2018 Copa Libertadores finals

2018 Copa Libertadores finals
The second leg was moved and hosted at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain
Event2018 Copa Libertadores
Boca Juniors River Plate
Argentina Argentina
3 5
on aggregate
First leg
Boca Juniors River Plate
2 2
Date11 November 2018 (2018-11-11)[note 1]
VenueEstadio Alberto J. Armando, Buenos Aires
RefereeRoberto Tobar (Chile)
Attendance49,000
Second leg
River Plate Boca Juniors
3 1
After extra time
Date9 December 2018 (2018-12-09)[note 2]
VenueSantiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain[note 3]
RefereeAndrés Cunha (Uruguay)
Attendance62,282
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The 2018 Copa Libertadores finals was the two-legged final to decide the winners of the 2018 Copa Libertadores, the 59th edition of the Copa Libertadores, South America's premier international club football tournament organised by CONMEBOL.

The finals were contested in a two-legged home-and-away format between Argentine clubs Boca Juniors and River Plate, making it the first Superclásico final of an international competition. The first leg was hosted by Boca Juniors at the Estadio Alberto J. Armando in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 11 November 2018, while the second leg took place outside South America at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain (a neutral venue) on 9 December 2018.[1][2] This was the last final to take place over two legs, as starting from 2019 the final would be played as a single match at a venue chosen in advance.[3][4]

The second leg was originally to be hosted by River Plate at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 24 November 2018. However, due to safety concerns arising from an attack on the Boca Juniors team bus prior to the match, the second leg was moved outside of Argentina and South America, later confirmed to be the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain.[5] This was the first time that the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final has been held outside of South America, and the first final held outside of the Americas.

River Plate won the final 5–3 on aggregate for their fourth Copa Libertadores title. As winners, they qualified as the CONMEBOL representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, entering in the semi-finals. They also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2018 Copa Sudamericana in the 2019 Recopa Sudamericana.[6] River Plate also automatically qualified for the group stage of the 2019 Copa Libertadores.

Due to the intense rivalry between Boca and River, the match was referred to as the "Superfinal",[7] and "the final to end all finals".[8] The press called it the "most important final in Argentina's football history".[9] According to Richard Martin, a Reuters reporter, River's win "guarantees them bragging rights over their neighbours for many years to come".[10]


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "Las finales de la CONMEBOL Libertadores se disputarán el 10 y 24 de noviembre". CONMEBOL.com. 1 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Confirmados los horarios y fechas de los partidos finales de la CONMEBOL Libertadores 2018". CONMEBOL.com. 5 November 2018.
  3. ^ "La CONMEBOL Libertadores se definirá en final única a partir de 2019 con mayores beneficios a los clubes y la competencia". CONMEBOL.com. 23 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Histórica decisión: Final Única de la Libertadores 2019 en Santiago y Final Única de la Sudamericana 2019 en Lima". CONMEBOL.com. 14 August 2018.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Madrid was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Reglamento CONMEBOL Libertadores 2018" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  7. ^ Edwards, Dan (9 November 2018). "Boca vs River is the Copa Libertadores final Argentina has craved – but will the country cope with the carnage?". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  8. ^ Smith, Rory (9 December 2018). "In a Transplanted Final, Even the Copa Libertadores Is Sanitized". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  9. ^ "River para la historia". AS Argentina (in Spanish). 10 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  10. ^ "River Plate snatch Libertadores glory over Boca in Madrid". Reuters. 10 December 2018. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.