1979 Copa Libertadores

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.

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

Qualified teams

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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

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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

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Group 1

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Group A

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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

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Boca Juniors   1–0   Independiente

Group B

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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

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Olimpia   2–0   Boca Juniors 2–0 0–0

Champion

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Copa Libertadores
1979 Champions
 
Olimpia
First Title

Top-scorers

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

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