2020 Copa Libertadores final

The 2020 Copa Libertadores final was the final match which decided the winner of the 2020 Copa Libertadores, the 61st edition of the Copa Libertadores, South American's top-tier continental club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.

2020 Copa Libertadores final

The Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro hosted the final
Event	2020 Copa Libertadores
Palmeiras Santos 1 0
Date	30 January 2021 (2021-01-30)
Venue	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro
Referee	Patricio Loustau (Argentina)
Attendance	5,000[1]
← 2019 2021 →

The match was played on 30 January 2021 at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro,^[2] Brazil, between Brazilian teams Palmeiras and Santos.

The final was originally scheduled to be played on 21 November 2020.^[3] However, as the tournament had been interrupted since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CONMEBOL announced on 10 July 2020 that the final would be rescheduled to be played in late January 2021, with 23, 24 or 30 January being the possible dates.^[4][5] Eventually, on 23 November 2020, CONMEBOL confirmed that the final would be played on 30 January 2021.^[6]

Palmeiras defeated Santos by a 1–0 score to win their second Copa Libertadores title. As champions, Palmeiras qualified for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, and earned the right to play against the winners of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana in the 2021 Recopa Sudamericana. They also automatically qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores group stage.^[7]

Due to pandemic precautions, attendance was limited to 5,000 spectators.

Venue

The second Copa Libertadores final played as a single match at a pre-determined venue was held at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was the 34th Copa libertadores final match to took place in Brazil, and the fifth to took place in Rio de Janeiro, four of them at Maracanã and one at Estádio São Januário. The Maracanã previously hosted the first leg of the 1963 and 1981 finals and the second leg of the 2008 finals.^[8]

Host selection

On 15 October 2019, CONMEBOL announced eight venues from three national associations that reached the final stage of the bidding process to host the 2020 final:^[9]

Association	Stadium	City	Capacity	Notes
Argentina	Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes	Córdoba	57,000	Also bid and selected to host the 2020 Copa Sudamericana final.
Brazil	Mineirão	Belo Horizonte	61,846
	Arena do Grêmio	Porto Alegre	55,662
	Estádio Beira-Rio		50,128
	Estádio do Maracanã	Rio de Janeiro	78,838
	Estádio do Morumbi	São Paulo	67,052
	Arena Corinthians		49,205
Peru	Estadio Nacional	Lima	50,000	Also bid to host the 2020 Copa Sudamericana final.

On 17 October 2019, CONMEBOL announced that Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was chosen as the 2020 final venue during a meeting of its Council. The Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba, Argentina ended up being selected to host the 2020 Copa Sudamericana final.^[2]

Teams

Team	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Palmeiras	4 (1961, 1968, 1999, 2000)
Santos	4 (1962, 1963, 2003, 2011)

Road to the final

Further information: 2020 Copa Libertadores

Note: In all scores below, the score of the home team is given first.

Palmeiras			Round	Santos
Opponent	Venue	Score		Opponent	Venue	Score
Bye			Qualifying stages	Bye
Group B			Group stage	Group G
Tigre	Away	0–2		Defensa y Justicia	Away	1–2
Guaraní	Home	3–1		Delfín	Home	1–0
Bolívar	Away	1–2		Olimpia	Home	0–0
Guaraní	Away	0–0		Delfín	Away	1–2
Bolívar	Home	5–0		Olimpia	Away	2–3
Tigre	Home	5–0		Defensa y Justicia	Home	2–1
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Palmeiras 6 16 2 Guaraní 6 13 3 Bolívar 6 4 4 Tigre 6 1 Source: CONMEBOL				Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Santos 6 16 2 Delfín 6 7 3 Defensa y Justicia 6 6 4 Olimpia 6 5 Source: CONMEBOL
Seed 1			Final stages	Seed 2
Delfín (won 8–1 on aggregate)	Away	1–3	Round of 16	LDU Quito (tied 2–2 on aggregate, won on away goals)	Away	1–2
	Home	5–0			Home	0–1
Libertad (won 4–1 on aggregate)	Away	1–1	Quarter-finals	Grêmio (won 5–2 on aggregate)	Away	1–1
	Home	3–0			Home	4–1
River Plate (won 3–2 on aggregate)	Away	0–3	Semi-finals	Boca Juniors (won 3–0 on aggregate)	Away	0–0
	Home	0–2			Home	3–0

