1988 Copa Libertadores

1988 Copa Libertadores de América
Tournament details
Dates June 29 – October 26
Teams 21 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
Champions Nacional (3rd title)
Runners-up Newell's Old Boys
Tournament statistics
Matches played 83
Goals scored 170 (2.05 per match)
Top scorer(s) Arnoldo Iguarán (5)

The 1988 Copa Libertadores de América was the 29th edition of the Copa Libertadores, South America's premier international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. This season's defending champion Peñarol of Uruguay were defeated by San Lorenzo of Argentina. In the finals, Nacional defeated Newell's Old Boys.

Qualified teams

Country Team Qualification method
CONMEBOL
(1 berth)
Peñarol 1987 Copa Libertadores champion
Argentina
(2 berths)
Newell's Old Boys 1987–88 Primera División champion
San Lorenzo 1987–88 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores winner
Bolivia
(2 berths)
Bolívar 1987 Primera División champion
Oriente Petrolero 1987 Primera División runner-up
Brazil
(2 berths)
Sport Recife 1987 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion
Guarani 1987 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up
Chile
(2 berths)
Universidad Católica 1987 Primera División champion
Colo-Colo 1987 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores winner
Colombia
(2 berths)
Millonarios 1987 Campeonato Profesional champion
América de Cali 1987 Campeonato Profesional runner-up
Ecuador
(2 berths)
Barcelona 1987 Campeonato Ecuatoriano champion
Filanbanco 1987 Campeonato Ecuatoriano runner-up
Paraguay
(2 berths)
Cerro Porteño 1987 Primera División champion
Olimpia 1987 Primera División runner-up
Peru
(2 berths)
Universitario 1987 Primera División champion
Alianza Lima 1987 Primera División runner-up
Uruguay
(2 berths)
Montevideo Wanderers 1987 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores winner
Nacional 1987 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores runner-up
Venezuela
(2 berths)
Marítimo 1986–87 Primera División champion
Unión Atlético Táchira 1986–87 Primera División runner-up

Draw

The champions and runners-up of each football association were drawn into the same group along with another football association's participating teams. Three clubs from Uruguay competed as Peñarol was champion of the 1987 Copa Libertadores. They entered the tournament in the third stage.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5

First stage

Group 1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts UCA COL MAR TAC
1 Universidad Católica 6 4 2 0 9 4 +5 10 1–0 2–1 3–1
2 Colo-Colo 6 4 1 1 7 3 +4 9 2–2 1–0 2–0
3 Marítimo 6 0 3 3 2 5 −3 3 0–0 0–1 1–1
4 Unión Atlético Táchira 6 0 2 4 2 8 −6 2 0–1 0–1 0–0
Source:

Group 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts NOB SLO BAR FIL
1 Newell's Old Boys 6 2 4 0 5 1 +4 8 0–0 3–0 1–0
2 San Lorenzo 6 3 2 1 6 4 +2 8 0–0 2–1 2–0
3 Barcelona 6 3 1 2 9 8 +1 7 0–0 2–0 4–2
4 Filanbanco 6 0 1 5 5 12 −7 1 1–1 1–2 1–2
Source:

Tie-breaker

Newell's Old Boys and San Lorenzo played an extra match to determine the winner of the group.

Newell's Old Boys 1–0 San Lorenzo
Ramos ?'

Group 3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts ACA NAC MIL MWA
1 América de Cali 6 4 1 1 8 6 +2 9 0–0 2–1 1–0
2 Nacional 6 3 2 1 8 7 +1 8 2–0 4–1 1–0
3 Millonarios 6 2 0 4 14 12 +2 4 2–3 6–1 3–0
4 Montevideo Wanderers 6 1 1 4 3 8 −5 3 1–2 0–0 2–1
Source:

Group 4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts OPE BOL CPO OLI
1 Oriente Petrolero 6 3 1 2 8 8 0 7 1–3 2–2 1–0
2 Bolívar 6 3 0 3 12 10 +2 6 1–2 2–0 2–0
3 Cerro Porteño 6 2 2 2 6 7 −1 6 1–0 3–2 0–0
4 Olimpia 6 2 1 3 6 7 −1 5 1–2 4–2 1–0
Source:

Group 5

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts GUA UNI REC ALI
1 Guarani 6 3 2 1 9 5 +4 8 1–1 4–1 1–0
2 Universitario 6 2 4 0 5 2 +3 8 1–1 1–0 0–0
3 Sport Recife 6 2 1 3 7 6 +1 5 0–1 0–0 5–0
4 Alianza Lima 6 1 1 4 2 10 −8 3 2–1 0–2 0–1
Source:

Knockout phase

Bracket

Second stage Third stage Semifinals Finals
                       
Universidad Católica 1 0
Nacional (a) 1 0
Nacional 1 2
Newell's Old Boys 1 1
Bolívar 1 0 (2)
Newell's Old Boys 0 1 (3)
Nacional 1 1
América de Cali 0 1
América de Cali 1 2
Universitario 0 2
América de Cali 1 2
Oriente Petrolero 1 0
Oriente Petrolero 2 0
Colo-Colo 1 0
Nacional 0 3
Newell's Old Boys 1 0
San Lorenzo 1 1
Guarani 1 0
San Lorenzo 0 1
Peñarol 0 0
San Lorenzo 0 1
Newell's Old Boys 1 2

Second stage

The group winners and runners-up were drawn in the second stage of the competition. The away goals rule was applied to determine the winner between Nacional and Universidad Católica.

Teams Scores Tie-breakers
Team 1 Points Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg GD AG Pen.
Nacional 2:2 Universidad Católica 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–0
Universitario 1:3 América de Cali 0–1 2–2
Colo-Colo 1:3 Oriente Petrolero 1–2 0–0
Guarani 1:3 San Lorenzo 1–1 0–1
Newell's Old Boys 2:2 Bolívar 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 3–2

Third stage

The defending champion Peñarol entered the competition in this round. The three winners and the best-ranked loser advanced to the semifinals.

Teams Scores Tie-breakers
Team 1 Points Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg GD AG Pen.
San Lorenzo 3:1 Peñarol 0–0 1–0
Nacional 3:1 Newell's Old Boys 1–1 2–1
América de Cali 3:1 Oriente Petrolero 1–1 2–0

Ranking of losing teams

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Newell's Old Boys 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1
2 Peñarol 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 1
3 Oriente Petrolero 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2 1
Source:

Semifinals

Teams Scores Tie-breakers
Team 1 Points Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg GD AG Pen.
San Lorenzo 0:4 Newell's Old Boys 0–1 1–2
América de Cali 1:3 Nacional 0–1 1–1

Finals

Newell's Old Boys 1–0 Nacional
Gabrich 60' Report
Attendance: 45,000

Nacional 3–0 Newell's Old Boys
Vargas 13'
Ostolaza 36'
De León 78'
Report
Attendance: 75,000