# 1976 Copa Libertadores

The Copa Libertadores 1976 was the 17th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. The tournament began on February 23 and ended on July 30.
Cruzeiro won the competition, being the first Brazilian team, after Pelé's Santos, to win the continental competition. During the tournament, Cruzeiro suffered a great setback: the loss of the player Roberto Batata, who died in a car crash.
Independiente, the defending champions who had won four consecutive titles till the 1975 edition of the tournament, were defeated in the semifinals by fellow Argentina club River Plate.

## Qualified teams

| Country | Team | Qualification method |
| Argentina 2 + 1 berths | Independiente | 1975 Copa Libertadores champion |
| Argentina 2 + 1 berths | River Plate | 1975 Metropolitano champion 1975 Nacional champion |
| Argentina 2 + 1 berths | Estudiantes | 1975 Metropolitano runner-up |
| Bolivia 2 berths | Guabirá | 1975 Copa Simón Bolívar champion |
| Bolivia 2 berths | Bolívar | 1975 Copa Simón Bolívar runner-up |
| Brazil 2 berths | Internacional | 1975 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion |
| Brazil 2 berths | Cruzeiro | 1975 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up |
| Chile 2 berths | Unión Española | 1975 Primera División champion |
| Chile 2 berths | Palestino | 1975 Miniliga Pré-Libertadores champion |
| Colombia 2 berths | Santa Fe | 1975 Campeonato Profesional champion |
| Colombia 2 berths | Millonarios | 1975 Campeonato Profesional runner-up |
| Ecuador 2 berths | LDU Quito | 1975 Serie A champion |
| Ecuador 2 berths | Deportivo Cuenca | 1975 Serie A runner-up |
| Paraguay 2 berths | Olimpia | 1975 Primera División champion |
| Paraguay 2 berths | Sportivo Luqueño | 1975 Primera División runner-up |
| Peru 2 berths | Alianza Lima | 1975 Descentralizado champion |
| Peru 2 berths | Alfonso Ugarte | 1975 Descentralizado runner-up |
| Uruguay 2 berths | Peñarol | 1975 Primera División champion |
| Uruguay 2 berths | Nacional | 1975 Primera División runner-up |
| Venezuela 2 berths | Portuguesa | 1975 Venezuelan champion |
| Venezuela 2 berths | Deportivo Galicia | 1975 Venezuelan Championship 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 Independiente was champion of the 1975 Copa Libertadores. They entered the tournament in the Semifinals.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 |
| Argentina  Venezuela | Bolivia  Ecuador | Brazil  Paraguay | Colombia  Peru | Chile  Uruguay |

## Group stage
### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RIV | EST | POR | DGA |
| 1 | River Plate | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 10 | Qualified to Semi-Finals | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Estudiantes | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 9 | | 1–0 | — | 3–0 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Portuguesa | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 5 | | 0–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–1 |
| 4 | Deportivo Galicia | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 15 | −12 | 0 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — |

### Group 2

Group 2 standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | LDQ | CDC | BOL | GUA |
| 1 | LDU Quito | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 8 | Qualified to the 1st Place Playoff | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Deportivo Cuenca | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 8 | Qualified to the 1st Place Playoff | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Bolívar | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 6 | | 3–2 | 4–2 | — | 7–1 |
| 4 | Guabirá | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 15 | −13 | 2 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — |

### Group 3

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CRU | INT | OLI | SLU |
| 1 | Cruzeiro | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 11 | Qualified to Semi-Finals | — | 5–4 | 4–1 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Internacional | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 7 | | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Olimpia | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 4 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–3 |
| 4 | Sportivo Luqueño | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 2 | | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — |

### Group 4

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ALI | MIL | AUG | ISF |
| 1 | Alianza Lima | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 8 | Qualified to Semi-Finals | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Millonarios | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 6 | | 1–0 | — | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Alfonso Ugarte | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 6 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | Santa Fe | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 4 | | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | — |

### Group 5

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PEÑ | UES | PAL | NAC |
| 1 | Peñarol | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 8 | Qualified to Semi-Finals | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| 2 | Unión Española | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 | | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Palestino | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 5 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | Nacional | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 3 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |

## 1st Place Playoff

Playoff standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | LDU Quito | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 2 | Qualified to the Semi-Finals |
| 2 | Deportivo Cuenca | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0 | |

## Semi-finals
### Group 1

Group 1 standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CRU | LDQ | ALI |
| 1 | Cruzeiro | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | +15 | 8 | Qualified to the Final | — | 4–1 | 7–1 |
| 2 | LDU Quito | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 2 | | 1–3 | — | 2–1 |
| 3 | Alianza Lima | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 2 | | 0–4 | 2–0 | — |

### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RIV | IND | PEÑ |
| 1 | River Plate | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 5 | Qualified to the Final | — | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Independiente | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 | | 0–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 3 | Peñarol | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 2 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | — |

#### Playoffs

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| River Plate | 1–0 | Independiente |

## Finals

* Copa Libertadores 1976 champions
* Cruzeiro 1st title