1978 Copa Libertadores

1978 Copa Libertadores de América
Tournament details
DatesJune 27 – November 28
Teams21 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
Champions Boca Juniors (2nd title)
Runners-up Deportivo Cali
Tournament statistics
Matches played75
Goals scored179 (2.39 per match)
1977
1979

The 1978 edition of Copa Libertadores was won by Boca Juniors, of Argentina for the second straight year, after defeating Deportivo Cali of Colombia in the final. The defending champions won the two-leg final 0–4 on aggregate, with all four goals coming in the second-leg match after the first leg ended in a goalless draw.

Qualified teams

Country Team Qualification method
CONMEBOL
(1 berth)
Boca Juniors 1977 Copa Libertadores champion
Argentina
(2 berths)
River Plate 1977 Metropolitano champion
Independiente 1977 Nacional champion
 Bolivia
(2 berths)
The Strongest 1977 Primera División champion
Oriente Petrolero 1977 Primera División runner-up
 Brazil
(2 berths)
São Paulo 1977 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion
Atlético Mineiro 1977 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up
 Chile
(2 berths)
Unión Española 1977 Primera División champion
Palestino 1977 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores winner
 Colombia
(2 berths)
Junior 1977 Campeonato Profesional champion
Deportivo Cali 1977 Campeonato Profesional runner-up
 Ecuador
(2 berths)
El Nacional 1977 Campeonato Ecuatoriano champion
LDU Quito 1977 Campeonato Ecuatoriano runner-up
 Paraguay
(2 berths)
Cerro Porteño 1977 Primera División champion
Libertad 1977 Primera División runner-up
 Peru
(2 berths)
Alianza Lima 1977 Primera División champion
Sporting Cristal 1977 Primera División runner-up
 Uruguay
(2 berths)
Peñarol 1977 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores winner
Danubio 1977 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores runner-up
 Venezuela
(2 berths)
Portuguesa 1977 Primera División champion
Estudiantes de Mérida 1977 Primera División runner-up

Draw

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 Boca Juniors was champion of the 1977 Copa Libertadores. They entered the tournament in the Semifinals.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5

Group stage

Group 1

Group 1 standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RIV IND LDQ EN
1 River Plate 6 2 4 0 7 1 +6 8 Qualified to the semi-finals 0–0 4–0 2–0
2 Independiente 6 3 2 1 6 2 +4 8 0–0 2–0 2–0
3 LDU Quito 6 2 1 3 4 10 −6 5 0–0 1–0 3–2
4 El Nacional 6 1 1 4 6 10 −4 3 1–1 1–2 2–0
Source:

Tiebreaker

Team 1  Score  Team 2
River Plate 4–1 Independiente

Group 2

Group 2 standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ALI CRI STR OPE
1 Alianza Lima 6 5 1 0 19 5 +14 11 Qualified to the semi-finals 2–2 2–0 5–1
2 Sporting Cristal 6 3 1 2 9 9 0 7 1–4 3–0 1–0
3 The Strongest 6 2 0 4 7 12 −5 4 1–2 3–1 2–0
4 Oriente Petrolero 6 1 0 5 5 14 −9 2 0–4 0–1 4–1
Source:

Group 3

Group 3 standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CAM UE SAO PAL
1 Atlético Mineiro 6 4 2 0 16 8 +8 10 Qualified to the semi-finals 5–1 1–1 2–0
2 Unión Española 6 1 4 1 7 10 −3 6 1–1 1–1 0–0
3 São Paulo 6 1 3 2 6 7 −1 5 1–2 1–1 1–2
4 Palestino 6 1 1 4 8 12 −4 3 4–5 2–3 0–1
Source:

Group 4

Group 4 standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CAL PEÑ JUN DAN
1 Deportivo Cali 6 3 2 1 5 3 +2 8 Qualified to the semi-finals 1–0 0–0 2–0
2 Peñarol 6 3 0 3 7 7 0 6 0–2 1–0 4–2
3 Junior 6 1 4 1 1 1 0 6 0–0 1–0 0–0
4 Danubio 6 1 2 3 6 8 −2 4 3–0 1–2 0–0
Source:

Group 5

Group 5 standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CCP POR ESM LIB
1 Cerro Porteño 6 3 3 0 7 4 +3 9 Qualified to the semi-finals 1–0 1–1 1–0
2 Portuguesa 6 2 2 2 5 5 0 6 1–1 1–2 1–0
3 Estudiantes de Mérida 6 1 3 2 7 8 −1 5 2–3 0–0 1–1
4 Libertad 6 1 2 3 4 6 −2 4 0–0 1–2 2–1
Source:

Semi-finals

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BOC RIV CAM
1 Boca Juniors 4 3 1 0 7 2 +5 7 Qualified to the final 0–0 3–1
2 River Plate 4 1 1 2 1 3 −2 3 0–2 1–0
3 Atlético Mineiro 4 1 0 3 3 6 −3 2 1–2 1–0
Source:

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CAL CCP ALI
1 Deportivo Cali 4 3 1 0 12 4 +8 7 Qualified to the final 1–1 3–2
2 Cerro Porteño 4 1 1 2 4 9 −5 3 0–4 3–1
3 Alianza Lima 4 1 0 3 7 10 −3 2 1–4 3–0
Source:

Finals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Deportivo Cali 0–4 Boca Juniors 0–0 0–4

Champion

 Copa Libertadores
1978 winners 

Boca Juniors
2nd title