IFFHS CONTINENTAL NEWS - COPA LIBERTADORES
Picture : Germán Cano has already scored 12 goals in Copa Libertadores 2023. It is the highest figure for a player in the same edition of the tournament in XXI century, equaling Pedro (Flamengo) from last year.
Copa Libertadores: statistics on semifinals (5-6 October)
*Boca Juniors have reached their 12th final of the Copa Libertadores: a record of competition.
The next are Peñarol (10 finals), Independiente, Olimpia and River Plate (7 for each).
*Boca Juniors are the first team in the entire history of the Copa Libertadores to eliminate the same rival (Palmeiras) as many as 4 times (2000 in the final, 2001, 2018 and 2023 always in semifinals).
*Boca are the first team to tie 6 of 6 games in round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals (including 1-1 in the 2nd leg vs Palmeiras) in the same edition of any major South American club competitions. In all 3 rounds, they only advanced after shoot-outs.
*Boca have gone 12 games in a row without winning in the knock-out phase of Copa Libertadores: new record of the competition.
They surpassed the series of 11 consecutive games without winning in direct elimination rounds from Oriente Petrolero (1988 to 2006) and Nacional (2007 to 2013).
*The two teams who won most penalty shootouts in Copa Libertadores history faced each other in this pairing. For Boca, it was 11th successful shootouts series in the tournament. Palmeiras, the second in this ranking, remained the second with 8.
The next are Barcelona Guayaquil and Olimpia (7 for each).
*Boca Juniors goalie Sergio Romero is undoubtedly their key person in this Copa Libertadores campaign, courtesy of his extraordinary skills at penalty duels.
He defended 12 out of 23 penalties in Boca jersey; his coefficient (52 percent) is biggest in the world football at top level over the recent period.
He won 4 of 4 shootouts with Boca, reflecting 2 penalties in each occasion.
*Fluminense have reached their 2nd Copa Libertadores final, after 2008 when they lost to LDU Quito.
*Fluminense are the 2nd team in the Copa Libertadores history to enter the final thanks to 2 late goals (after 80th minute) in the semifinal that turned elimination to promotion.
Kennedy scored in 81st and Cano in 87th minute to turn 0-1 score into 2-1 in away game vs Internacional.
The first to achieve this was River Plate against Grêmio in 2018 (with goals from Borré in 82nd and Martínez on 90+5th).
*Cano, an Argentinean playing for a Brazilian club, is the first foreign player to score 12 goals in the same edition in the Copa Libertadores history.
He beat his compatriot Beto Acosta who scored 11 goals for Universidad Católica (Chile) in 1997.
*Germán Cano is just the third Argentine player to score 12+ goals in an edition of the Copa Libertadores, after Daniel Onega (17 in 1966)
and Norberto Raffo (14 in 1967).