1976 Copa Libertadores

1976 Copa Libertadores de América

Tournament details
Dates	February 25 – July 30
Teams	21 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Cruzeiro (1st title)
Runners-up	River Plate
Tournament statistics
Matches played	75
Goals scored	207 (2.76 per match)

The Copa Libertadores 1976 was the 17th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. The tournament began on February 23 and ended on July 30.

Cruzeiro won the competition, being the first Brazilian team, after Pelé's Santos, to win the continental competition. During the tournament, Cruzeiro suffered a great setback: the loss of the player Roberto Batata, who died in a car accident.

Qualified teams

Country	Team	Qualification method
Argentina 2 + 1 berths	Independiente	1975 Copa Libertadores champion
	River Plate	1975 Metropolitano champion 1975 Nacional champion
	Estudiantes	1975 Metropolitano runner-up
Bolivia 2 berths	Guabirá	1975 Copa Simón Bolívar champion
	Bolívar	1975 Copa Simón Bolívar runner-up
Brazil 2 berths	Internacional	1975 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion
	Cruzeiro	1975 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up
Chile 2 berths	Unión Española	1975 Primera División champion
	Palestino	1975 Miniliga Pré-Libertadores champion
Colombia 2 berths	Santa Fe	1975 Campeonato Profesional champion
	Millonarios	1975 Campeonato Profesional runner-up
Ecuador 2 berths	LDU Quito	1975 Serie A champion
	Deportivo Cuenca	1975 Serie A runner-up
Paraguay 2 berths	Olimpia	1975 Primera División champion
	Sportivo Luqueño	1975 Primera División runner-up
Peru 2 berths	Alianza Lima	1975 Descentralizado champion
	Alfonso Ugarte	1975 Descentralizado runner-up
Uruguay 2 berths	Peñarol	1975 Primera División champion
	Nacional	1975 Primera División runner-up
Venezuela 2 berths	Portuguesa	1975 Venezuelan champion
	Galicia	1975 Venezuelan Championship runner-up

The participating teams were divided into five groups, in which teams of the same country were placed in the same group. Each country was represented by two teams. The countries were paired as follows:

• Group 1: Argentina and Venezuela
• Group 2: Bolivia and Ecuador
• Group 3: Brazil and Paraguay
• Group 4: Colombia and Peru
• Group 5: Chile and Uruguay

Group stage

Group 1 (Argentina, Venezuela)

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD River Plate 10 6 5 0 1 10 3 +7 Estudiantes 9 6 4 1 1 11 3 +8 Portuguesa 5 6 2 1 3 8 11 -3 Galicia 0 6 0 0 6 3 15 -12

EST DGA POR RIV Estudiantes – 4-0 3-0 1-0 Galicia 0-1 – 1-2 0-1 Portuguesa 2-2 3-1 – 0-2 River Plate 1-0 4-1 2-1 –

Group 2 (Bolivia, Ecuador)

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD LDU Quito 8 6 3 2 1 10 5 +5 Deportivo Cuenca 8 6 3 2 1 9 6 +3 Bolivar 6 6 3 0 3 16 11 5 Guabirá 2 6 1 0 5 2 15 -13

BOL DCU GUA LDU Bolívar – 4-2 7-1 3-2 Deportivo Cuenca 3-1 – 1-0 0-0 Guabirá 1-0 0-2 – 0-1 LDU Quito 2-1 1-1 4-0 –

Group 3 (Brazil, Paraguay)

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD Cruzeiro 11 6 5 1 0 20 9 +11 Internacional 7 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 Olimpia 4 6 1 2 3 7 11 -4 Sportivo Luqueño 2 6 1 0 5 5 14 -9

CRU INT OLI SLU Cruzeiro – 5-4 4-1 4-1 Internacional 0-2 – 1-0 3-0 Olimpia 2-2 1-1 – 2-3 Sportivo Luqueño 1-3 0-1 0-1 –

Group 4 (Colombia, Peru)

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD Alianza Lima 8 6 3 2 1 8 4 +4 Millonarios 6 6 2 2 2 8 5 +3 Alfonso Ugarte 6 6 1 4 1 5 8 -3 Santa Fe 4 6 1 2 3 7 11 -4

AUG ALI ISF MIL Alfonso Ugarte – 0-0 2-1 1-1 Alianza Lima 0-0 – 3-0 2-1 Santa Fe 2-2 2-3 – 1-0 Millonarios 4-0 1-0 1-1 –

Group 5 (Chile, Uruguay)

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD Peñarol 8 6 3 2 1 7 4 +3 Unión Española 8 6 3 2 1 5 3 +2 Palestino 5 6 2 1 3 5 6 -1 Nacional 3 6 0 3 3 5 9 -4

NAC PAL PEN UES Nacional – 1-1 1-2 1-1 Palestino 2-1 – 1-0 0-1 Peñarol 1-1 2-1 – 0-1 Unión Española 2-0 1-0 0-0 –

Semi-finals

Group 1

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD Cruzeiro 8 4 4 0 0 18 3 15 LDU Quito 2 4 1 0 3 4 10 -6 Alianza Lima 2 4 1 0 3 4 13 -9

ALI CRU LDU Alianza Lima – 0-4 2-0 Cruzeiro 7-1 – 4-1 LDU Quito 2-1 1-3 –

Group 2

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD River Plate 5 4 2 1 1 4 1 +3 Independiente 5 4 2 1 3 2 1 +1 Peñarol 2 4 1 0 3 1 5 -4

IND PEN RIV Independiente – 1-0 0-1 Peñarol 0-1 – 1-0 River Plate 0-0 3-0 –

Playoffs

Date	Location	Home team	Score	Away team
16 July	Buenos Aires	River Plate	1 - 0	Independiente

Final

Cruzeiro v River Plate

July 21, 1976

Cruzeiro	4 – 1	River Plate
Nelinho  22' Palhinha  29',  40' Valdo  80'		Más  63'

Mineirão, Belo Horizonte Attendance: 58,720 (65,000) Referee: Vicente Llobregat, Venezuela

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River Plate v Cruzeiro

July 28, 1976

River Plate	2 – 1	Cruzeiro
J. J. López  10' Pedro González  76'		Palhinha  48'

Monumental de Nuñez, Buenos Aires Attendance: 90,000 Referee: José Martínez Bazán, Uruguay

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Cruzeiro v River Plate

July 30, 1976

Cruzeiro	3 – 2	River Plate
Nelinho  24' Eduardo  55' Joãozinho  88'		Más  59' Urquiza  64'

Nacional, Santiago Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Alberto Martínez, Chile

Copa Libertadores 1976 Champions
Cruzeiro First title

External links

• Eternal matches: Cruzeiro 5x4 Internacional, in Portuguese
• Cruzeiro 3x2 River Plate, in Portuguese
• In English
• Match result at RSSSF's website