2007 Copa Libertadores Finals
# 2007 Copa Libertadores Finals

The 2007 Copa Libertadores Finals was a two-legged football match-up to determine the 2007 Copa Libertadores champion. The series was contested between Argentine club Boca Juniors and Brazilian club Grêmio. The first leg of the tie was played on June 13 at Boca Juniors' home field, La Bombonera, with the second leg played on June 20 at Gremio's Estádio Olímpico. Boca Juniors won the series 5–0 on aggregate, achieving their sixth Copa Libertadores title.

## Qualified teams

| Team | Previous finals app. |
| - | - |
| Boca Juniors | 1963, 1977, 1978, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 |
| Grêmio | 1983, 1984, 1995 |

Bold indicates winning years

## Route to the finals

| Grêmio | Grêmio | Grêmio | Boca Juniors | Boca Juniors | Boca Juniors |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| São Paulo A 0–1 | | Round of 16 First leg | Round of 16 First leg | Vélez Sársfield H 3–0 | Riquelme 9' Palermo 61' Rodríguez 89' |
| São Paulo H 2–0 | Tcheco 17' Diego Souza 74' | Second leg | Second leg | Vélez Sársfield A 1–3 | Bustos (o.g.) 32' |
| Defensor Sporting A 0–2 | | Quarterfinals First leg | Quarterfinals First leg | Libertad H 1–1 | Palermo 90' |
| Defensor Sporting H 2–0 (p. 4–2) | Tcheco 22' Teco 45' | Second leg | Second leg | Libertad A 2–0 | Riquelme 61' Palacio |
| Santos H 2–0 | Tcheco 34' Carlos Eduardo 36' | Semifinals First leg | Semifinals First leg | Cúcuta Deportivo A 1–3 | Ledesma 27' |
| Santos A 1–3 | Diego Souza 34' | Second leg | Second leg | Cúcuta Deportivo H 3–0 | Riquelme 44' Palermo 61' Battaglia 90' |

## Final summary

### First leg

| Boca Juniors | Grêmio |
| - | - |
| GK | 12 | Mauricio Caranta |
| DF | 4 | Hugo Ibarra | 13' |
| DF | 6 | Daniel Díaz | |
| DF | 3 | Claudio Morel Rodríguez |
| DF | 21 | Clemente Rodríguez |
| MF | 8 | Pablo Ledesma | |
| MF | 24 | Éver Banega | 34' | 81' |
| MF | 19 | Neri Cardozo | 64' | 67' |
| MF | 10 | Juan Román Riquelme | 53' |
| FW | 14 | Rodrigo Palacio | |
| FW | 9 | Martín Palermo (c) |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 25 | Pablo Migliore |
| MF | 5 | Sebastián Battaglia | | 81' |
| MF | 2 | Matías Silvestre |
| MF | 11 | Bruno Marioni |
| MF | 15 | Guillermo Marino |
| FW | 17 | Mauro Boselli |
| MF | 23 | Jesús Datolo | | 67' |
| Manager: ||
| Miguel Russo ||
| GK | 1 | Sebastián Saja |
| DF | 2 | Patrício | 15' |
| DF | 4 | William |
| DF | 14 | Teco |
| DF | 16 | Lúcio |
| MF | 15 | Sandro Goiano | 53' 58' |
| MF | 22 | Diego Gavilán | |
| MF | 10 | Tcheco (c) | | 80' |
| MF | 7 | Diego Souza |
| FW | 11 | Carlos Eduardo |
| FW | 9 | Tuta | | 72' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 12 | Galatto |
| MF | 8 | Lucas | | 72' |
| DF | 6 | Bruno Teles |
| MF | 5 | Edmílson |
| DF | 3 | Rolando Schiavi |
| MF | 18 | Ramón |
| FW | 20 | Douglas | | 80' |
| Manager: ||
| Mano Menezes ||

* Man of the Match:
* Juan Román Riquelme
* Assistant referees:
* Wálter Rial
* Edgardo Acosta
* Fourth official:
* Líber Prudente

### Second leg

| Grêmio | Boca Juniors |
| - | - |
| GK | 1 | Sebastián Saja |
| DF | 2 | Patrício |
| DF | 4 | William |
| DF | 14 | Teco | | 35' |
| DF | 16 | Lúcio | 88' |
| MF | 7 | Diego Souza | 50' |
| MF | 8 | Lucas | 70' |
| MF | 22 | Diego Gavilán |
| MF | 10 | Tcheco (c) | | 46' |
| FW | 11 | Carlos Eduardo |
| FW | 9 | Tuta | | 70' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 12 | Galatto |
| DF | 3 | Rolando Schiavi | 84' | 35' |
| DF | 6 | Bruno Teles |
| MF | 18 | Ramón |
| MF | 19 | Everton | | 70' |
| FW | 20 | Douglas |
| FW | 21 | Amoroso | | 46' |
| Manager: ||
| Mano Menezes ||
| GK | 12 | Mauricio Caranta |
| DF | 4 | Hugo Ibarra |
| DF | 6 | Daniel Díaz |
| DF | 3 | Claudio Morel Rodríguez |
| DF | 21 | Clemente Rodríguez |
| MF | 8 | Pablo Ledesma | 74' |
| MF | 24 | Éver Banega | | 82' |
| MF | 19 | Neri Cardozo | | 59' |
| MF | 10 | Juan Riquelme |
| FW | 14 | Rodrigo Palacio | | 87' |
| FW | 9 | Martín Palermo (c) |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 25 | Pablo Migliore |
| DF | 2 | Matías Silvestre |
| MF | 23 | Jesus Datolo |
| MF | 16 | Sergio Orteman | | 82' |
| MF | 5 | Sebastián Battaglia | | 59' |
| FW | 17 | Mauro Boselli | | 87' |
| FW | 11 | Bruno Marioni |
| Manager: ||
| Miguel Russo ||

* Man of the Match:
* Juan Román Riquelme
* Assistant referees:
* Juan Carlos Bedoya
* Jovani Zapata
* Fourth official:
* Albert Duarte

## Aftermath

With this appearance in the last stage Boca Juniors achieved a record-tie 9 times in the finals, winning five of the seven previous occasions. At that moment only Peñarol of Uruguay had played that number of finals. The media praised Juan Román Riquelme's performance in the finals, crediting him as Boca Juniors' most notable player. Riquelme had returned to Boca Juniors after a frustrating experience in Spanish club Villarreal where manager Manuel Pellegrini excluded him from the senior squad due to personal disputes. Under the guidance of manager Miguel Ángel Russo, Riquelme was the top scorer of the team (and second of the 2007 edition behind Salvador Cabañas with 8 goals in 11 matches, three of them in the finals.

   Riquelme made it easy to win the Copa Libertadores
   The (Libertadores) Cup is like the girl you want but she ignores you

The 5–0 aggregate score remains nowadays as the largest victory in the history of Copa Libertadores' finals.

On the other hand, Grêmio –that had played three finals winning two of them– became the second Brazilian club with most Copa Libertadores finals contested (four until then), just behind of São Paulo who had six.

