1968 Copa Libertadores

1968 Copa Libertadores

1968 Copa Libertadores de América 1968 Copa Libertadores da América
Tournament details
Dates	January 27 - May 16
Teams	21 (from 10 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	Estudiantes (LP) (1st title)
Runners-up	Palmeiras
Tournament statistics
Matches played	93
Goals scored	230 (2.47 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Tupãzinho (11 goals)
← 1967 1969 →

The 1968 Copa Libertadores was the ninth edition of the Copa Libertadores, South America's premier association football competition. It was played between January 27 and May 16. A record 21 teams participated in this edition.

This edition brought the explosive debut of a humble team from the city of La Plata, capital of the Buenos Aires province, that did not find itself in the plateau of Argentine football. Estudiantes de La Plata, an authentic stranger in the highest levels of South American football, surpassed all expectations as they eliminated defending champions Racing and Independiente (two denominated "great" ones in Argentina as well as each having already won the tournament before).

With a talented prospect by the name of Juan Ramón Verón, the pincharatas beat Palmeiras 2–0 in a playoff after the final series finished 2–2 on points. Estudiantes conquered the title with an original style which emphasized athleticism and strategic preparation.

Country	Team	Qualification method
CONMEBOL 1 berth	Racing	1967 Copa Libertadores de América winners
Argentina 2 berths	Independiente	1967 Primera División champion
	Estudiantes (LP)	1967 Primera División runner-up
Bolivia 2 berths	Jorge Wilstermann	1967 Torneo Nacional champion
	Always Ready	1967 Torneo Nacional runner-up
Brazil 2 berths	Palmeiras	1967 Taça Brasil champion
	Náutico	1967 Taça Brasil runner-up
Chile 2 berths	Universidad de Chile	1967 Primera División champion
	Universidad Católica	1967 Primera División runner-up
Colombia 2 berths	Deportivo Cali	1967 Campeonato Profesional champion
	Millonarios	1967 Campeonato Profesional runner-up
Ecuador 2 berths	El Nacional	1967 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A champion
	Emelec	1967 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A runner-up
Paraguay 2 berths	Guaraní	1967 Primera División champion
	Libertad	1967 Primera División runner-up
Peru 2 berths	Universitario	1967 Torneo Descentralizado champion
	Sporting Cristal	1967 Torneo Descentralizado runner-up
Uruguay 2 berths	Peñarol	1967 Primera División champion
	Nacional	1967 Primera División runner-up
Venezuela 2 berths	Deportivo Portugués	1967 Primera División Venezolana champion
	Deportivo Galicia	1967 Primera División Venezolana runner-up

The champions and runners-up of each football association were drawn into the same group along with another football association's participating teams. Three clubs from Argentina competed as Racing was champion of the 1967 Copa Libertadores. They entered the tournament in the semifinals.

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5
Argentina Colombia	Bolivia Peru	Chile Ecuador	Paraguay Uruguay	Brazil Venezuela

At each stage of the tournament teams receive 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and no points for a loss. If two or more teams were equal on points, the following criteria was to be applied to determine the ranking in the group stage:

1. a one-game playoff;
2. superior goal difference;
3. draw of lots.

Twenty teams were drawn into five groups of four. In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The top two teams in each group advanced to the Second round. Racing, the title holders, had a bye to the semifinals.

Key to colors in group tables
	Group winners and runners-up advanced to the Second round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		EST	IND	CAL	MIL
1	Estudiantes (LP)	6	5	1	0	12	3	+9	11	Qualified to the Second Round			2–0	3–0	0–0
2	Independiente	6	2	1	3	8	10	−2	5			2–4		1–1	3–1
3	Deportivo Cali	6	2	1	3	6	10	−4	5			1–2	1–0		1–0
4	Millonarios	6	1	1	4	6	9	−3	3			0–1	1–2	4–2

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		UNI	CRI	WIL	ALW
1	Universitario	6	3	3	0	17	4	+13	9	Qualified to the Second Round			1–1	5–1	6–0
2	Sporting Cristal	6	3	3	0	11	5	+6	9			2–2		2–0	1–1
3	Jorge Wilstermann	6	2	1	3	5	8	−3	5			0–0	0–1		3–0
4	Always Ready	6	0	1	5	2	18	−16	1			0–3	1–4	0–1

