2015 Copa Libertadores finals

The 2015 Copa Libertadores de América finals were the two-legged final that decided the winner of the 2015 Copa Libertadores de América, the 56th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.

2015 Copa Libertadores de América finals
Event2015 Copa Libertadores de América
on aggregate
First leg
Date29 July 2015
VenueEstadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza
RefereeAntonio Arias (Paraguay)
Second leg
Date5 August 2015
VenueEstadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Buenos Aires
RefereeDarío Ubriaco (Uruguay)
2014
2016

The finals were contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Mexican team UANL and Argentine team River Plate. The first leg was hosted by UANL at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza on 29 July 2015, while the second leg was hosted by River Plate at Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires on 5 August 2015.[1]

Club Atlético River Plate earned the right to represent CONMEBOL at the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the semifinal stage, regardless of the result of the final, due to UANL being an invited team from CONCACAF and therefore not eligible to represent CONMEBOL at the tournament. Due to the same reason, River Plate also earned the right to play against the 2015 Copa Sudamericana winners in the 2016 Recopa Sudamericana.[2]

The first leg ended in a scoreless draw.[3] The second leg ended in a 3–0 win for River Plate, and they won the tournament for the third time in their history.[4][5][6]

Teams

edit
Team Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
  UANL None
  River Plate 4 (1966, 1976, 1986, 1996)

UANL came into the finals as first-time finalists of the Copa Libertadores. River Plate had previously won two titles in four finals: 1986 and 1996.

Road to the finals

edit

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

  UANL Round   River Plate
Opponent Venue Score Opponent Venue Score
Bye First stage Bye
Group 6 Second stage Group 6
  Juan Aurich Home 3–0   San José Away 2–0
  River Plate Away 1–1   UANL Home 1–1
  San José Away 0–1   Juan Aurich Away 1–1
  San José Home 4–0   Juan Aurich Home 1–1
  River Plate Home 2–2   UANL Away 2–2
  Juan Aurich Away 4–5   San José Home 3–0

Pos Team Pld Pts
1   UANL 6 14
2   River Plate 6 7
3   Juan Aurich 6 6
4   San José 6 4
Source: CONMEBOL

Pos Team Pld Pts
1   UANL 6 14
2   River Plate 6 7
3   Juan Aurich 6 6
4   San José 6 4
Source: CONMEBOL
Seed 2 final stages Seed 16
  Universitario
(won 3–2 on aggregate)
Away 1–2 Round of 16   Boca Juniors
(won 1–0 on aggregate – Boca Juniors disqualified)
Home 1–0
Home 1–1 Away 0–0 (susp.)
  Emelec
(won 2–1 on aggregate)
Away 1–0 Quarterfinals   Cruzeiro
(won 3–1 on aggregate)
Home 0–1
Home 2–0 Away 0–3
  Internacional
(won 4–3 on aggregate)
Away 2–1 Semifinals   Guaraní
(won 3–1 on aggregate)
Home 2–0
Home 3–1 Away 1–1

Format

edit

The finals were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.[2]

Since UANL are from Mexico, they had to host the first leg regardless of seeding (Regulations Article 3.7b: "El Torneo deberá indefectiblemente finalizar en un país perteneciente al continente sudamericano. Para tal caso, de llegar a las finales un equipo que no pertenece al continente sudamericano, deberá indefectiblemente jugar su primer partido de local." English translation: "The Tournament shall invariably end in a country belonging to the South American continent. Therefore, provided that a team not belonging to the South American continent qualifies to the finals, it shall invariably play the first leg at its home.")[2]

Matches

edit

First leg

edit

Near the end of the first half, Tigres defender Hugo Ayala left the game with an ankle injury. River Plate right-back Gabriel Mercado was booked soon after for a stamp on André-Pierre Gignac, leading him to miss the second leg.[7] At the break, River manager Marcelo Gallardo made an attacking double substitution, withdrawing Rodrigo Mora and Tabaré Viúdez for Gonzalo Martínez and Nicolás Bertolo, but was also suspended after shouting at the fourth official. Despite Tigres having most of the possession and late opportunities from Juninho and Jürgen Damm, the game ended goalless.[8][9]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UANL
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
River Plate
GK 1   Nahuel Guzmán
RB 2   Israel Jiménez
CB 4   Hugo Ayala   41'
CB 3   Juninho (c)
LB 6   Jorge Torres Nilo
RM 27   Jürgen Damm   54'
CM 19   Guido Pizarro
CM 5   Egidio Arévalo Ríos   70'
LM 11   Damián Álvarez
CF 9   Rafael Sóbis   32'
CF 10   André-Pierre Gignac
Substitutes:
GK 22   Enrique Palos
DF 14   Iván Estrada
DF 24   José Rivas   41'
MF 18   José Francisco Torres
MF 23   Gerardo Lugo
MF 29   Jesús Dueñas   70'
FW 16   Enrique Esqueda
Manager:
  Ricardo Ferretti
 
GK 1   Marcelo Barovero (c)
RB 25   Gabriel Mercado   42'
CB 2   Jonathan Maidana
CB 6   Ramiro Funes Mori
LB 21   Leonel Vangioni   4'
RM 8   Carlos Sánchez
CM 23   Leonardo Ponzio   64'    76'
CM 5   Matías Kranevitter
LM 19   Tabaré Viúdez   46'
CF 7   Rodrigo Mora   46'
CF 13   Lucas Alario
Substitutes:
GK 26   Julio Chiarini
DF 3   Éder Álvarez Balanta
MF 10   Gonzalo Martínez   46'
MF 16   Nicolás Bertolo   46'
MF 27   Lucho González   76'
FW 9   Fernando Cavenaghi
FW 29   Javier Saviola
Manager:
  Marcelo Gallardo   72'
 
Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico, hosted the first leg.

