2007 Copa Libertadores finals

The 2007 Copa Libertadores finals was a two-legged football match-up to determine the 2007 Copa Libertadores champion. The series was contested between Argentine club Boca Juniors and Brazilian club Grêmio. The first leg of the tie was played on June 13 at Boca Juniors' home field, La Bombonera, with the second leg played on June 20 at Gremio's Estádio Olímpico. Boca Juniors won the series 5–0 on aggregate,[1] achieving their sixth Copa Libertadores title.[2]

2007 Copa Libertadores finals
Event2007 Copa Toyota Libertadores
on aggregate
First leg
Date13 June 2007
VenueLa Bombonera, Buenos Aires
Man of the MatchJuan Román Riquelme
RefereeJorge Larrionda
Attendance50,993
Second leg
Date20 June 2007
VenueEstádio Olímpico, Porto Alegre
Man of the MatchJuan Román Riquelme
RefereeOscar Ruiz
Attendance53,952
2006
2008

Qualified teams

edit
Team Previous finals app.
  Boca Juniors 1963, 1977, 1978, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004
  Grêmio 1983, 1984, 1995

Bold indicates winning years

Venues

edit

Route to the finals

edit
Grêmio Boca Juniors
  São Paulo
A
0–1
Round of 16
First leg
  Vélez Sársfield
H
3–0
Riquelme 9'
Palermo 61'
Rodríguez 89'
  São Paulo
H
2–0
Tcheco 17'
Diego Souza 74'
Second leg   Vélez Sársfield
A
1–3
Bustos (o.g.) 32'
  Defensor Sporting
A
0–2
Quarterfinals
First leg
  Libertad
H
1–1
Palermo 90'
  Defensor Sporting
H
2–0
(p. 4–2)
Tcheco 22'
Teco 45'
Second leg   Libertad
A
2–0
Riquelme 61'
Palacio
  Santos
H
2–0
Tcheco 34'
Carlos Eduardo 36'
Semifinals
First leg
  Cúcuta Deportivo
A
1–3
Ledesma 27'
  Santos
A
1–3
Diego Souza 34' Second leg   Cúcuta Deportivo
H
3–0
Riquelme 44'
Palermo 61'
Battaglia 90'

Final summary

edit

First leg

edit
First leg
Boca Juniors  3–0  Grêmio
Palacio   18'
Riquelme   73'
Patrício   89' (o.g.)
Report
Attendance: 50,993
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Boca Juniors
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Grêmio

Man of the Match:
  Juan Román Riquelme

Assistant referees:
  Wálter Rial
  Edgardo Acosta
Fourth official:
  Líber Prudente


Second leg

edit
Second leg
Grêmio  0–2  Boca Juniors
Report Riquelme   69', 81'
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Grêmio
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Boca Juniors

Man of the Match:
  Juan Román Riquelme

Assistant referees:
  Juan Carlos Bedoya
  Jovani Zapata
Fourth official:
  Albert Duarte

Aftermath

edit
 
Juan Román Riquelme was the most notable player of the competition, with 8 goals and 7 assists

With this appearance in the last stage Boca Juniors achieved a record-tie 9 times in the finals, winning five of the seven previous occasions. At that moment only Peñarol of Uruguay had played that number of finals. The media praised Juan Román Riquelme's performance in the finals, crediting him as Boca Juniors' most notable player. Riquelme had returned to Boca Juniors after a frustrating experience in Spanish club Villarreal where manager Manuel Pellegrini excluded him from the senior squad due to personal disputes.[3] Under the guidance of manager Miguel Ángel Russo, Riquelme was the top scorer of the team (and second of the 2007 edition behind Salvador Cabañas with 8 goals in 11 matches, three of them in the finals.[4]

Riquelme made it easy to win the Copa Libertadores

— Sergio Orteman, Riquelme's teammate in 2007 [4]

The (Libertadores) Cup is like the girl you want but she ignores you

— Miguel Ángel Russo, Boca Juniors manager [5]

The 5–0 aggregate score remains nowadays as the largest victory in the history of Copa Libertadores' finals.[5]

On the other hand, Grêmio –that had played three finals winning two of them– became the second Brazilian club with most Copa Libertadores finals contested (four until then), just behind of São Paulo who had six.

References

edit
  1. ^ Copa Libertadores 2007 by Juan Pablo Andrés on the RSSSF
  2. ^ Copa Libertadores 2007 overview on Historia de Boca
  3. ^ El mejor Riquelme on TN, 26 Jan 2015
  4. ^ a b Orteman: "Riquelme hizo fácil la Libertadores" Archived 2019-03-23 at the Wayback Machine by Damián Espinoza on Deportea Online, 22 June 2017
  5. ^ a b La sexta Copa de Boca Archived 2015-02-04 at the Wayback Machine by Damián Ferrero on Diario Publicable, 28 Oct 2013