Copa Libertadores VS Champions League
By: Daniel Duque
Winning these tournaments is the maximum achievement a team can receive as it proves superiority over the other teams of the region. Every soccer confederation has their own club competitions, but the Copa Libertadores from South America and the UEFA Champions League from Europe have proved to stand out from the rest. Both competitions have things in common but they also have notable differences.
Origins.
Copa Libertadores was created by the South American soccer confederation CONMEBOL in 1960 and is considered the most important club competition in the American continent. It is played annually by South American teams that qualify to the tournament from their respective leagues. The most successful team from this competition is Independiente (Argentina) with 7 titles.
The UEFA Champions League was created by the European confederation UEFA in 1955. It is one of the most relevant and prestigious soccer competitions in the world and at the same time the most important from the European continent. Like the Copa Libertadores, teams that compete in this tournament qualify from their respective leagues and the tournament is disputed annually. The most successful team from this competition is Real Madrid (Spain) with 13 titles.
Competition Format
Both competitions use the same format. In each tournament, 32 teams are divided in 8 groups of 4 and they play against each other in 6 match days. The top 2 finishing teams get qualified to the next round and the remaining ones eliminated. The teams that place third get a spot in the less competitive tournaments from their respective confederation (Copa Sudamericana and UEFA Europa League).
After the group stage, the 16 qualified teams are arranged in 2 match series that determine who moves on to the next round. This system is used until the final round.
The final round is a single match which is played in a neutral stadium. If there is not a winner during the regular 90 minutes, both teams have to play an additional period of 30 minutes and if there is no winner after that, the championship is defined by penalties.
The winners from these competitions are guaranteed a spot in the next tournament's season as well as a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup that takes place every year in December in which the champions of each confederation participate .
Differences Between Both Tournaments
Although both tournaments are similar in many ways, there are some differences between them.
The Copa Libertadores is played in a single year from January to November while the Champions League is played between two years from August to May. The South American tournament used to be significantly shorter as it only took place during the first half of the year until 2016. In 2017 the Copa Libertadores was adapted to the European System and added the chance to third place finishing group teams to keep competing in the less competitive tournament (Copa Sudamericana).
Another notable difference is the dominance of certain clubs and countries. In the past decade, clubs from 5 different countries won the Champions League being Real Madrid (Spain) the most dominant by winning 4 of them. In the case of the South American tournament, teams from Brazil and Argentina dominated the tournament during the past decade and only Atletico Nacional (Colombia) managed to break their streak after winning the 2016 edition. The most successful Libertadores team during the last decade was River Plate (Argentina) winning the tournament 2 times.
Argentina and Brazil clubs dominate the competition.
The Champions League and Copa Libertadores are unique in their own way. Both tournaments have been an important part of the sport for many years and also represent glory to every team that competes in them. Winning these tournaments means achieving the best and giving fans big joy and something to celebrate.