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CAT	EME	NAC	UCH
1	Universidad Católica	6	4	1	1	11	7	+4	9	Qualified to the Second Round			1–1	2–0	3–2
2	Emelec	6	2	3	1	5	4	+1	7			1–2		0–0	2–1
3	El Nacional	6	2	1	3	5	6	−1	5			2–1	0–1		3–1
4	Universidad de Chile	6	1	1	4	6	10	−4	3			1–2	0–0	1–0

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PEÑ	GUA	NAC	LIB
1	Peñarol	6	3	2	1	8	2	+6	8	Qualified to the Second Round			2–0	1–0	4–0
2	Guaraní	6	2	3	1	8	7	+1	7			1–1		2–1	2–0
3	Nacional	6	2	2	2	9	5	+4	6			0–0	2–2		4–0
4	Libertad	6	1	1	4	2	13	−11	3			1–0	1–1	0–2

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PAL	POR	NAU	GAL
1	Palmeiras	6	5	1	0	12	3	+9	11	Qualified to the Second Round			3–0	0–0	2–0
2	Deportivo Portugués	6	2	1	3	5	11	−6	5			1–2		1–1	1–0
3	Náutico	6	1	2	3	7	8	−1	4			1–3	3–2[B]		1–0
4	Deportivo Galicia	6	2	0	4	5	6	−1	4			1–2	2–0	2–1

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Ten teams were drawn into three groups, two groups of three and one group of four. In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The top team in each group advanced to the Semifinals, along with Racing.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		EST	IND	UNI
1	Estudiantes	4	3	0	1	4	2	+2	6	Qualified to the Semifinals			1–0	1–0
2	Independiente	4	2	0	2	7	3	+4	4			1–2		3–0
3	Universitario	4	1	0	3	1	7	−6	2			1–0	0–3

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PEÑ	CRI	EME	POR
1	Peñarol	6	4	2	0	10	1	+9	10	Qualified to the Semifinals			1–1	1–0	4–0
2	Sporting Cristal	6	2	4	0	7	3	+4	8			0–0		1–1	2–0
3	Emelec	6	1	1	4	3	7	−4	3			0–1	0–2		2–0
4	Deportivo Portugués	6	1	1	4	3	12	−9	3			0–3	1–1	2–0

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PAL	GUA	CAT
1	Palmeiras	4	3	0	1	7	4	+3	6	Qualified to the Semifinals			2–1	4–1
2	Guaraní	4	2	0	2	7	7	0	4			2–0		3–1
3	Universidad Católica	4	1	0	3	6	9	−3	2			0–1	4–1

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Four teams were drawn into two groups. In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The top team in each group advanced to the Finals.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		EST	RAC
1	Estudiantes (LP)	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	3	Qualified to the Finals			3–0
2	Racing	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	3			2–0

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Estudiantes progressed to the finals due to better goal difference.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PAL	PEÑ
1	Palmeiras	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	4	Qualified to the Finals			1–0
2	Peñarol	2	0	0	2	1	3	−2	0			1–2

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		EST	PAL
1	Estudiantes (LP)	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1	4	Champions			2–1
2	Palmeiras	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	2			3–1

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Copa Libertadores de América 1968 Winners
Estudiantes (LP) First Title

Pos	Player	Team	Goals
1	Tupãzinho	Palmeiras	11
2	Alberto Spencer	Peñarol	10
3	Juan Ramón Verón	Estudiantes	9
4	Luis Artime	Independiente	6
5	Felipe Ribaudo	Estudiantes	6
6	Víctor Domingo Juárez	Guaraní	6
	D. Flores	Universitario	6
	Juan Carlos Sarnari	Universidad Católica	6
9	Servílio	Palmeiras	5
	Alberto Gallardo	Sporting Cristal	5

• Sitio oficial de la CONMEBOL
• RSSSF on the 1968 Copa Libertadores