 Promotional poster of the final | |||||||
| Event | 2019 Copa Libertadores | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 23 November 2019 (2019-11-23) | ||||||
| Venue | Estadio Monumental,Lima | ||||||
| Referee | Roberto Tobar (Chile) | ||||||
| Attendance | 78,573 | ||||||
←2018 2020 → | |||||||
The2019 Copa Libertadores final was the final match which decided the winner of the2019 Copa Libertadores, the 60th edition of theCopa Libertadores,South American's top-tier continental clubfootball tournament organized byCONMEBOL.[1] The match was played on 23 November 2019 at theEstadio Monumental inLima, Peru,[2][3] betweenBrazilian teamFlamengo and thedefending champions,River Plate fromArgentina. This was the first Copa Libertadores final to be played as a single match at a neutral venue chosen in advance, replacing the previous home-and-away format.
Flamengo won the match 2–1, securing their second tournament title. As champions, they qualified as the CONMEBOL representative at the2019 FIFA Club World Cup and the2020 Recopa Sudamericana. They also automatically qualified for the2020 Copa Libertadores group stage.[4]
| Team | Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners) |
|---|---|
 Flamengo | 1 (1981) |
 River Plate | 6 (1966,1976,1986,1996,2015,2018) |
The match was played at theEstadio Monumental inLima, Peru. Originally scheduled at theEstadio Nacional inSantiago,Chile, the match had to be relocated to the Estadio Monumental in Lima due toprotests in Chile. It was the first final to be played as a single match at a neutral venue chosen in advance, replacing the home-and-away format used from 1960 to 2018.[5] Thesecond leg of the 2018 final was played atSantiago Bernabéu Stadium inMadrid, Spain, the first final held outside of South America, after security concerns cancelled the original second leg at the stadium of River Plate in Buenos Aires.[6]
This was the fourth Copa Libertadores final held in Lima, after the play-off of the1971 finals and the first legs of the1972 and1997 finals, all matches played at theEstadio Nacional.[7]
In 2016, CONMEBOL proposed that the Copa Libertadores final be played as a single match instead of over two legs.[8] It was only on 23 February 2018 that CONMEBOL was able to confirm that the 2019 final onwards would be played as a single match at a venue chosen in advance,[9] and on 11 June 2018 set the date of the match as 23 November 2019.[2] With the Argentine and Brazilian cities banned by CONMEBOL for this bidding,[10] three national associations had officialized interest in hosting the 2019 Copa Libertadores final.[11][12]
| Association | Stadium | City | Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Chile | Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos | Santiago | 58,665 | |
 Peru | Estadio Nacional | Lima | 50,000 | Bid selected to host2019 Copa Sudamericana final |
 Uruguay | Estadio Centenario | Montevideo | 60,235 | Bid withdrawn |
On 14 August 2018, the CONMEBOL Council selected theEstadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos inSantiago,Chile as the venue of the 2019 Copa Libertadores final while theEstadio Nacional inLima had been chosen to host the2019 Copa Sudamericana final.[13] TheUruguayan Football Association withdrew its bid becauseEstadio Centenario did not meet the CONMEBOL requirements.[14]
Largestreet protests in Chile began on 14 October 2019, involving millions of protestors and resulting in the deaths of at least 24 people.[15] The protests led to safety concerns for the teams that would play the match and their travelling fans, despite this CONMEBOL still considered Santiago as the venue.[16] Eventually, after a meeting between CONMEBOL president with the presidents of both finalists and those of their football associations and theFootball Federation of Chile president, on 5 November it was announced that the match was relocated to theEstadio Monumental inLima, Peru, due to the ongoing unrest in Chile.[3][17]
Note: In all scores below, the score of the home team is given first.
