IFFHS CONTINENTAL STATS - COPA LIBERTADORES
Picture : It was Adrián Martínez’s 50th goal for Racing in all competitions. 20 of them (40 percent!) are just the opening goals.
Copa Libertadores statistics: Quarterfinals, 1st leg (17-19 September)
Vélez Sársfield vs Racing 0-1
*Racing won an away game in a Copa Libertadores knockout stages for the first time in club’s history, after 18 previous attempts all failed.
Only one club in the competition’s history waited longer for the first such win: Barcelona Guayaquil (19).
*Adrián Martínez is the player with most opening goals in a single Copa Libertadores edition since 2013; this one vs Veles was already his 5th in the current campaign for Racing.
*It was Adrián Martínez’s 50th goal for Racing in all competitions. 20 of them (40 percent!) are just the opening goals.
River Plate vs Palmeiras 1-2
*River Plate had gone 18 matches unbeaten at home in the Copa Libertadores until this defeat.
*A Colombian Kevin Castaño suffered his first defeat as a River Plate player in his 28th appearance for the club in all competitions: the longest such run for a footballer in the club's history.
*In their previous history in Copa Libertadores, River Plate have advanced in 2 of 4 knockout ties after losing the first leg at home against Brazilian teams (vs Cruzeiro in 2015 and vs Grêmio in 2018).
*Only if they manage to do so for the third time, their goalkeeper Franco Armani could equal and beat Ever Almeida's record for appearances in Copa Libertadores (113). Armani is now at 111.
*However, Armani has already beaten another Copa Libertadores: for most quarterfinal matches played. It was his 15th such appearance.
The previous record (14) was shared by 4 players: Francisco Arce, Fábio, Juan Román Riquelme and Clemente Rodríguez.
*River Plate’s coach Marcelo Gallardo is taking part in his 8th quarterfinal tie, an achievement that puts him on par with Luiz Felipe Scolari as the coach with the most ties at this stage in the tournament's history, surpassing his countryman Carlos Bianchi (7).
“El Muñeco” Gallardo was eliminted in only 1 of his previous 7 quarterfinal attempts (that of 2021); his 8 such ties, all with River Plate, span just 11 editions (2015 to 2025).
Scolari’s 8 quarterfinals, between 1995 and 2022, are divided by Gremio (2), Palmeiras (4), Cruzeiro (1) and Athletico Paranaense (1).
Bianchi achieved his 7 between 1994 and 2013, with Vélez Sarsfield (2) and Boca Juniors (5).
Flamengo vs Estudiantes 2-1
*Estudiantes broke their 2nd best unbeaten streak away from home in the knockout stage of Copa Libertadores: 4 matches (2 wins, 2 draws).
Only in 2009-2010 they had a longer such run: 5 matches (4 wins, 1 draw).
*Estudiantes’s last 3 games (in all competitions) make a strange series when they concede 2 goals at early stage of a match and then concede nothing:
vs Central Córdoba (30 August): goals conceded on minutes 5 and 10, final score 0-2;
vs River Plate (14 September): goals conceded on minutes 6 and 13, final score 1-2;
now they conceded goals on minutes 1 and 9.
*Estudiantes became the first Argentine team to concede 2 goals in the first 9 minutes of a Copa Libertadores match since 14 March 2006, when Universitario scored against Vélez in the 1st and 7th minutes.
*Guido Carrillo, scoring the only Estudiantes’s goal, got closer to the club’s top scorers in the Copa Libertadores, Juan Ramón Verón and Mauro Boselli (both 13 goals). Carrillo has now 11.
*Flamengo’s Pedro has registered his 26th goal in Copa Libertadores, surpassing Fred and Palhinha (both 25), as the all-time third Brazilian scorer in the competition, behind only Gabriel Barbosa (31) and Luizão (29).
LDU Quito vs São Paulo 2-0
*LDU Quito achieved their 4th victory against São Paulo in 7 CONMEBOL tournament matches.