# 1978 Copa Libertadores

The 1978 edition of Copa Libertadores was won by Boca Juniors, of Argentina for the second straight year, after defeating Deportivo Cali of Colombia in the final. The defending champions won the two-leg final 0–4 on aggregate, with all four goals coming in the second-leg match after the first leg ended in a goalless draw.

## Qualified teams

| Country | Team | Qualification method |
| CONMEBOL (1 berth) | Boca Juniors | 1977 Copa Libertadores champion |
| Argentina (2 berths) | River Plate | 1977 Metropolitano champion |
| Argentina (2 berths) | Independiente | 1977 Nacional champion |
| Bolivia (2 berths) | The Strongest | 1977 Primera División champion |
| Bolivia (2 berths) | Oriente Petrolero | 1977 Primera División runner-up |
| Brazil (2 berths) | São Paulo | 1977 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion |
| Brazil (2 berths) | Atlético Mineiro | 1977 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A runner-up |
| Chile (2 berths) | Unión Española | 1977 Primera División champion |
| Chile (2 berths) | Palestino | 1977 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores winner |
| Colombia (2 berths) | Junior | 1977 Campeonato Profesional champion |
| Colombia (2 berths) | Deportivo Cali | 1977 Campeonato Profesional runner-up |
| Ecuador (2 berths) | El Nacional | 1977 Campeonato Ecuatoriano champion |
| Ecuador (2 berths) | LDU Quito | 1977 Campeonato Ecuatoriano runner-up |
| Paraguay (2 berths) | Cerro Porteño | 1977 Primera División champion |
| Paraguay (2 berths) | Libertad | 1977 Primera División runner-up |
| Peru (2 berths) | Alianza Lima | 1977 Primera División champion |
| Peru (2 berths) | Sporting Cristal | 1977 Primera División runner-up |
| Uruguay (2 berths) | Peñarol | 1977 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores winner |
| Uruguay (2 berths) | Danubio | 1977 Liguilla Pre-Libertadores runner-up |
| Venezuela (2 berths) | Portuguesa | 1977 Primera División champion |
| Venezuela (2 berths) | Estudiantes de Mérida | 1977 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 1977 Copa Libertadores. They entered the tournament in the Semifinals.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 |
| Argentina  Ecuador | Bolivia  Peru | Brazil  Chile | Colombia  Uruguay | Paraguay  Venezuela |

## Group stage
### Group 1

Group 1 standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RIV | IND | LDQ | EN |
| 1 | River Plate | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 8 | Qualified to the semi-finals | — | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Independiente | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 8 | | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | LDU Quito | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 5 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 3–2 |
| 4 | El Nacional | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 3 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — |

#### Tiebreaker

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| River Plate | 4–1 | Independiente |

### Group 2

Group 2 standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ALI | CRI | STR | OPE |
| 1 | Alianza Lima | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 5 | +14 | 11 | Qualified to the semi-finals | — | 2–2 | 2–0 | 5–1 |
| 2 | Sporting Cristal | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 7 | | 1–4 | — | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | The Strongest | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 4 | | 1–2 | 3–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Oriente Petrolero | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 2 | | 0–4 | 0–1 | 4–1 | — |

### Group 3

Group 3 standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CAM | UE | SAO | PAL |
| 1 | Atlético Mineiro | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 10 | Qualified to the semi-finals | — | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Unión Española | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 6 | | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| 3 | São Paulo | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 5 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 |
| 4 | Palestino | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 3 | | 4–5 | 2–3 | 0–1 | — |

### Group 4

Group 4 standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CAL | PEÑ | JUN | DAN |
| 1 | Deportivo Cali | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 | Qualified to the semi-finals | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Peñarol | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 4–2 |
| 3 | Junior | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 |
| 4 | Danubio | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 4 | | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — |

### Group 5

Group 5 standings :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CCP | POR | ESM | LIB |
| 1 | Cerro Porteño | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 9 | Qualified to the semi-finals | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Portuguesa | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Estudiantes de Mérida | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 5 | | 2–3 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 |
| 4 | Libertad | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 4 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — |

## Semi-finals
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BOC | RIV | CAM |
| 1 | Boca Juniors | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 7 | Qualified to the final | — | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| 2 | River Plate | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 3 | | 0–2 | — | 1–0 |
| 3 | Atlético Mineiro | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 2 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CAL | CCP | ALI |
| 1 | Deportivo Cali | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 7 | Qualified to the final | — | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| 2 | Cerro Porteño | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 3 | | 0–4 | — | 3–1 |
| 3 | Alianza Lima | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 2 | | 1–4 | 3–0 | — |

## Finals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Deportivo Cali | 0–4 | Boca Juniors | 0–0 | 0–4 |

## Champion

* Copa Libertadores 1978 winners
* Boca Juniors 2nd title