# 2020 Copa Libertadores final

The 2020 Copa Libertadores final was the final match which decided the winner of the 2020 Copa Libertadores, the 61st edition of the Copa Libertadores, South American's top-tier continental club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
The match was played on 30 January 2021 at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between Brazilian teams Palmeiras and Santos.
The final was originally scheduled to be played on 21 November 2020. However, as the tournament had been interrupted since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CONMEBOL announced on 10 July 2020 that the final would be rescheduled to be played in late January 2021, with 23, 24 or 30 January being the possible dates. Eventually, on 23 November 2020, CONMEBOL confirmed that the final would be played on 30 January 2021.
Palmeiras defeated Santos by a 1–0 score to win their second Copa Libertadores title. As champions, Palmeiras qualified for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, and earned the right to play against the winners of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana in the 2021 Recopa Sudamericana. They also automatically qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores group stage.
Due to pandemic precautions, attendance was limited to 5,000 spectators.

## Venue

The second Copa Libertadores final played as a single match at a pre-determined venue was held at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was the 34th Copa libertadores final match to took place in Brazil, and the fifth to took place in Rio de Janeiro, four of them at Maracanã and one at Estádio São Januário. The Maracanã previously hosted the first leg of the 1963 and 1981 finals and the second leg of the 2008 finals.

### Host selection

On 15 October 2019, CONMEBOL announced eight venues from three national associations that reached the final stage of the bidding process to host the 2020 final:
| Association | Stadium | City | Capacity | Notes |
| Argentina | Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes | Córdoba | 57,000 | Also bid and selected to host the 2020 Copa Sudamericana final. |
| Brazil | Mineirão | Belo Horizonte | 61,846 | |
| Brazil | Arena do Grêmio | Porto Alegre | 55,662 | |
| Brazil | Estádio Beira-Rio | Porto Alegre | 50,128 | |
| Brazil | Estádio do Maracanã | Rio de Janeiro | 78,838 | |
| Brazil | Estádio do Morumbi | São Paulo | 67,052 | |
| Brazil | Arena Corinthians | São Paulo | 49,205 | |
| Peru | Estadio Nacional | Lima | 50,000 | Also bid to host the 2020 Copa Sudamericana final. |
On 17 October 2019, CONMEBOL announced that Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was chosen as the 2020 final venue during a meeting of its Council. The Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba, Argentina ended up being selected to host the 2020 Copa Sudamericana final.

## Teams

| Team | Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners) |
| Palmeiras | 4 (1961, 1968, 1999, 2000) |
| Santos | 4 (1962, 1963, 2003, 2011) |

## Road to the final

Note: In all scores below, the score of the home team is given first.
| Palmeiras | Palmeiras | Palmeiras | Round | Santos | Santos | Santos |
| Opponent | Venue | Score | | Opponent | Venue | Score |
| Bye | Bye | Bye | Qualifying stages | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| Group B | Group B | Group B | Group stage | Group G | Group G | Group G |
| Tigre | Away | 0–2 | Group stage | Defensa y Justicia | Away | 1–2 |
| Guaraní | Home | 3–1 | Group stage | Delfín | Home | 1–0 |
| Bolívar | Away | 1–2 | Group stage | Olimpia | Home | 0–0 |
| Guaraní | Away | 0–0 | Group stage | Delfín | Away | 1–2 |
| Bolívar | Home | 5–0 | Group stage | Olimpia | Away | 2–3 |
| Tigre | Home | 5–0 | Group stage | Defensa y Justicia | Home | 2–1 |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Palmeiras 6 16 2 Guaraní 6 13 3 Bolívar 6 4 4 Tigre 6 1 Source: CONMEBOL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Palmeiras 6 16 2 Guaraní 6 13 3 Bolívar 6 4 4 Tigre 6 1 Source: CONMEBOL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Palmeiras 6 16 2 Guaraní 6 13 3 Bolívar 6 4 4 Tigre 6 1 Source: CONMEBOL | Group stage | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Santos 6 16 2 Delfín 6 7 3 Defensa y Justicia 6 6 4 Olimpia 6 5 Source: CONMEBOL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Santos 6 16 2 Delfín 6 7 3 Defensa y Justicia 6 6 4 Olimpia 6 5 Source: CONMEBOL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Santos 6 16 2 Delfín 6 7 3 Defensa y Justicia 6 6 4 Olimpia 6 5 Source: CONMEBOL |
| Seed 1 | Seed 1 | Seed 1 | Final stages | Seed 2 | Seed 2 | Seed 2 |
| Delfín (won 8–1 on aggregate) | Away | 1–3 | Round of 16 | LDU Quito (tied 2–2 on aggregate, won on away goals) | Away | 1–2 |
| Delfín (won 8–1 on aggregate) | Home | 5–0 | Round of 16 | LDU Quito (tied 2–2 on aggregate, won on away goals) | Home | 0–1 |
| Libertad (won 4–1 on aggregate) | Away | 1–1 | Quarter-finals | Grêmio (won 5–2 on aggregate) | Away | 1–1 |
| Libertad (won 4–1 on aggregate) | Home | 3–0 | Quarter-finals | Grêmio (won 5–2 on aggregate) | Home | 4–1 |
| River Plate (won 3–2 on aggregate) | Away | 0–3 | Semi-finals | Boca Juniors (won 3–0 on aggregate) | Away | 0–0 |
| River Plate (won 3–2 on aggregate) | Home | 0–2 | Semi-finals | Boca Juniors (won 3–0 on aggregate) | Home | 3–0 |

