2012 Copa Libertadores

The 2012 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2012 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. It ran from January 24 to July 4, 2012. Santos were the defending champions, but lost to Corinthians in the semifinals.

2012 Copa Libertadores de América

2012 Copa Libertadores da América
Tournament details
Dates	January 24 – July 4, 2012
Teams	38 (from 11 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Corinthians (1st title)
Runners-up	Boca Juniors
Tournament statistics
Matches played	138
Goals scored	364 (2.64 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Matías Alustiza Neymar (8 goals each)
Best player(s)	Emerson[1]
← 2011 2013 →

São Paulo-based club Corinthians won the competition, with an undefeated campaign, after defeating six-time champion Boca Juniors in the finals. It is Corinthians' first Libertadores title. By winning the competition, Corinthians won the right to play in the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2013 Recopa Sudamericana.

Qualified teams

Association	Team (Berth)	Entry stage	Qualification method
Argentina 5 berths	Vélez Sársfield (Argentina 1)	Second Stage	2011 Clausura champion
	Boca Juniors (Argentina 2)		2011 Apertura champion
	Lanús (Argentina 3)		2011 tournaments aggregate table best non-champion
	Godoy Cruz (Argentina 4)		2011 tournaments aggregate table 2nd best non-champion
	Arsenal (Argentina 5)	First Stage	2011 Copa Sudamericana best performing team not yet qualified
Bolivia 3 berths	Bolívar (Bolivia 1)	Second Stage	2011 Adecuación champion
	The Strongest (Bolivia 2)		2011 Apertura champion
	Real Potosí (Bolivia 3)	First Stage	2011 Adecuación runner-up
Brazil 5+1 berths	Santos (Brazil 1)	Second Stage	2011 Copa Libertadores de América champion
	Corinthians (Brazil 2)		2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion
	Vasco da Gama (Brazil 3)		2011 Copa do Brasil champion
	Fluminense (Brazil 4)		2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3rd place
	Flamengo (Brazil 5)	First Stage	2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 4th place
	Internacional (Brazil 6)		2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 5th place
Chile 3 berths	Universidad de Chile (Chile 1)	Second Stage	2011 Apertura champion and 2011 Copa Sudamericana champion
	Universidad Católica (Chile 2)		2011 Primera División aggregate table best non-champion
	Unión Española (Chile 3)	First Stage	2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best non-champion
Colombia 3 berths	Atlético Nacional (Colombia 1)	Second Stage	2011 Apertura champion
	Junior (Colombia 2)		2011 Finalización champion
	Once Caldas (Colombia 3)	First Stage	2011 Primera A aggregate table best non-champion
Ecuador 3 berths	Deportivo Quito (Ecuador 1)	Second Stage	2011 Serie A champion
	Emelec (Ecuador 2)		2011 Serie A runner-up
	El Nacional (Ecuador 3)	First Stage	2011 Serie A 3rd place
Paraguay 3 berths	Olimpia (Paraguay 1)	Second Stage	2011 Primera División aggregate table best champion
	Nacional (Paraguay 2)		2011 Primera División aggregate table 2nd best champion
	Libertad (Paraguay 3)	First Stage	2011 Primera División aggregate table best non-champion
Peru 3 berths	Juan Aurich (Peru 1)	Second Stage	2011 Descentralizado champion
	Alianza Lima (Peru 2)		2011 Descentralizado runner-up
	Sport Huancayo (Peru 3)	First Stage	2011 Descentralizado 3rd place
Uruguay 3 berths	Nacional (Uruguay 1)	Second Stage	2010–11 Primera División champion
	Defensor Sporting (Uruguay 2)		2010–11 Primera División runner-up
	Peñarol (Uruguay 3)	First Stage	2010–11 Primera División aggregate table 3rd place
Venezuela 3 berths	Deportivo Táchira (Venezuela 1)	Second Stage	2010–11 Primera División champion
	Zamora (Venezuela 2)		2010–11 Primera División runner-up
	Caracas (Venezuela 3)	First Stage	2010–11 Primera División aggregate table best non-finalist
Mexico (CONCACAF) 3 invitees	Guadalajara (Mexico 1)	Second Stage	2011 Apertura classification phase best eligible team
	Cruz Azul (Mexico 2)		2011 Apertura classification phase 2nd best eligible team
	UANL (Mexico 3)	First Stage	2011 Apertura classification phase 3rd best eligible team

Draw

The draw of the tournament was held on November 25, 2011, at 15:00 UTC−03:00, in Luque, Paraguay.^[2][3]

For the first stage, each of the six ties contains one team from each pot. For the second stage, each of the eight groups contains one team from each pot. Teams from the same association in Pots 1 and 3 cannot be placed in the same group. However, a first stage winner may be drawn with a team from the same association in the second stage.

