Copa Libertadores 1978

The 1978 Copa Libertadores was the 19th edition of the most important South American football competition for club teams. 21 teams took part. The national champions of the CONMEBOL countries and the runners-up took part. Defending champion CA Boca Juniors completed the field of participants. The tournament began on March 5 and ended on November 28, 1978 with the final second leg. The Argentinian representative Boca Juniors won the final against Deportivo Cali and was able to defend his title from the previous year.

1st group stage

Group 1

club	Games	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
River Plate *	6th	2	4th	0	07: 01	8th
CA Independiente *	6th	3	2	1	06: 02	8th
LDU Quito	6th	2	1	3	04:10	5
CD El Nacional	6th	1	1	4th	06:10	3

			First leg	Return leg
Liga de Quito	-	CA Independiente	1-0	0: 2
CD El Nacional	-	CA River Plate	1: 1	0: 2
Liga de Quito	-	CA River Plate	0-0	0: 4
CD El Nacional	-	CA Independiente	1: 2	0: 2
CA Independiente	-	CA River Plate	0-0	0-0
CD El Nacional	-	Liga de Quito	2-0	2: 3

* The playoff for first place was necessary; River Plate won 4-1 and qualified for the next round.

Group 2

club	Games	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
Alianza Lima	6th	5	1	0	19: 05	11
Sporting Cristal	6th	3	1	2	09: 09	07th
Club The Strongest	6th	2	0	4th	07:12	04th
Oriente Petrolero	6th	1	0	5	05:14	02

			First leg	Return leg
Club The Strongest	-	Oriente Petrolero	2-0	1: 4
Alianza Lima	-	Sporting Cristal	2: 2	4: 1
Club The Strongest	-	Sporting Cristal	3: 1	0: 3
Oriente Petrolero	-	Alianza Lima	0: 4	1: 5
Oriente Petrolero	-	Sporting Cristal	0: 1	0: 1
Club The Strongest	-	Alianza Lima	1: 2	0: 2

Group 3

club	Games	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
Atlético Mineiro	6th	4th	2	0	16: 08	10
Unión Española	6th	1	4th	1	07:10	06th
Sao Paulo FC	6th	1	3	2	06: 07	05
CD Palestino	6th	1	1	4th	08:12	03

			First leg	Return leg
Unión Española	-	CD Palestino	0-0	3: 2
Atlético Mineiro	-	Sao Paulo FC	1: 1	2: 1
CD Palestino	-	Sao Paulo FC	0: 1	2: 1
Unión Española	-	Atlético Mineiro	1: 1	1: 5
CD Palestino	-	Atlético Mineiro	4: 5	0: 2
Unión Española	-	Sao Paulo FC	1: 1	1: 1

Group 4

club	Games	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
Deportivo Cali	6th	3	2	1	5: 3	8th
Club Atlético Peñarol	6th	3	0	3	7: 7	6th
Atlético Junior	6th	1	4th	1	1: 1	6th
Danubio FC	6th	1	2	3	6: 8	4th

			First leg	Return leg
Atlético Junior	-	Deportivo Cali	0-0	0-0
Club Atlético Peñarol	-	Danubio FC	4: 2	2: 1
Atlético Junior	-	Danubio FC	0-0	0-0
Deportivo Cali	-	Club Atlético Peñarol	1-0	2-0
Deportivo Cali	-	Danubio FC	2-0	0: 3
Atlético Junior	-	Club Atlético Peñarol	1-0	0: 1

Group 5

club	Games	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
Club Cerro Porteño	6th	3	3	0	7: 3	9
Portuguesa FC	6th	2	2	2	5: 5	6th
Estudiantes de Mérida	6th	1	3	2	6: 8	5
Club Libertad	6th	1	2	3	4: 6	4th

			First leg	Return leg
Club Cerro Porteño	-	Club Libertad	1-0	0-0
Estudiantes de Mérida	-	Portuguesa FC	0-0	2: 1
Estudiantes de Mérida	-	Club Cerro Porteño	1: 3	1: 1
Portuguesa FC	-	Club Libertad	1-0	2: 1
Estudiantes de Mérida	-	Club Libertad	1: 1	1: 2
Portuguesa FC	-	Club Cerro Porteño	1: 1	0: 1

2nd group stage

Group 1

club	Games	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
Boca Juniors	4th	3	1	0	7: 2	7th
CA River Plate	4th	1	1	2	1: 3	3
Atlético Mineiro	4th	1	0	3	3: 6	2

			First leg	Return leg
Boca Juniors	-	CA River Plate	0-0	2-0
Atlético Mineiro	-	Boca Juniors	1: 2	1: 3
CA River Plate	-	Atlético Mineiro	1-0	0: 1

Group 2

club	Games	S.	U	N	Gates	Points
Deportivo Cali	4th	3	1	0	12: 04	7th
Club Cerro Porteño	4th	1	1	2	04: 09	3
Alianza Lima	4th	1	0	3	07:10	2

			First leg	Return leg
Alianza Lima	-	Club Cerro Porteño	3-0	1: 3
Deportivo Cali	-	Club Cerro Porteño	1: 1	4-0
Deportivo Cali	-	Alianza Lima	3: 2	4: 1

final

First leg

Deportivo Cali		Boca Juniors
	November 23, 1978 in Cali , Colombia ( Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero ) Result : 0-0 Spectators: 50,000 Referee: Héctor Ortiz ( Paraguay )
	Pedro Zape - William Ospina , Fernando Castro ( Heriberto Correa ), Henry Caicedo , Miguel Escobar , César Arce Valverde , Rafael Otero ( Héctor Jaramillo ), Ángel Landucci , Ángel Torres , Néstor Scotta , Alberto de Jesús Benítez Trainer: Carlos Bilardo	Carlos Rodríguez - Vicente Pernía , Francisco Sá , Roberto Mouzo , Miguel Bordón , Jorge Benítez , Rubén Suñé , Mario Zanabria , Ernesto Mastrángelo , Carlos Horacio Salinas , Hugo Perotti Trainer: Juan Carlos Lorenzo

Return leg

Boca Juniors		Deportivo Cali
	November 28, 1978 in Buenos Aires , Argentina ( Estadio Camilo Cichero ) Result: 4: 0 (1: 0) Spectators: 80,000 Referee: Edison Pérez Núñez ( Peru )
	Hugo Gatti - Vicente Pernía , Francisco Sá , Roberto Mouzo , Miguel Bordón , Jorge Benítez ( Carlos Veglio ), Rubén Suñé , Mario Zanabria , Ernesto Mastrángelo , Carlos Horacio Salinas , Hugo Perotti Trainer: Juan Carlos Lorenzo	Pedro Zape - William Ospina ( Fernando Castro ), Miguel Escobar , Henry Caicedo , Heriberto Correa , César Arce Valverde , Ángel Landucci , Rafael Otero ( Diego Umaña ), Ángel Torres , Néstor Scotta , Alberto de Jesús Benítez Trainer: Carlos Bilardo
	1-0 Hugo Perotti (15th) 2-0 Ernesto Mastrángelo (60th) 3-0 Carlos Salinas (71st) 4-0 Hugo Perotti (85th)

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