## Pre-match
### Opening ceremony

Sam Alves and Mariana Rios from Brazil along with Porno Graffitti, Superfly, fripSide, Takanori Nishikawa, Raychell, and One Ok Rock from Japan bring the major live performance on a thirty-minute virtual show before the kick-off.

#### Setlist

* "Mugen" (performed by Porno Graffitti)
* "Tamashii Revolution" (performed by Superfly)
* "Only My Railgun" (performed by fripSide)
* "Kakumei Dualism (革命デュアリズム)" (performed by Takanori Nishikawa with Raychell)
* "We Are" (performed by One Ok Rock with Sam Alves and Mariana Rios)

## Match
### Summary

The most memorable moment is the last 8 minutes of added time in the second half. Santos manager, Cuca, was sent off at 90+6th minute for hassling the ball to delay Palmeiras' throw-in. The only goal of the game came in the 9th minute of second-half stoppage time, from substitute Breno Lopes, scoring with a looping header to the top right corner of the net from seven yards out after a cross from the right by Rony.

### Details

| Palmeiras | Santos |
| GK | 1 | Weverton |
| RB | 2 | Marcos Rocha | 90+7' |
| CB | 13 | Luan |
| CB | 15 | Gustavo Gómez (c) | 35' |
| LB | 17 | Matías Viña | 58' |
| DM | 28 | Danilo |
| RM | 25 | Gabriel Menino | | 85' |
| LM | 8 | Zé Rafael | | 78' |
| AM | 23 | Raphael Veiga | | 90+12' |
| CF | 10 | Luiz Adriano |
| CF | 11 | Rony | | 90+12' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 22 | Jailson |
| DF | 3 | Emerson Santos |
| DF | 4 | Benjamín Kuscevic |
| DF | 6 | Alan Empereur | | 90+12' |
| DF | 12 | Mayke |
| DF | 26 | Renan |
| DF | 30 | Felipe Melo | | 90+12' |
| MF | 5 | Patrick de Paula | | 78' |
| MF | 14 | Gustavo Scarpa |
| MF | 20 | Lucas Lima |
| FW | 19 | Breno Lopes | 90+9' | 85' |
| FW | 29 | Willian |
| Manager: ||
| Abel Ferreira ||
| GK | 24 | John |
| RB | 4 | Pará | | 90+11' |
| CB | 28 | Lucas Veríssimo | 10' |
| CB | 14 | Luan Peres |
| LB | 3 | Felipe Jonatan | | 90+3' |
| CM | 18 | Sandry | | 73' |
| CM | 21 | Diego Pituca | 70' |
| CM | 5 | Alison (c) | 90+13' |
| RF | 11 | Marinho |
| CF | 19 | Kaio Jorge | | 90+3' |
| LF | 10 | Yeferson Soteldo | 90+6' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 1 | Vladimir |
| GK | 30 | João Paulo |
| DF | 2 | Luiz Felipe |
| DF | 13 | Madson | | 90+3' |
| DF | 20 | Laércio |
| DF | 27 | Wellington Tim | | 90+3' |
| MF | 17 | Jean Mota |
| MF | 22 | Guilherme Nunes |
| MF | 26 | Vinicius Balieiro |
| FW | 23 | Arthur Gomes |
| FW | 33 | Bruno Marques | | 90+11' |
| FW | 36 | Lucas Braga | | 73' |
| Manager: ||
| Cuca | 90+6' |
| Assistant referees: Ezequiel Brailovsky (Argentina) Diego Bonfa (Argentina) Fourth official: Darío Herrera (Argentina) Fifth official: Julio Fernández (Argentina) Video assistant referee: Mauro Vigliano (Argentina) Assistant video assistant referees: Jhon Ospina (Colombia) Juan Belatti (Argentina) Fernando Rapallini (Argentina) | Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Twelve named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions. |