Copa Libertadores: First Round, First Match Results

The Copa Libertadores is off-and-running, with twelve teams  taking part in the first round:  a series of six, two-match series, out of which the final group stage participants will advance.

Notable teams in action at this stage:  Interliga runners-up Estudiantes Tecos; Paraguayans Libertad; Universidad Catôlica from Chile; Argentina's Colón; Cruzeiro, who qualified on the last match day of the Brasileirão; and Newell's Old Boys.

Note these are two match series, not two-legged ties.  For each of the two match, you get awarded 3-1-0 points (win-draw-loss), and the team with the most points goes through.  In the case of a tie, the winner is determined by goal difference, goals scored, then away goals.

This week, the first leg of each series took place, with one Argentine side inching close to an early exit.

Deportivo Táchira (VEN) 1, Libertad (PAR) 0 - Armando Matia's 27th minute goal have the Venezuelans, winners of their Apertura, the slimmest of leads going back to Paraguay. Táchira played the last 21-plus minutes without veteran midfielder Pedro Fernández, who picked up his second yellow card and will miss the return leg on February 2 in Asunción.  Libertad finished second in both the Apertura and Clausura in 2009.

The winner of this match-up goes into Group 4, which includes Argentina's Lanús, Bolivia's Blooming and Peru's Universitario.

Juan Aurich (PER) 2, Estudiantes Tecos (MEX) 0 - The winners of Peru's first round got a brace from their new arrival, Panamian forward Luis Tejada, to take a commanding lead over Tecos.  However, we often see teams struggle when they have to make the long trip north to México.  Juan Aurich will do so on February 3.

Whomever advances goes into Group 3, which has holders Estudiantes de la Plata, Peru's Alianza Lima, and Bolivia's Bolívar.

Colón (ARG) 3, Universidad Católica 2 (CHI) - The most anticipated match of the first round saw the team that ran away in Chile's Clausura (only to lose in the play-offs to Colo-Colo) against the third-best club in Argentina's Apertura.  Colón got three points in the first leg thanks to goals from Federico Neito, Esteband Fuertes, and Facundo Bertoglio, but a brace from Juan José Morales has Católica in position to steal the series upon return to Santiago.

The winner, who will be decided February 9, goes into a group headed by Brasileirão champions Flamengo.  Universidad de Chile and Caracas will round out the quartet.

Real Potosí (BOL) 1, Cruzeiro (BRA) 1 - Though they gave up a late goal to midfielder Roberto Correa, Cruzeiro got a point in Potosí thanks to Wellington Paulista's 7th minute goal.  Last year's semifinalists return to the Belo Horizonte needing only to hold form to move into Group 7, where they would be grouped with Vélez Sarsfield (Argentina), Colo-Colo and Venezuela's Deportivo Italia. That match will take place on February 3.

Newell's Old Boys (ARG) 0, Emelec (COL) 0 - Any time you get a Ecuadorian side (perhaps with the exception of LDU Quito, that this point) that goes down to Rosario and gets a result, you have to ask questions, but in this case, you wonder if Newell's weren't a bit over-their-heads in the Apertura.  Regardless, Newell's dropped points and now get to make the hike to Guayaquil on February 10.

And in case you are like me and always wonder if the Ecuadorian sites are at altitude, this one is not.  Guayaquil is on the water, in the gulf on the country's southwest side.

Emelec is now a slight favorite to go into Group 5, where they or Newell's would play Brazil's Internacional, Uruguay's Cerro, and Ecuador's Deportivo Quito.

Junior (COL) 2, Racing Club (URU) 2 - As with the Potosí-Cruziero match, this could have been worse for the home side, as a Martín Arauage goal in the 91st minute equalized, giving Junior a point.  Emerson Acuña had opened the scoring for the hosts, but  20-year-old midfielder Matias Mirabaje and veteran defender Ignacio Pallas gave Racing a 2-1 lead midway through the second half.

The clubs go to Montevideo on February 4 to determine who joins Corinthians, Paraguay's Cerro Porteño, and Independiente Medellín in Group 1.