Copa Libertadores

The Copa Libertadores (Copa Libertadores de América), the tournament between the domestic league winners, was established in 1960. The structure is a combined knock-out and group stage tournament in which the knock-out matches are decided by two-legged ties.

Winners and runners-up

All the winners and runners-up trough the years of the Copa Libertadores.

Season	Winner	Runner-up
2020	Palmeiras	Santos
2019	Flamengo	River Plate
2018	River Plate	Boca Juniors
2017	Grêmio	Lanús
2016	Atlético Nacional	Independiente del Valle
2015	River Plate	UANL
2014	San Lorenzo	Nacional
2013	Atlético Mineiro	Olimpia
2012	Corinthians	Boca Juniors
2011	Santos	Peñarol
2010	Internacional	Guadalajara
2009	Estudiantes	Cruzeiro
2008	LDU Quito	Fluminense
2007	Boca Juniors	Grêmio
2006	Internacional	São Paulo
2005	São Paulo	Atlético Paranaense
2004	Once Caldas	Boca Juniors
2003	Boca Juniors	Santos
2002	Olimpia	São Caetano
2001	Boca Juniors	Cruz Azul
2000	Boca Juniors	Palmeiras
1999	Palmeiras	Deportivo Cali
1998	Vasco da Gama	Barcelona SC
1997	Cruzeiro	Sporting Cristal
1996	River Plate	América de Cali
1995	Grêmio	Atlético Nacional
1994	Vélez Sársfield	São Paulo
1993	São Paulo	Universidad Católica
1992	São Paulo	Newell's Old Boys
1991	Colo-Colo	Olimpia
1990	Olimpia	Barcelona SC
1989	Atlético Nacional	Olimpia
1998	Nacional	Newell's Old Boys
1987	Peñarol	América de Cali
1986	River Plate	América de Cali
1985	Argentinos Juniors	América de Cali
1984	Independiente	Grêmio
1983	Grêmio	Peñarol
1982	Peñarol	Cobreloa
1981	Flamengo	Cobreloa
1980	Nacional	Internacional
1979	Olimpia	Boca Juniors
1978	Boca Juniors	Deportivo Cali
1977	Boca Juniors	Cruzeiro
1976	Cruzeiro	River Plate
1975	Independiente	Unión Española
1974	Independiente	São Paulo
1973	Independiente	Colo-Colo
1972	Independiente	Universitario
1971	Nacional	Estudiantes
1970	Estudiantes	Peñarol
1969	Estudiantes	Nacional
1968	Estudiantes	Palmeiras
1967	Racing	Nacional
1966	Peñarol	River Plate
1965	Independiente	Peñarol
1964	Independiente	Nacional
1963	Santos	Boca Juniors
1962	Santos	Peñarol
1961	Peñarol	Palmeiras
1960	Peñarol	Olimpia

History

The Copa Libertadores was not the first ever club competition on the continent, in 1948 the South American Championship of Champions was played and involved clubs from seven countries. This competition was, however, only played once and the Copa Libertadores become the first annually held tournament that involved the whole continent (since 1998 has also Mexican clubs been included).

Statistics

The club that have won the tournament the most times is Independiente with seven trophies (1964, 1965, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1984). Boca Juniors is the team that have reach the finals the most times, eleven in total, once more than Peñarol. Table 2 show the clubs that have won the most titles in the Copa Libertadores, concerning the period 1960-2020.

Table 2. Most won titles by clubs

Club	Titles
Independiente	7
Boca Juniors	6
Peñarol	5
River Plate	4
Estudiantes	4
Olimpia	3
Nacional	3
São Paulo	3
Grêmio	3
Santos	3
Cruzeiro	2
Internacional	2
Atlético Nacional	2
Flamengo	2
Palmeiras	2

The other clubs that has won the cup on one occasion are Colo-Colo, Racing, Flamengo, Argentinos Juniors, Vélez Sársfield, Vasco da Gama, Once Caldas, LDU Quito, Corinthians, Atlético Mineiro and San Lorenzo.

A comparison between countries tells that Argentine clubs has been the most successful through history in the Copa Libertadores (see table 3).

Table 3. Most won titles by country

Club	Titles
Argentina	25
Brazil	20
Uruguay	8
Colombia	3
Paraguay	4
Chile	1
Ecuador	1

Besides the listed countries, clubs from Mexico and Peru has reach the final in the competition.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Libertadores