# 2015 Copa Libertadores finals

The 2015 Copa Libertadores de América finals were the two-legged final that decided the winner of the 2015 Copa Libertadores de América, the 56th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
The finals were contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Mexican team UANL and Argentine team River Plate. The first leg was hosted by UANL at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza on 29 July 2015, while the second leg was hosted by River Plate at Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires on 5 August 2015.
Club Atlético River Plate earned the right to represent CONMEBOL at the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the semifinal stage, regardless of the result of the final, due to UANL being an invited team from CONCACAF and therefore not eligible to represent CONMEBOL at the tournament. Due to the same reason, River Plate also earned the right to play against the 2015 Copa Sudamericana winners in the 2016 Recopa Sudamericana.
The first leg ended in a scoreless draw. The second leg ended in a 3–0 win for River Plate, and they won the tournament for the third time in their history.

## Teams

| Team | Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners) |
| UANL | None |
| River Plate | 4 (1966, 1976, 1986, 1996) |
UANL came into the finals as first-time finalists of the Copa Libertadores. River Plate had previously won two titles in four finals: 1986 and 1996.

### Road to the finals

Note: In all scores below, the score of the home team is given first.
| UANL | UANL | UANL | Round | River Plate | River Plate | River Plate |
| Opponent | Venue | Score | | Opponent | Venue | Score |
| Bye | Bye | Bye | First stage | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| Group 6 | Group 6 | Group 6 | Second stage | Group 6 | Group 6 | Group 6 |
| Juan Aurich | Home | 3–0 | Second stage | San José | Away | 2–0 |
| River Plate | Away | 1–1 | Second stage | UANL | Home | 1–1 |
| San José | Away | 0–1 | Second stage | Juan Aurich | Away | 1–1 |
| San José | Home | 4–0 | Second stage | Juan Aurich | Home | 1–1 |
| River Plate | Home | 2–2 | Second stage | UANL | Away | 2–2 |
| Juan Aurich | Away | 4–5 | Second stage | San José | Home | 3–0 |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 UANL 6 14 2 River Plate 6 7 3 Juan Aurich 6 6 4 San José 6 4 Source: CONMEBOL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 UANL 6 14 2 River Plate 6 7 3 Juan Aurich 6 6 4 San José 6 4 Source: CONMEBOL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 UANL 6 14 2 River Plate 6 7 3 Juan Aurich 6 6 4 San José 6 4 Source: CONMEBOL | Second stage | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 UANL 6 14 2 River Plate 6 7 3 Juan Aurich 6 6 4 San José 6 4 Source: CONMEBOL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 UANL 6 14 2 River Plate 6 7 3 Juan Aurich 6 6 4 San José 6 4 Source: CONMEBOL | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 UANL 6 14 2 River Plate 6 7 3 Juan Aurich 6 6 4 San José 6 4 Source: CONMEBOL |
| Seed 2 | Seed 2 | Seed 2 | final stages | Seed 16 | Seed 16 | Seed 16 |
| Universitario (won 3–2 on aggregate) | Away | 1–2 | Round of 16 | Boca Juniors (won 1–0 on aggregate – Boca Juniors disqualified) | Home | 1–0 |
| Universitario (won 3–2 on aggregate) | Home | 1–1 | Round of 16 | Boca Juniors (won 1–0 on aggregate – Boca Juniors disqualified) | Away | 0–0 (susp.) |
| Emelec (won 2–1 on aggregate) | Away | 1–0 | Quarterfinals | Cruzeiro (won 3–1 on aggregate) | Home | 0–1 |
| Emelec (won 2–1 on aggregate) | Home | 2–0 | Quarterfinals | Cruzeiro (won 3–1 on aggregate) | Away | 0–3 |
| Internacional (won 4–3 on aggregate) | Away | 2–1 | Semifinals | Guaraní (won 3–1 on aggregate) | Home | 2–0 |
| Internacional (won 4–3 on aggregate) | Home | 3–1 | Semifinals | Guaraní (won 3–1 on aggregate) | Away | 1–1 |

## Format

The finals were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would not be used, and 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.
Since UANL are from Mexico, they had to host the first leg regardless of seeding (Regulations Article 3.7b: "El Torneo deberá indefectiblemente finalizar en un país perteneciente al continente sudamericano. Para tal caso, de llegar a las finales un equipo que no pertenece al continente sudamericano, deberá indefectiblemente jugar su primer partido de local." English translation: "The Tournament shall invariably end in a country belonging to the South American continent. Therefore, provided that a team not belonging to the South American continent qualifies to the finals, it shall invariably play the first leg at its home.")