| Flamengo | Round | River Plate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Venue | Score | Opponent | Venue | Score | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bye | Qualifying stages | Bye | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Group D | Group stage | Group A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 San José | Away | 0–1 | Alianza Lima | Away | 1–1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 LDU Quito | Home | 3–1 | Palestino | Home | 0–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peñarol | Home | 0–1 | Internacional | Away | 2–2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San José | Home | 6–1 | Alianza Lima | Home | 3–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LDU Quito | Away | 2–1 | Palestino | Away | 0–2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peñarol | Away | 0–0 | Internacional | Home | 2–2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source:CONMEBOL |
Source:CONMEBOL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seed 7 | Final stages | Seed 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Emelec (tied 2–2 on aggregate, won 4–2 on penalties) | Away | 2–0 | Round of 16 | Cruzeiro (tied 0–0 on aggregate, won 4–2 on penalties) | Home | 0–0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home | 2–0 | Away | 0–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Internacional (won 3–1 on aggregate) | Home | 2–0 | Quarter-finals |  Cerro Porteño(won 3–1 on aggregate) | Home | 2–0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Away | 1–1 | Away | 1–1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grêmio (won 6–1 on aggregate) | Away | 1–1 | Semi-finals | Boca Juniors (won 2–1 on aggregate) | Home | 2–0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home | 5–0 | Away | 1–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The final is played as a single match at a pre-selected venue, with the higher-seeded team designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes.[18] If scores are level after full time, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.[19][20]
On 12 November 2019, Chilean refereeRoberto Tobar was appointed to take charge of the final by CONMEBOL, along with fellow Chileans Christian Schiemann and Claudio Ríos asassistant referees, and ColombianAndrés Rojas as the fourth official.[21] Tobar was aFIFA referee from 2011 to 2022.[22][23] They were originally joined by PeruvianDiego Haro as thevideo assistant referee (VAR), withPiero Maza from Chile, Alexander Guzmán from Colombia andEsteban Ostojich from Uruguay as the assistants VAR officials (AVARs).[21]
A week later, CONMEBOL decided to remove Diego Haro for giving interviews without prior authorization before the match. Haro was replaced by Ostojich in the VAR while PeruvianVíctor Hugo Carrillo joined as AVAR.[24][25]
During the three days leading up to the match, CONMEBOL held an event called“Embajada del Hincha” (Fan Embassy) aimed at fans of both finalist teams and the general public. The event took place at the Domos Art, in the coastal area of theSan Miguel district from 20–22 November and featured a variety of activities for fans, including musical performances by local and foreign artists and a public display of the Copa Libertadores trophy.[26][27]
On the last day, a friendlyminifootball match was held between former players from both teams. The River Plate team includedNery Pumpido,Oscar Ruggeri,Juan Pablo Sorín,Mario Yepes,Juan Pablo Ángel andFernando Cavenaghi while the Flamengo side featuredJúlio César,Juan,Luizão,Diego Gavilán andJúnior Baiano.[28] The match ended in a 6–6 draw.[29][30]
Before the match, the ArgentineansFito Páez andTini Stoessel, the ColombianSebastián Yatra and the BrazilianAnitta, who performed "Y dale alegría a mi corazón" by Páez. Then two bands identified with the finalist teams participated:Turf, for River Plate andGabriel o Pensador, for Flamengo.[31]
River Plate opened the match in a 2–3–3–2 formation, which allowed their midfield to dominate. This tactic gained them an early lead, whenRafael Santos Borré scored in the 14th minute from a cross byIgnacio Fernández. River Plate had numerous chances for a second goal in the first half: Borré missed an opportunity by inches,Nicolás De La Cruz missed a good chance in the 21st minute, andExequiel Palacios had two long-distance shots that nearly went in. However River Plate were unable to capitalise on these opportunities, so at half time the score remained 1-0.[32][33]
River Plate continued to dominate in the early part of the second half. However, Flamengo began to assert themselves on the counter-attack, withGabriel Barbosa andÉverton Ribeiro nearly scoring while Borré was down with an injury. Flamengo substituteDiego was brought on forGerson in the 66th minute, and he helped Flamengo turn the match around. Diego began several counter-attacks, including in the 75th minute when he linked up withBruno Henrique Pinto and Gabriel. The score was still 1-0 in the 89th minute, with River Plate seeking to finish off the game, when Flamengo's Arrascaeta won the ball fromLucas Pratto in his own half, and started a counter-attack by passing to Bruno Henrique. Henrique dribbled the ball down the left wing and cut inside; near the opposing goal, he passed the ball to Arrascaeta, who avoided the goalkeeper's challenge to pass to an open Gabriel who scored a tap-in to tie the game.[34]
Three minutes later (in the second minute ofinjury time), Diego launched a deep pass from his own half that both River Platecentre backs missed. This allowed Gabriel to score again from a half volley, giving Flamengo a 2–1 lead. The sudden reversal of fortune caused tempers to flare: Palacios kicked Bruno Henrique in the 95th minute, for which he received ared card. Gabriel Barbosa sarcastically applauded the referee in response; he also received a red card. The match ended shortly thereafter. After being behind for most of the match, Flamengo emerged as last minute champions, winning their second Copa Libertadores title.[32][33]
| Flamengo | 2–1 | River Plate |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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          Flamengo |     River Plate |
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Assistant referees:[21][24] | Match rules
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Flamengo won their second Copa Libertadores and earned the right to represent CONMEBOL at the2019 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar. Jorge Jesus became the second non-South American manager to win the Copa Libertadores, followingMirko Jozić's 1991 championship forColo-Colo.[35] The club went on to clinch theCampeonato Brasileiro Série A title a day later after the second-place team,Palmeiras, was mathematically eliminated from reaching the title.[36] Flamengo became the first Brazilian club to earn a league and continentaldouble sinceSantos did in 1963. The victory celebrations in Rio de Janeiro attracted tens of thousands of fans as the players rode in an open-top bus, but ended with clashes betweenriot police and spectators.[37][38]
Flamengo's two late goals to overturn a 0–1 deficit invited comparisons to the1999 UEFA Champions League final, in whichManchester United defeatedBayern Munich in a similar fashion.[39]
In Brazil, the match was broadcast byRede Globo with commentary provided by Luiz Roberto,Júnior andWalter Casagrande, in addition toFox Sports on cable television with commentary provided by Nivaldo Prieto,Edmundo and Paulo Vinicius Coelho. The original broadcast received an Ibope Rating of 38 points in the 15 largest metropolitan regions in Brazil, reaching a total of 65.7 million viewers, with almost half of the television sets in Brazil watching the Globo broadcast.[40]