As per agreement when deciding the seeding for the 2011 Copa Libertadores, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay all had their berth 1 teams be seeded teams for 2012 instead of the berth 1 teams from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela for 2011.

First Stage
Pot 1	Pot 2
Arsenal† Flamengo† Internacional† Libertad† Peñarol UANL	Real Potosí† Unión Española† Once Caldas† El Nacional† Sport Huancayo† Caracas

Second Stage
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Santos Vélez Sársfield Boca Juniors† Corinthians† Bolívar Universidad de Chile Olimpia† Nacional	Atlético Nacional Junior† Deportivo Quito† Emelec† Juan Aurich† Alianza Lima† Deportivo Táchira Zamora	Lanús† Godoy Cruz† Vasco da Gama Fluminense† The Strongest† Universidad Católica† Nacional† Defensor Sporting	Arsenal† Flamengo† Peñarol Libertad† Internacional† Unión Española† Guadalajara Cruz Azul

^† Teams had not yet fully qualified to the specific berth when the draw took place.^[3]

Schedule

All dates listed are Wednesdays, but matches may be played on the day before (Tuesdays) and after (Thursdays) as well.^[3]

Stage	First leg	Second leg
First Stage	January 25	February 1
Second Stage	February 8, 15, 22 March 7, 14, 21, 28 April 4, 11, 18
Round of 16	April 25 May 2	May 9
Quarterfinals	May 16	May 23
Semifinals	June 13	June 20
Finals	June 27	July 4

First stage

Main article: 2012 Copa Libertadores first stage

The First Stage, played in home-and-away two-legged format, began on January 24 and ended on February 2.^[4] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Sport Huancayo	1–4	Arsenal	0–3	1–1
Flamengo	3–2	Real Potosí	1–2	2–0
Caracas	1–5	Peñarol	0–4	1–1
Libertad	4–2	El Nacional	0–1	4–1
Once Caldas	2–3	Internacional	0–1	2–2
UANL	2–3	Unión Española	0–1	2–2

Second stage

Main article: 2012 Copa Libertadores second stage

The second stage, played in home-and-away round-robin format, began on February 7 and ended on April 19.^[4] The top two teams from each group advanced to the round of 16.

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		SAN	INT	STR	AUR
1	Santos	6	4	1	1	12	5	+7	13			3–1	2–0	2–0
2	Internacional	6	2	2	2	10	6	+4	8		1–1		5–0	2–0
3	The Strongest	6	2	1	3	5	11	−6	7		2–1	1–1		2–1
4	Juan Aurich	6	2	0	4	4	9	−5	6		1–3	1–0	1–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		LAN	EME	FLA	OLI
1	Lanús	6	3	1	2	11	6	+5	10			1–0	1–1	6–0
2	Emelec	6	3	0	3	7	8	−1	9		0–2		3–2	1–0
3	Flamengo	6	2	2	2	12	10	+2	8		3–0	1–0		3–3
4	Olimpia	6	2	1	3	10	16	−6	7		2–1	2–3	3–2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		UE	BOL	JUN	UC
1	Unión Española	6	3	1	2	10	7	+3	10			2–1	2–0	1–1
2	Bolívar	6	3	1	2	9	7	+2	10		1–3		2–1	3–0
3	Junior	6	2	1	3	8	8	0	7		2–1	0–1		3–0
4	Universidad Católica	6	1	3	2	6	11	−5	6		2–1	1–1	2–2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		FLU	BOC	ARS	ZAM
1	Fluminense	6	5	0	1	7	4	+3	15			0–2	1–0	1–0
2	Boca Juniors	6	4	1	1	9	3	+6	13		1–2		2–0	2–0
3	Arsenal	6	2	0	4	6	7	−1	6		1–2	1–2		3–0
4	Zamora	6	0	1	5	0	8	−8	1		0–1	0–0	0–1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 5

