1979 Copa Libertadores

1979 Copa Libertadores de América
Tournament details
DatesFebruary 24 – July 27
Teams21 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
Champions Olimpia (1st title)
Runners-up Boca Juniors
Tournament statistics
Matches played75
Goals scored212 (2.83 per match)
← 1978
1980 →

The 1979 Copa Libertadores represented the 20th edition of the tournament, which saw Olimpia of Paraguay win the title for the first time. They defeated the defending champions, Boca Juniors of Argentina. Olimpia's title was the first instance of a team from a country other than Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil winning Copa Libertadores. This allowed the Paraguayan side to play the Intercontinental Cup against Malmö FF of Sweden, in which the South American side won.

Qualified teams

Country Team Qualify method
CONMEBOL
(1 berth) 		Boca Juniors 1978 Copa Libertadores champion
 Argentina
2 berths 		Independiente 1978 Campeonato Nacional champions
Quilmes 1978 Campeonato Metropolitano champions
 Bolivia
2 berths 		Bolívar 1978 Primera División champion
Jorge Wilstermann 1978 Primera División runner-up
 Brazil
2 berths 		Guarani 1978 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion
Palmeiras 1978 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2nd place
 Chile
2 berths 		Palestino 1978 Primera División champion
O'Higgins 1978 Liguilla Pre-Copa Libertadores winner
 Colombia
2 berths 		Millonarios 1978 Campeonato Profesional champion
Deportivo Cali 1978 Campeonato Profesional runner-up
 Ecuador
2 berths 		El Nacional 1978 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A champion
Técnico Universitario 1978 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A runner-up
 Paraguay
2 berths 		Olimpia 1978 Primera División runner-up
Sol de América 1978 Primera División third place
 Peru
2 berths 		Alianza Lima 1978 Torneo Descentralizado champion
Universitario 1978 Torneo Descentralizado runner-up
 Uruguay
2 berths 		Peñarol 1978 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores winner
Nacional 1978 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores runner-up
 Venezuela
2 berths 		Portuguesa 1978 Primera División champion
Deportivo Galicia 1978 Primera División runner-up

Draw

The champions and runners-up of each football association were drawn into the same group along with another football association's participating teams. Three clubs from Argentina competed as Boca Juniors was champion of the 1978 Copa Libertadores. They entered the tournament in the Semifinals.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5

Group stage

Group 1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification IND CAL MIL QUI
1 Independiente 6 4 1 1 12 6 +6 9 Qualified to the Semifinals — 1–0 4–1 2–0
2 Deportivo Cali 6 3 1 2 8 7 +1 7 1–0 — 2–0 3–2
3 Millonarios 6 2 2 2 8 11 −3 6 3–3 1–1 — 1–0
4 Quilmes 6 1 0 5 7 11 −4 2 1–2 3–1 1–2 —
Source: [citation needed]

Group 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification OLI BOL SOL WIL
1 Olimpia 6 5 0 1 13 5 +8 10 Qualified to the Semifinals — 3–0 2–1 4–2
2 Bolívar 6 4 1 1 18 7 +11 9 2–1 — 4–1 4–0
3 Sol de América 6 2 1 3 9 12 −3 5 0–1 2–2 — 2–1
4 Jorge Wilstermann 6 0 0 6 5 21 −16 0 0–2 0–6 2–3 —
Source: [citation needed]

Group 3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GUA UNI PAL ALI
1 Guarani 6 5 0 1 16 5 +11 10 Qualified to the Semifinals — 6–1 1–0 2–0
2 Universitario 6 4 0 2 15 15 0 8 3–0 — 2–5 1–0
3 Palmeiras 6 3 0 3 15 11 +4 6 1–4 1–2 — 4–0
4 Alianza Lima 6 0 0 6 5 20 −15 0 0–3 3–6 2–4 —
Source: [citation needed]

Group 4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PAL OHI POR GAL
1 Palestino 6 4 2 0 16 2 +14 10 Qualified to the Semifinals — 1–0 6–0 5–0
2 O'Higgins 6 2 3 1 10 4 +6 7 1–1 — 1–1 6–0
3 Portuguesa 6 0 4 2 4 12 −8 4 0–2 1–1 — 1–1
4 Deportivo Galicia 6 0 3 3 3 15 −12 3 1–1 0–1 1–1 —
Source: [citation needed]

Group 5

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PEÑ NAC ENA TEC
1 Peñarol 6 4 2 0 10 2 +8 10 Qualified to the Semifinals — 0–0 2–1 4–0
2 Nacional 6 2 3 1 7 3 +4 7 1–1 — 3–0 2–0
3 El Nacional 6 2 1 3 6 10 −4 5 0–2 1–0 — 2–1
4 Técnico Universitario 6 0 2 4 4 12 −8 2 0–1 1–1 2–2 —
Source: [citation needed]

Semifinals

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BOC IND PEÑ
1 Boca Juniors 4 2 1 1 3 1 +2 5 Qualified to the Final — 2–0 1–0
2 Independiente 4 2 1 1 2 2 0 5 1–0 — 1–0
3 Peñarol 4 0 2 2 0 2 −2 2 0–0 0–0 —
Source: [citation needed]

Tiebreaker

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Boca Juniors 1–0 Independiente

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification OLI GUA PAL
1 Olimpia 4 3 1 0 8 2 +6 7 Qualified to the Final — 2–1 3–0
2 Guarani 4 0 3 1 4 5 −1 3 1–1 — 2–2
3 Palestino 4 0 2 2 2 7 −5 2 0–2 0–0 —
Source: [citation needed]

Finals

Main article: 1979 Copa Libertadores Finals
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Olimpia 2–0 Boca Juniors 2–0 0–0

Champion

Copa Libertadores
1979 Champions
Olimpia
First Title

Top-scorers

6 goles
Juan José Oré (Universitario)
Miltão (Guaraní)

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