2018 Copa Libertadores
The 2018 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 59th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
River Plate defeated Boca Juniors in the 2018 [Copa Libertadores Finals|finals] by an aggregate score of 5–3 to win their fourth tournament title. As champions, they qualified as the CONMEBOL representative at the 2018 FIFA [Club World Cup] in the United Arab Emirates and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2018 Copa Sudamericana in the 2019 Recopa Sudamericana. They also automatically qualified for the 2019 Copa Libertadores group stage. Grêmio were the defending champions, but were defeated by River Plate in the semifinals.
The first leg of the final was played at the Estadio Alberto J. Armando in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 11 November 2018, while the second leg took place outside South America at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain on 9 December 2018. The New York Times reported that the second leg was referred to as the "Final to End All Finals" and the biggest game in Argentine sport history but it was postponed and moved due to violence against the Boca Juniors team.
Teams
The following 47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations qualified for the tournament:- Copa Libertadores champions
- Copa Sudamericana champions
- Brazil: 7 berths
- Argentina: 6 berths
- All other associations: 4 berths each
The entry stage was determined as follows:
- Group stage: 28 teams
- *Copa Libertadores champions
- *Copa Sudamericana champions
- *Teams which qualified for berths 1–5 from Argentina and Brazil
- *Teams which qualified for berths 1–2 from all other associations
- Second stage: 13 teams
- *Teams which qualified for berths 6–7 from Brazil
- *Team which qualified for berth 6 from Argentina
- *Teams which qualified for berths 3–4 from Chile and Colombia
- *Teams which qualified for berths 3 from all other associations
- First stage: 6 teams
- *Teams which qualified for berths 4 from Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela
| Association | Team | Entry stage | Qualification method |
 nowrap|ScheduleThe schedule of the competition was as follows. The first stage matches were played on Monday and Friday, instead of the usual midweek of Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. The finals were initially scheduled for 7 and 28 November, but were moved to 10 and 24 November after the finalists were confirmed.DrawsQualifying stagesFirst stageSecond stageThird stageCopa Sudamericana qualificationGroup stageGroup AGroup BGroup CGroup DGroup EGroup FGroup GGroup HFinal stagesSeedingBracketRound of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinalsStatisticsTop scorersTop assists |