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		LIB	VAS	NAC	ALI
1	Libertad	6	4	1	1	11	7	+4	13			1–1	2–1	4–1
2	Vasco da Gama	6	4	1	1	10	6	+4	13		2–0		1–2	3–2
3	Nacional	6	2	0	4	5	7	−2	6		1–2	0–1		1–0
4	Alianza Lima	6	1	0	5	6	12	−6	3		1–2	1–2	1–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 6

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		COR	CAZ	NAC	TAC
1	Corinthians	6	4	2	0	13	2	+11	14			1–0	2–0	6–0
2	Cruz Azul	6	3	2	1	11	4	+7	11		0–0		4–1	4–0
3	Nacional	6	1	1	4	6	13	−7	4		1–3	1–2		3–2
4	Deportivo Táchira	6	0	3	3	4	15	−11	3		1–1	1–1	0–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 7

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		VEL	QUI	DEF	GDL
1	Vélez Sársfield	6	4	0	2	10	6	+4	12			1–0	1–3	3–0
2	Deportivo Quito	6	3	1	2	11	4	+7	10		3–0		2–0	5–0
3	Defensor Sporting	6	3	0	3	6	7	−1	9		0–3	2–0		1–0
4	Guadalajara	6	1	1	4	2	12	−10	4		0–2	1–1	1–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group 8

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		UCH	ATN	GOD	PEÑ
1	Universidad de Chile	6	4	1	1	11	6	+5	13			2–1	5–1	2–1
2	Atlético Nacional	6	3	2	1	16	8	+8	11		2–0		2–2	3–0
3	Godoy Cruz	6	1	2	3	10	16	−6	5		0–1	4–4		1–0
4	Peñarol	6	1	1	4	6	13	−7	4		1–1	0–4	4–2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knockout stages

Main article: 2012 Copa Libertadores knockout stages

The last four stages of the tournament (round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals), played in home-and-away two-legged format, form a single-elimination tournament, contested by the sixteen teams which advance from the Second Stage.^[5]

Seeding

The 16 qualified teams are seeded in the knockout stages according to their results in the second stage, with the group winners seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up seeded 9–16.^[5] The teams were ranked by: 1. Points (Pts); 2. Goal difference (GD); 3. Goals scored (GF); 4. Away goals (AG); 5. Drawing of lots.

Teams qualified as group winners Seed Team Pts GD GF AG 1 Fluminense 15 +3 7 5 2 Corinthians 14 +11 13 4 3 Santos 13 +7 12 5 4 Universidad de Chile 13 +5 11 2 5 Libertad 13 +4 11 4 6 Vélez Sársfield 12 +4 10 5 7 Lanús 10 +5 11 3 8 Unión Española 10 +3 10 5

Teams qualified as group runners-up Seed Team Pts GD GF AG 9 Boca Juniors 13 +5 9 4 10 Vasco da Gama 13 +4 10 4 11 Atlético Nacional 11 +8 16 9 12 Cruz Azul 11 +7 11 3 13 Deportivo Quito 10 +7 11 1 14 Bolívar 10 +2 9 3 15 Emelec 9 −1 7 3 16 Internacional 8 +4 10 2

Bracket

	Round of 16						Quarterfinals						Semifinals						Finals
	2	Corinthians	0	3
	15	Emelec	0	0
							2	Corinthians	0	1
							10	Vasco da Gama	0	0
	7	Lanús	1	2 (4)
	10	Vasco da Gama	2	1 (5)
													2	Corinthians	1	1
													3	Santos	0	1
	3	Santos	1	8
	14	Bolívar	2	0
							3	Santos (p)	0	1 (4)
							6	Vélez Sársfield	1	0 (2)
	6	Vélez Sársfield	1	1
	11	Atlético Nacional	0	1
																			2	Corinthians	1	2
																			9	Boca Juniors	1	0
	4	U. de Chile	1	6
	13	Deportivo Quito	4	0
							4	U. de Chile (p)	1	1 (5)
							5	Libertad	1	1 (3)
	5	Libertad	1	2
	12	Cruz Azul	1	0
													4	U. de Chile	0	0
													9	Boca Juniors	2	0
	1	Fluminense	0	2
	16	Internacional	0	1
							1	Fluminense	0	1
							9	Boca Juniors	1	1
	8	Unión Española	1	2
	9	Boca Juniors	2	3

