	6–2	Olimpia	4–0	2–2
Aragua	2–3	Guadalajara	1–2	1–1
San Luis	5–4	Deportivo Quito	3–1	2–3
Arsenal	6–1	Motagua	4–0	2–1
Independiente	3–3 (3–5 p)	Estudiantes	2–1	1–2
Argentinos Juniors	2–0	San Lorenzo	0–0	2–0
Atlético Paranaense	0–0 (4–3 p)	São Paulo	0–0	0–0
Internacional	3–3 (a)	Grêmio	1–1	2–2
Vasco da Gama	3–4	Palmeiras	3–1	0–3
Botafogo	8–3	Atlético Mineiro	3–1	5–2

Knockout stages

	Round of 16						Quarterfinals						Semifinals						Finals
	LDU Quito	0	1	1
	Boca Juniors *	4	1	5
							Boca Juniors	0	1	1
							Internacional *	2	2	4
	Universidad Católica *	1	0	1
	Internacional (a)	1	0	1
													Internacional	2	4	6
													Guadalajara *	0	0	0
	Guadalajara *	2	4	6
	Atlético Paranaense	2	3	5
							Guadalajara	2	2	4
							River Plate *	1	2	3
	Defensor Sporting *	1	1	2
	River Plate	2	2	4
																			Internacional	1	1	2
																			Estudiantes *	0	1	1
	América de Cali *	1	1	2
	Botafogo	0	3	3
							Botafogo	0	2	2
							Estudiantes *	2	2	4
	Arsenal	1	0	1
	Estudiantes *	2	0	2
													Estudiantes	1	1	2
													Argentinos Juniors *	1	0	1
	San Luis *	2	0	2
	Argentinos Juniors	1	2	3
							Argentinos Juniors	1	2	3
							Palmeiras *	0	0	0
	Sport Áncash *	0	0	0
	Palmeiras	0	1	1

(*)Indicates that the team plays at home for the first leg

Round of 16

The Second Stage was the Round of 16, played by the fourteen winners from the First Round, plus River Plate and Boca Juniors. As in the First Round, these teams played two-legged matches. Team #1 played at home first.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Boca Juniors	5–1	LDU Quito	4–0	1–1
América de Cali	2–3	Botafogo	1–0	1–3
San Luis	2–3	Argentinos Juniors	2–1	0–2
Guadalajara	6–5	Atlético Paranaense	2–2	4–3
Defensor Sporting	2–4	River Plate	1–2	1–2
Sport Áncash	0–1	Palmeiras	0–0	0–1
Estudiantes	2–1	Arsenal	2–1	0–0
Universidad Católica	1–1(a)	Internacional	1–1	0–0

Quarterfinals

The Quarterfinals was played by the eight winners from the Round of 16. As in the First Round, these teams played two-legged matches. Team #1 played at home first.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Internacional	4–1	Boca Juniors	2–0	2–1
Estudiantes	4–2	Botafogo	2–0	2–2
Palmeiras	0–3	Argentinos Juniors	0–1	0–2
River Plate	3–4	Guadalajara	1–2	2–2

Semifinals

The Semifinals was played by the four winners from the Quarterfinals. As in the First Round, these teams played two-legged matches. Team #1 played at home first.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Guadalajara	0–6	Internacional	0–2[8]	0–4[9]
Argentinos Juniors	1–2	Estudiantes	1–1	0–1

Finals

Main article: 2008 Copa Sudamericana Finals

The Finals were played by the two winners from the Semifinals. As in the First Round, these teams played two-legged matches. Team #1 played at home first.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Estudiantes	1–2	Internacional	0–1[10][11][12]	1–1 (aet).[13][14]

Champion

Copa Sudamericana 2008 Winner
Internacional 1st Title