IFFHS CONTINENTAL NEWS - CONMEBOL COPA LIBERTADORES
Picture : Sergio Romero and Boca Junior reached the semi finals for the 19th time !
Copa Libertadores: statistics on quarterfinals (30 August - 1 September)
*For the third consecutive edition there will be three Brazilian teams (Palmeiras, International and Fluminense) in the semifinals of Copa Libertadores. Before 2021, it had never happened in the history of the competition.
*Palmeiras have reached the Copa Libertadores semifinals for 4th time in a row. Only two teams had longer such series in the history of the competition: Peñarol (6 consecutive semifinals in 1965-1970) and Independiente (5 in 1972-1976).
*Boca Juniors have reached the Copa Libertadores semifinals for 19th time, the third most amount in the history, after Peñarol (20) and River Plate (also 20).
*Boca Juniors have overcome a goalless Copa Libertadores tie (vs Racing, twice 0-0 and shootouts win) for the 1st time in their history.
In the previous three such cases, they lost in shootouts (vs Newell's Old Boys in 2013, vs Atlético Mineiro in 2021 and vs Corinthians in 2022).
*Boca Juniors became the 4th team to reach the Copa Libertadores semifinals after winning two penalty shootouts in the round of 16 and quarterfinals.
Racing (1997), Palmeiras (2001) and Sao Caetano (2002) did it before, but none of them passed both rounds without winning a single game as Boca have done now.
*Boca Juniors have not won a match in a knockout round since 23 December 2020 when they defeated Racing in the quarterfinals at home.
*Boca has gone 10 consecutive games without winning in direct elimination rounds; it is just one away from equaling the Copa Libertadores record shared by Oriente Petrolero and Nacional.
They have also a streak of 8 knock-out phase draws: unprecedented in the history of competition.
*Enner Valencia has scored all 3 goals in the tie Internacional vs Bolivar (1-0, 2-0). He is just the 2nd player in the history of Copa Libertadores to score all goals in a two-legged tie, with a minimum of 3 goals scored in it.
The first was Bruno Henrique (Flamengo) in the 2021 semifinals against Barcelona Guayaquil (the Brazilian striker scored all 4 goals in that tie).
*Enner Valencia became the 2nd Ecuadorian player to score 3+ goals in a two-legged Copa Libertadores tie, from the quarterfinals onwards.
The first was Alberto Spencer in 1960 (he scored 4 goals for Peñarol in the quarterfinals against Jorge Wilstermann).
Spencer also scored 3+ goals in the semifinals and in final of 1962 edition, as well as in another final of 1966, but all these cases were 3-game playoffs (with an extra game as a tiebreaker).