Round of 16

The Round of 16 began on April 25 and ended on May 10.^[6] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Fluminense	2–1	Internacional	0–0	2–1
Corinthians	3–0	Emelec	0–0	3–0
Santos	9–2	Bolívar	1–2	8–0
Universidad de Chile	7–4	Deportivo Quito	1–4	6–0
Libertad	3–1	Cruz Azul	1–1	2–0
Vélez Sársfield	2–1	Atlético Nacional	1–0	1–1
Lanús	3–3 (4–5 p)	Vasco da Gama	1–2	2–1
Unión Española	3–5	Boca Juniors	1–2	2–3

Quarter-finals

The Quarter-finals began on May 16 and ended on May 24.^[7] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Fluminense	1–2	Boca Juniors	0–1	1–1
Corinthians	1–0	Vasco da Gama	0–0	1–0
Santos	1–1 (4–2 p)	Vélez Sársfield	0–1	1–0
Universidad de Chile	2–2 (5–3 p)	Libertad	1–1	1–1

Semi-finals

The Semifinals began on June 13 and ended on June 21.^[8] Team 1 played the second leg at home.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Corinthians	2–1	Santos	1–0	1–1
Universidad de Chile	0–2	Boca Juniors	0–2	0–0

Finals

Main article: 2012 Copa Libertadores Finals

The Finals were played over two legs, with the higher-seeded team playing the second leg at home. If the teams were tied on points and goal difference at the end of regulation in the second leg, the away goals rule would not be applied and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the title would be decided by penalty shootout.^[5]

June 27, 2012

21:50 UTC−3

Boca Juniors	1–1	Corinthians
Roncaglia 72'	Report	Romarinho 84'

Estadio Alberto J. Armando (La Bombonera), Buenos Aires

Attendance: 51,901

Referee: Enrique Osses (Chile)

---

July 4, 2012

21:50 UTC−3

Corinthians	2−0	Boca Juniors
Emerson 53', 72'	Report

Estádio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho (Pacaembu), São Paulo

Attendance: 40,186

Referee: Wilmar Roldán (Colombia)

Corinthians won on points 3–1.

Copa Libertadores de América 2012 Champion
Corinthians First Title

Top goalscorers

Pos	Player	Club	Goals
1	Matías Alustiza	Deportivo Quito	8
	Neymar	Santos	8
3	Dorlan Pabón	Atlético Nacional	7
4	Junior Fernándes	Universidad de Chile	6
	Leandro Damião	Internacional	6
6	Emerson	Corinthians	5
	Emanuel Herrera	Unión Española	5
	Javier Orozco	Cruz Azul	5
9	Danilo	Corinthians	4
	Ángelo Henríquez	Universidad de Chile	4
	Alan Kardec	Santos	4
	Luis Fernando Mosquera	Atlético Nacional	4
	José Ariel Núñez	Libertad	4
	Mariano Pavone	Lanús	4
	Mario Regueiro	Lanús	4
	Matías Rodríguez	Universidad de Chile	4

Source:^[9]

Awards

Player of the week

Week	Player	Team	Notes
Jan 31 – Feb 2	Andrés D'Alessandro	Internacional	[10]
Feb 7–9	Javier Orozco	Cruz Azul	[11]
Feb 14–16	Pablo Escobar	The Strongest	[12]
Feb 21–23	Dorlan Pabón	Atlético Nacional	[13]
Mar 6–8	Deco	Fluminense	[14]
Mar 13–15	Leandro Damião	Internacional	[15]
Mar 20–22	Mario Regueiro	Lanús	[16]
Mar 27–29	Sergio Órteman	Olimpia	[17]
Apr 3–5	Luciano Figueroa	Emelec	[18]
Apr 10–12	Darío Cvitanich	Boca Juniors	[19]
Apr 17–19	Matías Alustiza	Deportivo Quito	[20]
May 1–3	Fidel Martínez	Deportivo Quito	[21]
May 8–10	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	[22]
May 16–17	Iván Obolo	Vélez Sársfield	[23]
May 23–24	Johnny Herrera	Universidad de Chile	[24]

Fair play award

The Samsung Fair Play Trophy was awarded to Brazilian club Corinthians.^[25]

Notes

Brazilian coach Ricardo Ferretti sent a team of substitutes of Tigres UANL, and was heavily criticized by the Latin press that claimed that he had "ignored" the competition.

See also

• 2012 FIFA Club World Cup
• 2012 Copa Sudamericana
• 2013 Recopa Sudamericana