Assistant referees:[10]
Eduardo Cardozo (Paraguay)
Juan Zorrilla (Paraguay)
Fourth official:
Julio Quintana (Paraguay)

Second leg

edit

River opened the scoring at the end of the first half when recent signing Alario headed Leonel Vangioni's low cross from the left into the goal. At 8' Lucas Alario committed an illegal strong entry against the ankle of Guido Pizarro, foul that media later considered that deserved red card.[11][12] Alario saw yellow card. At 25', Tigres had four players with yellow card, three of them defenders.

At 46' Ramiro Funes Mori committed another illegal strong entry, this time against Rafael Sóbis, foul that media also later considered that deserved red card. Funes Mori was amonestated. When Carlos Sánchez went down in the penalty area, he scored the resulting spot kick, shooting to the left of the goalkeeper to double the team's lead. Four minutes later, a corner kick from the right was headed by Ramiro Funes Mori through the legs of the goalkeeper to secure a 3–0 victory, River's first Copa Libertadores for 19 years.[13][14] The match was played under a heavy rainfall and polemic arbitration.

River Plate  3–0  UANL
Alario   45'
Sánchez   75' (pen.)
Funes Mori   79'
Report
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
River Plate
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UANL
GK 1   Marcelo Barovero
RB 18   Camilo Mayada
CB 2   Jonathan Maidana
CB 6   Ramiro Funes Mori   47'
LB 21   Leonel Vangioni
RM 8   Carlos Sánchez   76'
CM 23   Leonardo Ponzio
CM 5   Matías Kranevitter   82'
LM 16   Nicolás Bertolo
CF 13   Lucas Alario   9'    69'
CF 9   Fernando Cavenaghi (c   56'    77'
Substitutes:
GK 26   Julio Chiarini
DF 3   Éder Álvarez Balanta
MF 10   Gonzalo Martínez
MF 15   Leonardo Pisculichi   77'
MF 27   Lucho González   82'
FW 22   Sebastián Driussi   69'
FW 29   Javier Saviola
Manager:
  Matías Biscay[15]
 
GK 1   Nahuel Guzmán
RB 2   Israel Jiménez   17'    77'
CB 24   José Rivas   25'
CB 3   Juninho (c)   19'
LB 6   Jorge Torres Nilo   72'
RM 27   Jürgen Damm
CM 19   Guido Pizarro
CM 5   Egidio Arévalo Ríos   64'
LM 20   Javier Aquino
CF 10   André-Pierre Gignac   22'
CF 9   Rafael Sóbis
Substitutes:
GK 22   Enrique Palos
DF 25   Antonio Briseño
MF 11   Damián Álvarez
MF 15   Manuel Viniegra
MF 18   José Francisco Torres
MF 29   Jesús Dueñas   64'
FW 8   Joffre Guerrón   77'
Manager:
  Ricardo Ferretti
 
Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, Argentina, hosted the second leg.

Assistant referees:[10]
Mauricio Espinosa (Uruguay)
Nicolas Taran (Uruguay)
Fourth official:
Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "El 29 de julio y el 5 de agosto se define al campeón de la 56° edición de la Bridgestone Libertadores" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. July 23, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Copa Bridgestone Libertadores 2015 – Regulamento" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com.
  3. ^ "Copa Bridgestone Libertadores: Tigres y River Plate empataron 0-0 en primera final" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. 29 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Copa Bridgestone Libertadores: River Plate es campeón tras derrotar 3 a 0 a Tigres" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL.com. 5 August 2015.
  5. ^ "River Plate win third Copa Libertadores title with victory over Tigres". Guardian. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  6. ^ "River Plate 3 Tigres 0". Goal.com. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Tigres 0-0 River Plate: Visitors lose Gallardo in Copa Libertadores final first leg". Goal.com. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Tigres UANL 0 River Plate 0: Visitors lose Gallardo in Copa Libertadores final first leg". FourFourTwo. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  9. ^ "Copa Bridgestone Libertadores: Tigres (0) vs River Plate (0)". YouTube. 30 July 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Árbitros para los juegos de la final de la Bridgestone Libertadores" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. July 24, 2015.
  11. ^ "La patada que pudo haber dejado a Alario afuera del partido". 5 August 2015.
  12. ^ "River Plate: ¿Esta falta de Alario no era para tarjeta roja? | DEPORTE-TOTAL". 5 August 2015.
  13. ^ "River Plate win third Copa Libertadores title with victory over Tigres". The Guardian. Reuters. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  14. ^ "Copa Bridgestone Libertadores: River Plate (3) vs Tigres (0)". YouTube. 6 August 2015.
  15. ^ "Matías Biscay estará en el banco reemplazando a Gallardo". Diario Jornada. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
edit