2013 Copa Libertadores second stage

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Second Stage of the 2013 Copa Libertadores

The second stage ran from February 12 to April 18, 2013, with 32 teams. After a draw on December 21, 2012 in Luque, Paraguay, the teams were split into eight groups of four, each group containing one team from each of four seed pots. Seeding depended on country and how teams qualified, and teams from the same country in Pots 1 and 3 could not be drawn into the same group (though a first-stage winner could end up in the same group as another team from its country since that winner’s identity wasn’t known at the draw).

The 32 teams included clubs such as Arsenal, Vélez Sarsfield, Corinthians, Fluminense, Santa Fe, Barcelona, Sporting Cristal, Deportivo Lara, The Strongest, San José, Universidad de Chile, Huachipato, Libertad, Cerro Porteño, Nacional, Peñarol, Newell’s Old Boys, Boca Juniors, Palmeiras, Atlético Mineiro, Millonarios, Emelec, Real Garcilaso, Caracas, Toluca, and Tijuana, along with six first-stage winners.

In each group, teams played home-and-away round-robin matches. A win earned 3 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss 0. If teams were level on points, tiebreakers were, in order: goal difference, goals scored, away goals, and then drawing of lots. The top two teams from each group advanced to the Round of 16.

match dates spanned several windows: February 12–14, 19–21, 26–28; March 5–7, 12–14; and April 2–4, 9–11, 16–18, 2013.

Note: A 14-year-old San José fan was killed by a flare reportedly launched by Corinthians fans during the match.