Supercopa Libertadores

Supercopa Libertadores

File:Supercopalogo.PNG
Founded	1988
Region	South America (CONMEBOL)
Number of teams	Varied per year
Most successful club(s)	Cruzeiro Independiente (2 titles each)

Supercopa Sudamericana (English: South American Supercup, Portuguese: Supercopa Sul-americana), also known as the Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa Libertadores, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually by the past winners of the Copa Libertadores. The cup is one of the many inter-South American club competitions that have been organised by CONMEBOL. The first competition was held in the 1988 season, and the last in 1997. The competition was then abolished to make way for the Copa Mercosur and Copa Merconorte in 1998, cups that both replaced Copa CONMEBOL in 2000, and eventually transformed itself into the now-played Copa Sudamericana.

Prior to its abolition, the Supercopa Sudamericana was regarded as the second most prestigious South American club competition out of the three major tournaments. behind the Copa Libertadores and ahead of the Copa CONMEBOL. The winner of the tournament would go on to play the winner of the Copa Libertadores in the Recopa Sudamericana. Since the abolition of the Supercopa Sudamericana, the Recopa Sudamericana place previously reserved for the Supercopa Sudamericana winner has been taken by the winner of the Copa Sudamericana.

The last champion of the competition was Talleres, while Cruzeiro and Independiente are the most successful clubs in the cup history, having won the tournament two times each. The cup has been won by eight different clubs and won consecutively by Cruzeiro and Independiente.

History

See also: List of Supercopa Sudamericana winners and Copa Sudamericana

Format and rules

The format for the Supercopa Sudamericana underwent changes nearly every season. The most common reason behind it was the addition of a new Copa Libertadores winner. The only way to participate in the Supercopa Sudamericana was being a past winner of the Copa Libertadores. Vasco da Gama was later admitted into the competition as winners of the Copa Libertadores' predecessor, the Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones. The tournament has been predominately a single-elimination tournament with several stages.

Every round of the competition is contested over a two-legged tie. The teams accumulate points as per the results of the match (3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss). The team with the most points after both legs wins the series. Unlike European club competitions, South America historically did not use extra time to decide a tie that was level on aggregate. Ties in points would be broken first by goal difference, then by away goals, and lastly by a penalty shootout after regulation of the second leg.

Records and statistics

Main article: Records and statistics of the Supercopa Sudamericana

See also

• International club competition records

References

RSSF