2007 Copa Libertadores finals
Event2007 Copa Toyota Libertadores
Boca Juniors Grêmio
Argentina Brazil
5 0
on aggregate
First leg
Boca Juniors Grêmio
3 0
Date13 June 2007
VenueLa Bombonera, Buenos Aires
Man of the MatchJuan Román Riquelme
RefereeJorge Larrionda
Attendance50,993
Second leg
Grêmio Boca Juniors
0 2
Date20 June 2007
VenueEstádio Olímpico, Porto Alegre
Man of the MatchJuan Román Riquelme
RefereeOscar Ruiz
Attendance53,952

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,[1] achieving their sixth Copa Libertadores title.[2]

Qualified teams

Team Previous finals app.
Argentina Boca Juniors1963, 1977, 1978, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004
Brazil Grêmio1983, 1984, 1995

Bold indicates winning years

Venues

Route to the finals

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

Final summary

First leg

2007 Copa Libertadores finals
First leg
Boca Juniors Argentina3–0Brazil Grêmio
Palacio 18'
Riquelme 73'
Patrício 89' (o.g.)		 Report
Attendance: 50,993
Boca Juniors
Grêmio

Man of the Match:
Argentina Juan Román Riquelme

Assistant referees:
Uruguay Wálter Rial
Uruguay Edgardo Acosta
Fourth official:
Uruguay Líber Prudente

Second leg

Second leg
Grêmio Brazil0–2Argentina Boca Juniors
Report Riquelme 69', 81'
Attendance: 51,851
Grêmio
Boca Juniors

Man of the Match:
Argentina Juan Román Riquelme

Assistant referees:
Colombia Juan Carlos Bedoya
Colombia Jovani Zapata
Fourth official:
Colombia Albert Duarte

Aftermath

Juan Román Riquelme was the most notable player of the competition, with 8 goals and 7 assists

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.[3] 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.[4]

Riquelme made it easy to win the Copa Libertadores

— Sergio Orteman, Riquelme's teammate in 2007 [4]

The (Libertadores) Cup is like the girl you want but she ignores you

— Miguel Ángel Russo, Boca Juniors manager [5]

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

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.

References

  1. ↑ Copa Libertadores 2007 by Juan Pablo Andrés on the RSSSF
  2. ↑ Copa Libertadores 2007 overview on Historia de Boca
  3. ↑ El mejor Riquelme on TN, 26 Jan 2015
  4. 1 2 Orteman: "Riquelme hizo fácil la Libertadores" Archived 2019-03-23 at the Wayback Machine by Damián Espinoza on Deportea Online, 22 June 2017
  5. 1 2 La sexta Copa de Boca Archived 2015-02-04 at the Wayback Machine by Damián Ferrero on Diario Publicable, 28 Oct 2013
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