Copa Libertadores Holds Its Own

By: Christian | May 17th, 2008

Copa Libertadores

This Wednesday, much of the world will set their eyes upon Moscow for the Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea. With a worldwide audience expected to be in the billions to watch two of the world’s biggest clubs fight for club football’s highest honor, the Champions League is by far the most prestigious competition in the world.

But is it necessarily the best?
To many, South America’s Copa Libertadores is a distant second in terms of quality football, star power, and exposure. But this year’s edition has proven to be one of the most intense and suspenseful in years, and one could make the argument that when compared to the Big One across the Atlantic, this years Copa has had more thrills week in and week out than it’s European equivalent.

While the Champions League has left a bit to be desired in terms of surprises (anyone want to see another Chelsea Liverpool semifinal?), diversity (aside from the possible exception of Fenerbahçe, there were few surprises), and lack of attacking football (read: Manchester United in Barcelona), the Copa has delivered all those in spades. We’ve seen stunning comebacks, highlight-reel goals, and drama both on and off the pitch, with surprises coming from the most unlikely countries. Sure, the competition has been dominated in recent years by Argentina and Brazil, but given some of the teams still left, countries such as Mexico and Ecuador could easily produce a champion.

But this year, who is expected to win can change from week to week. The story a month ago as the runaway success of Brazil, with 5 teams from that country all avoiding each other in the knockout round, and a very real possibility of another all-Brazilian final. Argentine teams did not look particularly impressive in the group stages, with San Lorenzo struggling out of the gate, Lanús and Estudiantes not much stronger, and poor Arsenal reduced being a whipping boy. Mexican clubs, considered by many to just be there to make up the numbers, had an usually poor showing by Chivas, and their rivals América, who were woeful in the league, were hardly given a chance to even qualify our of their group against Chile’s Universidad Católica and Argentina’s River Plate.

How the tables have turned. Brazil suffered two losses in the Round of 16, with Boca handily taking care of a very strong Cruzeiro side, and in a contender for upset of the round, Flamengo, one of my picks as possible finalist, were eliminated by América 5-4 on aggregate, despite scoring 4 goals in the first leg - in Mexico! With Fluminense and São Paulo drawn together in the quarterfinals, and Santos down to goals after one leg, it’s not only conceivable that only one team from Brazil will be left in the semifinals, but that they won’t even make the final.

Argentina meanwhile has been a swinging pendulum. While few had expectations for Lanús, who are struggling in the league, Estudiantes being eliminated at the hands of LDU Quito came as a shock. But it was two rivals from Argentina that produced what could be the most memorable game of the tournament. River Plate were up 2-0 for the second leg at home against San Lorenzo, with a 2 man advantage to boot. Bit in 3 minutes exhilarating minutes, San Lorenzo somehow managed to score two goals, and held on to win 4-3 on aggregate. The raucous Monumental, which was all but convinced of a quarterfinal berth, was silenced, while San Lorenzo produced one of the most thrilling and unlikely comebacks you will ever see.

And as for Mexico? Well, that very same América club that came back to defeat Flamengo 3-0 in Brazil to overcome a 4-2 loss at home, just held Santos 2-0 at the Azteca and are favorites to advance. And if there is one team right now with all the momentum going forward, it’s Atlas. They may have brushed aside a weak Lanús, but this past week they drew 2-2 to last year’s champs Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires, and though they will face a dogfight next week in Mexico, they could easily advance to the next round.

So how could the semifinals shape up? Between the one Brazilian team that will advance, you just could see two teams from Mexico and one from Ecuador. But as this year has shown us, anything is possible in the Copa Lib. Though Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, and Colombia are no longer represented, the quality of Mexican, Ecuadorian, and even Colombian (Cúcuta were outstanding in the group stages) football has improved so vastly on the international stage, that favorites Brazil and Argentina, who are struggling with mass player exodus’ season after season, now have to deal with more competition than ever before.

The result? Unlike Europe, where the gap between those with money and those without is leaving fewer and fewer teams with a realistic shot at producing an upset against the “big clubs,” and where the expectation to succeed on the biggest stage with so much sponsorship and television money on the line can lead teams playing less attacking football in favor of a more conservative approach, in South America, clubs are leaving it all out on the pitch. True, many players are just putting themselves in the shop window for those lucrative European contracts, which cash-strapped clubs are desperate to take in a bid to stay financially afloat, but the chance at winning an important competition, as well as competing in the annual FIFA Club World Cup, an afterthought to many clubs in Europe, produces an added incentive to succeed.

So while Europe may be crown jewel of club football, don’t be so quick to discount the rough diamond that is South America and the Copa Libertadores. Whether you’re new to the competition or not, here at The Offside there is wealth of information covering almost every aspect of the tournament, starting of course with Mauro’s very fine Copa blog. Over on the Argentina World Cup Blog, we discuss it from an albiceleste perspective, and Brazil and Mexico are covered as well.

And you asked for it, so you shall receive - look for more Copa discussion on The Offside Podcast, updated weekly.