IFFHS CONTINENTAL STATS - COPA LIBERTADORES
Picture : Abel Ferreira won already his 13th Copa Libertadores knockout round with Palmeiras !
Copa Libertadores statistics: Quarterfinals, 2nd leg (24-26 September)
Racing vs Vélez Sársfield 1-0 (agg 2-0)
*Racing advances in a Copa Libertadores quarterfinal for the 2nd time in their history.
They return to the competition’s semifinals after 28 years of break (last time: 1997).
*Racing have lost only one of their 19 home matches in the knockout phase of Copa Libertadores, with 10 wins and 8 draws.
*Gustavo Costas won 7 out of 7 knockout ties in South American international competitions since his appointment as a Racing coach. Under him, the club overcame:
Huachipato, Athletico Paranaense, Corinthians and Cruzeiro in the 2024 Copa Sudamericana,
Botafogo in the 2025 Recopa Sudamericana,
Peñarol and now Vélez Sarsfield in the 2025 Copa Libertadores.
Palmeiras vs River Plate 3-1 (agg 5-2)
*Palmeiras will play in the Copa Libertadores semifinals for the 6th time in their last 8 appearances.
*Brazilian teams have won 14 of the last 17 two-legged knockout ties against Argentine clubs in Copa Libertadores.
*Maximiliano Salas is the second player in the history of Copa Libertadores to score goals for two different teams (Racing and River plate) in the same edition, following Braian Romero, who achieved the feat in 2021 with Defensa y Justicia and River Plate.
*Abel Ferreira won already his 13th Copa Libertadores knockout round with Palmeiras. In the competition’s history only 2 coaches have won with the same team more: his last opponent Marcelo Gallardo (19 with River Plate) and Carlos Bianchi (16 with Boca Juniors).
Bianchi remains the coach with most knockout ties won in the Copa Libertadores overall: 21 (including 5 with Vélez Sarsfield).
*Éver Almeida’s record for most appearances in Copa Libertadores (113) will not be matched nor beaten this season.
River Plate’s goalkeeper Franco Armani finished his performance in this campaign at 112 and his team-mate Enzo Pérez at 109 (4th place in all-time ranking behind Fluminense’s custodian Fabio, 110).
*It was River Plate’s 3rd consecutive loss (inside a week) across all competitions. They last suffered such negative run in January 2019.
In the 41 previous matches of the season (January to September) they only lost twice.
São Paulo vs LDU Quito 0-1 (agg 0-3)
*For the first time ever an Ecuadorian team will appear in the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores (LDU Quito) and another in the Copa Sudamericana (Independiente del Valle) in the same year, since both competitions have been contested.
*São Paulo have lost at home in CONMEBOL tournaments for the first since 18 May 2021 (0-1 against Racing in Copa Libertadores).
They ended a streak of 23 consecutive home matches without defeat: 16 wins and 7 draws.
*LDU Quito have never before achieved a 3-goal lead in Copa Libertadores two-leg knockout rounds.
*LDU Quito is the 2nd Ecuadorian team to eliminate two Brazilian clubs (Botafogo and São Paulo) in the same edition of Copa Libertadores, after Barcelona Guayaquil, who eliminated Palmeiras and Santos in 2017.
In all their previous history in the competition, LDU Quito eliminated a Brazilian club only once (Fluminense in 2008).
*It is the first case in the Copa Libertadores history that an Ecuadorian team beat a Brazilian in both matches of a two-leg knockout tie from the quarterfinals onwards.
Clubs of other countries (not counting Brazil itself) did so in 5 cases:
Independiente vs Santos in 1964,
BocaJuniors vs Vasco da Gama in 2001, vs Santos in 2003 and vs Grêmio in 2007,
Atlético Nacional vs São Paulo in 2016.
Estudiantes vs Flamengo 1-0 (agg 1-1), pen. 2-4
*Flamengo have reached 4 semifinals in their last 7 appearances in Copa Libertadores.
*Estudiantes have lost their 4th penalty shootout out of 4 in the competition’s history.