1996 Copa Libertadores group stage

The 1996 Copa Libertadores group stage or 1996 Copa Libertadores first stage was played from 13 March to 17 April 1996. A total of 20 teams competed in the group stage to decide 15 places in the final stages of the 1996 Copa Libertadores, where they joined defending champions Grêmio.

Groups composition edit

Same as previous editions, the 20 participating teams were divided into 5 groups of 4, which consisted of two teams from one national association and two teams from another. The draw of the tournament was held on 3 November 1995 in Asunción, Paraguay and the paired associations for this edition were as follows:^[1]

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

Format edit

In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams were ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Away goals scored; 5. Drawing of lots.

As of this edition, the extra game that was played to define the positions between teams from the same national association in case of a tie in points was no longer held. Therefore, the above criteria were applied to all teams regardless of the national association to which they belong.

The winners, runners-up and third placed teams of each group advanced to the round of 16 of the final stages.

Groups edit

Group 1 edit

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	BAR	CCP	ESP	OLI
1	Barcelona	6	4	1	1	11	8	+3	13	Round of 16	—	3–2	3–2	2–1
2	Cerro Porteño	6	3	1	2	8	7	+1	10		1–0	—	2–1	0–0
3	ESPOLI	6	2	0	4	7	10	−3	6		1–2	2–1	—	1–0
4	Olimpia	6	1	2	3	5	6	−1	5		1–1	1–2	2–0	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

13 March 1996

--:-- UTC−5

Barcelona	3–2	ESPOLI
Gómez 52' Alfaro 56' Noriega 80'	Report	Jauch 47' Oleas 51'

Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo, Guayaquil

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Ángel Guevara (Ecuador)

13 March 1996

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	PEÑ	DFS	SCR	UNI
1	Peñarol	6	2	3	1	13	10	+3	9	Round of 16	—	1–1	1–1	1–2
2	Defensor Sporting	6	1	4	1	6	6	0	7		2–4	—	0–0	2–0
3	Sporting Cristal	6	1	4	1	6	7	−1	7		3–3	0–0	—	0–2
4	Universitario	6	2	1	3	7	9	−2	7		1–3	1–1	1–2	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	AME	JUN	SJO	GUA
1	América de Cali	6	4	0	2	11	2	+9	12	Round of 16	—	2–0	2–0	5–0
2	Junior	6	3	1	2	8	6	+2	10		1–0	—	1–0	5–1
3	San José	6	3	0	3	6	8	−2	9		1–0	2–0	—	2–1
4	Guabirá	6	1	1	4	7	16	−9	4		0–2	1–1	4–1	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	COR	UCH	BOT	UCA
1	Corinthians	6	4	1	1	13	6	+7	13	Round of 16	—	3–1	3–0	3–1
2	Universidad de Chile	6	3	1	2	7	7	0	10		1–0	—	2–1	2–0
3	Botafogo	6	2	1	3	10	10	0	7		1–1	3–1	—	4–1
4	Universidad Católica	6	1	1	4	6	13	−7	4		2–3	0–0	2–1	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	RIV	SLO	MIN	CAR
1	River Plate	6	4	2	0	14	3	+11	14	Round of 16	—	0–0	2–0	5–0
2	San Lorenzo	6	2	4	0	13	5	+8	10		1–1	—	5–1	4–0
3	Minervén	6	1	2	3	8	16	−8	5		1–2	2–2	—	4–2
4	Caracas	6	0	2	4	6	17	−11	2		1–4	1–1	1–1	—

1996 Copa Libertadores group stage

Groups composition edit

Format edit

Groups edit

Group 1 edit

Group 2 edit

Group 3 edit

Group 4 edit

Group 5 edit

References edit

External links edit