Match

Summary

The most memorable moment is the last 8 minutes of added time in the second half. Santos manager, Cuca, was sent off at 90+6th minute for hassling the ball to delay Palmeiras' throw-in. The only goal of the game came in the 9th minute of second-half stoppage time, from substitute Breno Lopes, scoring with a looping header to the top right corner of the net from seven yards out after a cross from the right by Rony.^[10][11]

Details

Palmeiras	1–0	Santos
Breno Lopes 90+9'	Report

30 January 2021 (2021-01-30)

17:00 UTC−3

Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Patricio Loustau (Argentina)

Palmeiras

Santos

GK 1 Weverton RB 2 Marcos Rocha  90+7' CB 13 Luan CB 15 Gustavo Gómez (c)  35' LB 17 Matías Viña  58' DM 28 Danilo RM 25 Gabriel Menino  85' LM 8 Zé Rafael  78' AM 23 Raphael Veiga  90+12' CF 10 Luiz Adriano CF 11 Rony  90+12' Substitutes: GK 22 Jailson DF 3 Emerson Santos DF 4 Benjamín Kuscevic DF 6 Alan Empereur  90+12' DF 12 Mayke DF 26 Renan DF 30 Felipe Melo  90+12' MF 5 Patrick de Paula  78' MF 14 Gustavo Scarpa MF 20 Lucas Lima FW 19 Breno Lopes  90+9'  85' FW 29 Willian Manager: Abel Ferreira

GK 24 John RB 4 Pará  90+11' CB 28 Lucas Veríssimo  10' CB 14 Luan Peres LB 3 Felipe Jonatan  90+3' CM 18 Sandry  73' CM 21 Diego Pituca  70' CM 5 Alison (c)  90+13' RF 11 Marinho CF 19 Kaio Jorge  90+3' LF 10 Yeferson Soteldo  90+6' Substitutes: GK 1 Vladimir GK 30 João Paulo DF 2 Luiz Felipe DF 13 Madson  90+3' DF 20 Laércio DF 27 Wellington Tim  90+3' MF 17 Jean Mota MF 22 Guilherme Nunes MF 26 Vinicius Balieiro FW 23 Arthur Gomes FW 33 Bruno Marques  90+11' FW 36 Lucas Braga  73' Manager: Cuca  90+6'

Assistant referees:[12] Ezequiel Brailovsky (Argentina) Diego Bonfa (Argentina) Fourth official: Darío Herrera (Argentina) Fifth official: Julio Fernández (Argentina) Video assistant referee: Mauro Vigliano (Argentina) Assistant video assistant referees: Jhon Ospina (Colombia) Juan Belatti (Argentina) Fernando Rapallini (Argentina)

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Twelve named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions.

See also

• 2020 Copa Sudamericana final
• 2021 Recopa Sudamericana
• Clássico da Saudade

References

1. "Palmeiras trifft in Minute 99 zum Gewinn der Copa Libertadores" (in German). spiegel.de. 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
2. "El Maracaná (Río) y el Mario Kempes (Córdoba) sedes de las Finales Únicas de Libertadores y Sudamericana 2020". CONMEBOL.com. 17 October 2019.
3. "CALENDÁRIO 2020: CONMEBOL Libertadores - CONMEBOL Sudamericana - RECOPA" (PDF). CONMEBOL.com.
4. "La Libertadores y la Sudamericana ya tienen fecha". CONMEBOL.com. 10 July 2020.
5. "CALENDÁRIO 2020" (PDF). CONMEBOL.com.
6. "Clubes reciben informe detallado sobre torneos de la CONMEBOL" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. 23 November 2020.
7. "Palmeiras conquista por segunda vez la Gloria Eterna" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. 30 January 2021.
8. Faustini, Vinícius (26 January 2021). "Sábado tem mais! Campeões relembram as três decisões de Libertadores já ocorridas no Maraca" (in Portuguese). Lance!.
9. "CONMEBOL seleccionará las ciudades anfitrionas para las Finales Únicas de 2020 en el Consejo del 17 de octubre" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. 15 October 2019.
10. "Palmeiras win Copa Libertadores after injury-time victory over Santos". Guardian. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
11. "Copa Libertadores: Palmeiras score added-time winner to beat Santos". BBC Sport. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
12. "Patricio Loustau dirigirá la Final Única de la CONMEBOL Libertadores" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 17 January 2021.

External links

• CONMEBOL Libertadores 2020, CONMEBOL.com