# 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.

## Qualified teams

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

## 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 | — |

### 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 | — |

### 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 | — |

### 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 | — |

### 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 | — |

## 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 | — |

#### 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 | — |

## 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)