## Matches
### First leg

Near the end of the first half, Tigres defender Hugo Ayala left the game with an ankle injury. River Plate right-back Gabriel Mercado was booked soon after for a stamp on André-Pierre Gignac, leading him to miss the second leg. At the break, River manager Marcelo Gallardo made an attacking double substitution, withdrawing Rodrigo Mora and Tabaré Viúdez for Gonzalo Martínez and Nicolás Bertolo, but was also suspended after shouting at the fourth official. Despite Tigres having most of the possession and late opportunities from Juninho and Jürgen Damm, the game ended goalless.
| UANL | River Plate |
| GK | 1 | Nahuel Guzmán |
| RB | 2 | Israel Jiménez |
| CB | 4 | Hugo Ayala | | 41' |
| CB | 3 | Juninho (c) |
| LB | 6 | Jorge Torres Nilo |
| RM | 27 | Jürgen Damm | 54' |
| CM | 19 | Guido Pizarro |
| CM | 5 | Egidio Arévalo Ríos | | 70' |
| LM | 11 | Damián Álvarez |
| CF | 9 | Rafael Sóbis | 32' |
| CF | 10 | André-Pierre Gignac |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 22 | Enrique Palos |
| DF | 14 | Iván Estrada |
| DF | 24 | José Rivas | | 41' |
| MF | 18 | José Francisco Torres |
| MF | 23 | Gerardo Lugo |
| MF | 29 | Jesús Dueñas | | 70' |
| FW | 16 | Enrique Esqueda |
| Manager: ||
| Ricardo Ferretti ||
| GK | 1 | Marcelo Barovero (c) |
| RB | 25 | Gabriel Mercado | 42' |
| CB | 2 | Jonathan Maidana |
| CB | 6 | Ramiro Funes Mori |
| LB | 21 | Leonel Vangioni | 4' |
| RM | 8 | Carlos Sánchez |
| CM | 23 | Leonardo Ponzio | 64' | 76' |
| CM | 5 | Matías Kranevitter |
| LM | 19 | Tabaré Viúdez | | 46' |
| CF | 7 | Rodrigo Mora | | 46' |
| CF | 13 | Lucas Alario |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 26 | Julio Chiarini |
| DF | 3 | Éder Álvarez Balanta |
| MF | 10 | Gonzalo Martínez | | 46' |
| MF | 16 | Nicolás Bertolo | | 46' |
| MF | 27 | Lucho González | | 76' |
| FW | 9 | Fernando Cavenaghi |
| FW | 29 | Javier Saviola |
| Manager: ||
| Marcelo Gallardo | 72' |
* Assistant referees:
* Eduardo Cardozo (Paraguay)
* Juan Zorrilla (Paraguay)
* Fourth official:
* Julio Quintana (Paraguay)

### Second leg

River opened the scoring at the end of the first half when recent signing Alario headed Leonel Vangioni's low cross from the left into the goal. At 8' Lucas Alario committed an illegal strong entry against the ankle of Guido Pizarro, foul that media later considered that deserved red card. Alario saw yellow card. At 25', Tigres had four players with yellow card, three of them defenders.
At 46' Ramiro Funes Mori committed another illegal strong entry, this time against Rafael Sóbis, foul that media also later considered that deserved red card. Funes Mori was amonestated. When Carlos Sánchez went down in the penalty area, he scored the resulting spot kick, shooting to the left of the goalkeeper to double the team's lead. Four minutes later, a corner kick from the right was headed by Ramiro Funes Mori through the legs of the goalkeeper to secure a 3–0 victory, River's first Copa Libertadores for 19 years. The match was played under a heavy rainfall and polemic arbitration.
| River Plate | UANL |
| GK | 1 | Marcelo Barovero |
| RB | 18 | Camilo Mayada |
| CB | 2 | Jonathan Maidana |
| CB | 6 | Ramiro Funes Mori | 47' |
| LB | 21 | Leonel Vangioni |
| RM | 8 | Carlos Sánchez | 76' |
| CM | 23 | Leonardo Ponzio |
| CM | 5 | Matías Kranevitter | | 82' |
| LM | 16 | Nicolás Bertolo |
| CF | 13 | Lucas Alario | 9' | 69' |
| CF | 9 | Fernando Cavenaghi (c) | 56' | 77' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 26 | Julio Chiarini |
| DF | 3 | Éder Álvarez Balanta |
| MF | 10 | Gonzalo Martínez |
| MF | 15 | Leonardo Pisculichi | | 77' |
| MF | 27 | Lucho González | | 82' |
| FW | 22 | Sebastián Driussi | | 69' |
| FW | 29 | Javier Saviola |
| Manager: ||
| Matías Biscay ||
| GK | 1 | Nahuel Guzmán |
| RB | 2 | Israel Jiménez | 17' | 77' |
| CB | 24 | José Rivas | 25' |
| CB | 3 | Juninho (c) | 19' |
| LB | 6 | Jorge Torres Nilo | 72' |
| RM | 27 | Jürgen Damm |
| CM | 19 | Guido Pizarro |
| CM | 5 | Egidio Arévalo Ríos | | 64' |
| LM | 20 | Javier Aquino |
| CF | 10 | André-Pierre Gignac | 22' |
| CF | 9 | Rafael Sóbis |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 22 | Enrique Palos |
| DF | 25 | Antonio Briseño |
| MF | 11 | Damián Álvarez |
| MF | 15 | Manuel Viniegra |
| MF | 18 | José Francisco Torres |
| MF | 29 | Jesús Dueñas | | 64' |
| FW | 8 | Joffre Guerrón | | 77' |
| Manager: ||
| Ricardo Ferretti ||
* Assistant referees:
* Mauricio Espinosa (Uruguay)
* Nicolas Taran (Uruguay)
* Fourth official:
* Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)