2015 Copa Libertadores Finals

2015 Copa Libertadores de América Finals
Event 2015 Copa Libertadores de América
UANL River Plate
Mexico Argentina
0 3
on aggregate
First leg
UANL River Plate
0 0
Date July 29, 2015
Venue Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza
Referee Antonio Arias (Paraguay)
Second leg
River Plate UANL
3 0
Date August 5, 2015
Venue Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Buenos Aires
Referee Darío Ubriaco (Uruguay)

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.

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 July 29, 2015, while the second leg was hosted by River Plate at Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires on August 5, 2015.[1]

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][7]

Teams

Team Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Mexico UANL None
Argentina 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

For more details on this topic, see 2015 Copa Libertadores.

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

Mexico UANL Round Argentina River Plate
Opponent Venue Score Opponent Venue Score
Bye First stage Bye
Group 6 Second stage Group 6
Peru Juan Aurich Home3–0 Bolivia San José Away2–0
Argentina River Plate Away1–1 Mexico UANL Home1–1
Bolivia San José Away0–1 Peru Juan Aurich Away1–1
Bolivia San José Home4–0 Peru Juan Aurich Home1–1
Argentina River Plate Home2–2 Mexico UANL Away2–2
Peru Juan Aurich Away4–5 Bolivia San José Home3–0
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Mexico UANL 6 4 2 0 16 7 +9 14 Advance to final stages
2 Argentina River Plate 6 1 4 1 8 7 +1 7
3 Peru Juan Aurich 6 1 3 2 9 11 −2 6
4 Bolivia San José 6 1 1 4 3 11 −8 4
Source: CONMEBOL
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Mexico UANL 6 4 2 0 16 7 +9 14 Advance to final stages
2 Argentina River Plate 6 1 4 1 8 7 +1 7
3 Peru Juan Aurich 6 1 3 2 9 11 −2 6
4 Bolivia San José 6 1 1 4 3 11 −8 4
Source: CONMEBOL
Seed 2 Final stages Seed 16
Bolivia Universitario
(won 3–2 on aggregate)		 Away1–2 Round of 16 Argentina Boca Juniors
(won 1–0 on aggregate – Boca Juniors disqualified)		 Home1–0
Home1–1 Away0–0 (susp.)
Ecuador Emelec
(won 2–1 on aggregate)		 Away1–0 Quarterfinals Brazil Cruzeiro
(won 3–1 on aggregate)		 Home0–1
Home2–0 Away0–3
Brazil Internacional
(won 4–3 on aggregate)		 Away2–1 Semifinals Paraguay Guaraní
(won 3–1 on aggregate)		 Home2–0
Home3–1 Away1–1

Format

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

First leg

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.[8] 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.[9][10]

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

Assistant referees:[11]
Eduardo Cardozo (Paraguay)
Juan Zorrilla (Paraguay)
Fourth official:
Julio Quintana (Paraguay)

Second leg

River opened the scoring at the end of the first half when recent signing Lucas Alario headed Leonel Vangioni's low cross from the left into the goal. 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.[12][13] The match was played under a heavy rainfall.

River Plate
UANL
GK 1 Argentina Marcelo Barovero
RB 18Uruguay Camilo Mayada
CB 2 Argentina Jonathan Maidana
CB 6 Argentina Ramiro Funes Mori  47'
LB 21Argentina Leonel Vangioni
RM 8 Uruguay Carlos Sánchez  76'
CM 23Argentina Leonardo Ponzio
CM 5 Argentina Matías Kranevitter  82'
LM 16Argentina Nicolás Bertolo
CF 13Argentina Lucas Alario  9'   69'
CF 9 Argentina Fernando Cavenaghi (c)   56'   77'
Substitutes:
GK 26Argentina Julio Chiarini
DF 3 Colombia Éder Álvarez Balanta
MF 10Argentina Gonzalo Martínez
MF 15Argentina Leonardo Pisculichi  77'
MF 27Argentina Lucho González  82'
FW 22Argentina Sebastián Driussi  69'
FW 29Argentina Javier Saviola
Manager:
Argentina Matías Biscay[14]
GK 1 Argentina Nahuel Guzmán
RB 2 Mexico Israel Jiménez  17'   77'
CB 24Mexico José Rivas  25'
CB 3 Brazil Juninho (c)  19'
LB 6 Mexico Jorge Torres Nilo  72'
RM 27Mexico Jürgen Damm
CM 19Argentina Guido Pizarro
CM 5 Uruguay Egidio Arévalo Ríos  64'
LM 20Mexico Javier Aquino
CF 10France André-Pierre Gignac  22'
CF 9 Brazil Rafael Sóbis
Substitutes:
GK 22Mexico Enrique Palos
DF 25Mexico Antonio Briseño
MF 11Mexico Damián Álvarez
MF 15Mexico Manuel Viniegra
MF 18United States José Francisco Torres
MF 29Mexico Jesús Dueñas  64'
FW 8 Ecuador Joffre Guerrón  77'
Manager:
Brazil Ricardo Ferretti
Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, Argentina, hosted the second leg.

Assistant referees:[11]
Mauricio Espinosa (Uruguay)
Nicolas Taran (Uruguay)
Fourth official:
Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)

See also

References

  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. 1 2 3 "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 3-0 Tigres: Marcelo Gallardo's side secure first Libertadores Cup triumph in 19 years with convincing victory over Mexican outfit as they confirm FIFA Club World Cup place". Daily Mail. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "River Plate win third Copa Libertadores title with victory over Tigres". Guardian. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "River Plate 3 Tigres 0". Goal.com. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Tigres 0-0 River Plate: Visitors lose Gallardo in Copa Libertadores final first leg". Goal.com. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Tigres UANL 0 River Plate 0: Visitors lose Gallardo in Copa Libertadores final first leg". FourFourTwo. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  10. ↑ "Copa Bridgestone Libertadores: Tigres (0) vs River Plate (0)". YouTube. 30 July 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Árbitros para los juegos de la final de la Bridgestone Libertadores" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. July 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ "River Plate win third Copa Libertadores title with victory over Tigres". The Guardian. Reuters. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Copa Bridgestone Libertadores: River Plate (3) vs Tigres (0)". YouTube. 6 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Matías Biscay estará en el banco reemplazando a Gallardo". Diario Jornada. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.

External links

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