Only four teams remain, from three different countries, in the hunt for the ‘Eternal Glory’ of lifting the CONMEBOL Libertadores trophy.
LDU (Ecuador) and Flamengo (Brazil) secured their places in the semi-finals of this year’s competition, where they will join Palmeiras (Brazil) and Racing Club (Argentina). The winner of this year’s edition of South America’s elite club competition will earn themselves a spot at the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2025™ and the FIFA Club World Cup 2029™.
Brazilian sides Palmeiras and Flamengo have already had a taste of the FIFA Club World Cup; they featured in this year’s inaugural edition in the United States, where they got as far as the quarter-finals and the last 16, respectively, before losing out to Chelsea and FC Bayern München.
CONMEBOL Libertadores semi-final fixtures
Palmeiras (BRA) v LDU (ECU)
Racing (ARG) v Flamengo (BRA)
CONMEBOL Libertadores quarter-final review
Racing Club 1-0 Velez Sarsfield (2-0 on aggregate)
Racing goalscorer: Santiago Solari (82)
Racing, the current holders of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana and the CONMEBOL Recopa, took a one-goal advantage into the second leg of their all-Argentinian tie with Velez Sarsfield. It was not all plain-sailing in the return leg, however, as Imanol Machuca looked to have levelled the tie for the visitors 19 minutes into the second half, momentarily silencing El Cilindro. After a VAR check, though, the goal was ruled out as the ball had not fully crossed the line. The score remained goalless until the final stretch when, with 82 minutes on the clock, Santiago Solari scored the only goal of the game to secure a 1-0 win on the night for Gustavo Costas’s side.
Palmeiras 3-1 River Plate (5-2 on aggregate)
Palmeiras goalscorers: Vitor Roque (51) and Flaco Lopez (90+1 pen and 90+4)
River Plate goalscorer: Maximiliano Salas (8)
Going into the second leg with a 2-1 lead, Palmeiras welcomed River Plate to Allianz Parque knowing that a draw would be enough to see them progress to the semi-finals. The Brazilian side, however, were stunned by a quick River goal – Maximiliano Salas converted an excellent Juan Fernando Quintero cross just eight minutes into the game, levelling things on aggregate.
There was not much between the sides for the rest of the first half, but the home side really pushed on after the interval. The tireless Vitor Roque found the equaliser on the night just six minutes into the second half, and Argentinian Flaco Lopez netted twice in injury time to put the tie to bed. Head coach Abel Ferreira will take his Palmeiras side into the Libertadores semi-finals for the fifth time in his spell in charge of the Alviverde.
Sao Paulo 0-1 LDU (0-3 on aggregate)
LDU goalscorer: Jeison Medina (41)
Sao Paulo hosted LDU knowing that they needed at least two goals to stay in the competition, after being wasteful in front of goal in the first leg in Ecuador. LDU carried out their game plan to perfection, however, and managed to pull off another very impressive win under Brazilian head coach Tiago Nunes. Despite having less of the ball than their Brazilian counterparts, they were very effective with it.
With just a few minutes left to play in the first half, the away side managed to launch a rare counter-attack and Jeison Medina beat the last defender to the ball and went on to slot it past a helpless Rafael in goal.
Estudiantes 1-0 Flamengo (2-2 on aggregate, 2-4 PSO)
Estudiantes goalscorer: Gaston Benedetti (45+2)
Despite losing 2-1 in the first leg at the Maracana, a late Estudiantes goal would have given the Argentinian side cause for optimism heading into the second leg in front of their own fans. The hosts piled on the pressure in the early stages, but Flamengo stood firm and did enough to keep the hosts at bay. That was until the closing stages of the first half, when Gaston Benedetti fired a first-time shot into the back of the net to send La Plata into a frenzy.
The Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi erupted again 27 minutes into the second half when Benedetti once again found the back of the net; however, VAR ruled it out as he was offside when the ball was flicked on. You could almost feel the collective sigh of relief of 40 million Flamenguistas all around the world, including head coach Filipe Luis. The Brazilian side began to put the pressure back on their opponents in a bid to try and avoid a shootout, but they were unable to find a way through and penalties loomed.
This was when the stars appeared to align for Flamengo. Benedetti – who until that point had been the hero of the night – had his penalty saved by goalkeeper Agustin Rossi, formerly of Estudiantes. Rossi also denied Ascacibar and O Mengao scored their four penalties, sealing their place in the semi-finals.
