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Event | 2018 Copa Libertadores | ||||||
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on aggregate | |||||||
First leg | |||||||
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Date | 11 November 2018[note 1] | ||||||
Venue | Estadio Alberto J. Armando, Buenos Aires | ||||||
Referee | Roberto Tobar (Chile) | ||||||
Attendance | 49,000 | ||||||
Second leg | |||||||
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After extra time | |||||||
Date | 9 December 2018[note 2] | ||||||
Venue | Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain[note 3] | ||||||
Referee | Andrés Cunha (Uruguay) | ||||||
Attendance | 62,282 | ||||||
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 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 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]
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