# 1997 Supercopa Libertadores

The 1997 Supercopa Libertadores was the tenth and final season of the Supercopa Libertadores, a club football tournament for past Copa Libertadores winners.
Vasco da Gama were admitted to the tournament for the first time in recognition of winning the South American Championship of Champions in 1948. Argentinos Juniors did not take part. River Plate won the competition for the first time, defeating São Paulo 2–1 on aggregate in the final.
For its final season, the format of the first round was changed from a two-legged knockout round to four groups of four teams playing each other twice. As 17 teams were scheduled to take part, a preliminary round was played to eliminate one team.
As through the successive editions of this cup were added new champions from the Copa Libertadores, in 1997 the Conmebol decided that the last teams of each group would descend to reduce the number of teams to disputed it. That year descended Velez Sarsfield, Racing Club and Boca Juniors (all teams from Argentina) and Gremio (Brazil).

## Teams

| Association | Team (Berth) | Entry stage | Qualification method |
| Argentina 6 berths | Independiente (Argentina 1) | Group stage | 1964, 1965, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1984 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Argentina 6 berths | Estudiantes (Argentina 2) | Group stage | 1968, 1969, 1970 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Argentina 6 berths | River Plate (Argentina 3) | Group stage | 1986, 1996 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Argentina 6 berths | Boca Juniors (Argentina 4) | Group stage | 1977, 1978 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Argentina 6 berths | Vélez Sarsfield (Argentina 5) | Group stage | 1994 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Argentina 6 berths | Racing (Argentina 6) | Group stage | 1967 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Brazil 6 berths | Grêmio (Brazil 1) | Group stage | 1983, 1995 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Brazil 6 berths | São Paulo (Brazil 2) | Group stage | 1992, 1993 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Brazil 6 berths | Santos (Brazil 3) | Group stage | 1962, 1963 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Brazil 6 berths | Flamengo (Brazil 4) | Group stage | 1981 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Brazil 6 berths | Cruzeiro (Brazil 5) | Group stage | 1976 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Brazil 6 berths | Vasco da Gama (Brazil 6) | Preliminary round | 1948 Campeonato de Campeones Sudamericano champions |
| Chile 1 berth | Colo-Colo (Chile 1) | Group stage | 1991 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Colombia 1 berth | Atlético Nacional (Colombia 1) | Group stage | 1989 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Paraguay 1 berth | Olimpia (Paraguay 1) | Group stage | 1979, 1990 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Uruguay 2 berths | Peñarol (Uruguay 1) | Preliminary round | 1960, 1961, 1966, 1982, 1987 Copa Libertadores champions |
| Uruguay 2 berths | Nacional (Uruguay 2) | Preliminary round | 1971, 1980, 1988 Copa Libertadores champions |
;Notes
* Argentina (ARG): Argentinos Juniors (1985 Copa Libertadores champions) was not qualified due to be on Primera B Nacional a season before.

## Preliminary round

The matches were played from 15 June to 13 July.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vasco da Gama | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 7 | First round |
| 2 | Peñarol | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 5 | First round |
| 3 | Nacional | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |
| Home \ Away | NAC | PEN | VAS |
| Nacional | | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Peñarol | 2–2 | | 1–1 |
| Vasco da Gama | 1–0 | 3–1 | |

## Group stage

The matches were played from 26 August to 30 October.

### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Colo-Colo | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 11 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Cruzeiro | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 9 | |
| 3 | Independiente | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 8 | |
| 4 | Boca Juniors | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 5 | |
| Home \ Away | BOC | COL | CRU | IND |
| Boca Juniors | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Colo-Colo | 2–1 | | 4–2 | 2–0 |
| Cruzeiro | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 2–1 |
| Independiente | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | |

### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | São Paulo | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 11 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Flamengo | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 10 | |
| 3 | Olimpia | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 6 | |
| 4 | Vélez Sarsfield | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 5 | |
| Home \ Away | FLA | OLI | SAO | VEL |
| Flamengo | | 3–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 |
| Olimpia | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| São Paulo | 1–0 | 4–1 | | 5–1 |
| Vélez Sarsfield | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | |

### Group 3

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | River Plate | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 15 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Vasco da Gama | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 10 | |
| 3 | Santos | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 7 | |
| 4 | Racing | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 2 | |
| Home \ Away | RAC | RIV | SAN | VAS |
| Racing | | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–3 |
| River Plate | 3–2 | | 3–2 | 5–1 |
| Santos | 3–2 | 2–1 | | 1–2 |
| Vasco da Gama | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | |

### Group 4

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Atlético Nacional | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 10 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Peñarol | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8 | |
| 3 | Estudiantes | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | |
| 4 | Grêmio | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 6 | |
| Home \ Away | ANA | EST | GRE | PEN |
| Atlético Nacional | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Estudiantes | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Grêmio | 2–2 | 3–2 | | 1–1 |
| Peñarol | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | |

## Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, the four group winners played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis.

### Bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | River Plate | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | |
| 4 | Atlético Nacional | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | |
| 4 | Atlético Nacional | 0 | 2 | 2 | São Paulo | São Paulo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | | | | | River Plate | River Plate | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | São Paulo | 3 | 1 | 4 | River Plate | River Plate | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | Colo-Colo | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | |

### Semifinals

The matches were played on 5 November, 6 November, 26 November and 27 November.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| São Paulo | 4–1 | Colo-Colo | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| River Plate | 3–2 | Atlético Nacional | 2–0 | 1–2 |

### Finals

The matches were played on 5 November, 6 November, 26 November and 27 November.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| São Paulo | 1–2 | River Plate | 0–0 | 1–2 |
River Plate won 2–1 on aggregate.
* 1997 Supercopa Sudamericana winners
* River Plate First title

## Top goalscorers

| Pos | Name | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ivo Basay | Colo-Colo | 8 |
| 2 | Marcelo Salas | River Plate | 7 |
| 3 | Dodô | São Paulo | 5 |
| 4 | Martín Fúriga | Estudiantes | 4 |
| 4 | Marcelo Ramos | Cruzeiro | 4 |
| 4 | Sávio | Flamengo | 4 |
| 4 | Martín Vilallonga | Racing | 4 |