Brazil’s Copa Libertadores?

Before 2005, when São Paulo faced Athletico Paranaense in the final of the Copa Libertadores, South America’s premier continental club football competition, two Brazilian clubs had never met in the tournament’s decider.

But the following year, it happened again. São Paulo sought to defend their trophy against Internacional, from Brazil’s South. And suddenly, alarm bells started ringing around the halls of Conmebol, the South American football governing body.

To stop the tournament being dominated by Brazilians, the plan was to “fix” the Libertadores’s knockout phase draw, meaning that if two clubs from the same country qualified for the semi-final stage, they would automatically be drawn against one another. This rule remained in place until 2017.

But, once the rule changed back, that was when Brazilian clubs really began to show their dominance over sides from neighboring countries, both on the pitch and on the balance statements. 

Clubs in Argentina were feeling the impact of the country’s economic crisis, while Uruguay’s big two Nacional and Peñarol saw the quality of their squads fall off a cliff. Traditional teams in Chile struggled as well, and all across the continent there seemed to be no answer for Brazilian sides.

All editions of the Copa Libertadores since 2019 have been won by a Brazilian club, while 2020, 2021, and 2022 were all-Brazilian affairs in the final.

And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s going to happen again this year. This midweek, Brazilian clubs Atlético Mineiro and Botafogo dispatched their foreign rivals (River Plate and Peñarol, respectively), ensuring that the trophy will be staying in Brazil. 

The question arises, therefore, about what to do with the Copa Libertadores. Would it be worth bringing back the 2007 rules? Or does the rest of the continent need to pull up its socks and start producing championship contenders?

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