The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually between 1988 and 1997 by the past winners of the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

. The tournament is one of the many South American club competitions that have been organized by CONMEBOL.Supercopa Libertadores (Supercopa João Havelange)
by Karel Stokkermans on the RSSSF

History

As through the successive editions of this cup were added new champions from the Copa Libertadores, in 1997 the CONMEBOL decided that the last teams of each group would descend to reduce the number of teams to disputed it. That year descended Velez Sarsfield, Racing Club and Boca Juniors (all teams from Argentina) and Gremio (Brazil). The competition was discontinued to make way for the Copa Mercosur and Copa Merconorte in 1998, which also grew in importance after the final season of the Copa CONMEBOL in 1999. These tournaments were also discontinued in favor of the Copa Sudamericana which allowed the revival of the

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club football competition organized by ...

. Prior to its abolition, the Supercopa Libertadores was regarded as the second most prestigious South American club competition out of the three major tournaments, behind the

and ahead of the Copa CONMEBOL. The winner of the tournament played the winner of the Copa Libertadores in the

. Since the abolition of the Supercopa, the Recopa Sudamericana place previously reserved for the Supercopa winner has been taken by the winner of the Copa Sudamericana.POR PRIMERA VEZ EN 15 AÑOS, NO HAY EQUIPOS ARGENTINOS EN LAS SEMIFINALES DE LA LIBERTADORES O SUDAMERICANA
on Digital Sports The last champion of the competition was River Plate, 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.

Format and rules

The format for the Supercopa Libertadores 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 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 predominantly a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

with several stages. Every round of the competition was contested over a

two-legged tie In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...

. 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 more points after both legs advanced to the next round. Unlike European club competitions, South America did not use extra time to decide a tie that was level on aggregate. Ties in points would be broken first by goal difference, and ultimately by a penalty shootout after the culmination of the second leg.

Participants (1988–1997)

* Argentinos Juniors * Boca Juniors * Estudiantes * Independiente *

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

* River Plate * Vélez Sarsfield * Cruzeiro *

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

* Grêmio * Santos *

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

* Vasco da Gama * Colo-Colo *

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the oth ...

* Olimpia * Nacional * Peñarol

List of champions

References

{{South American Football Defunct CONMEBOL club competitions Recurring events disestablished in 1997 Recurring sporting events established in 1988