The Road To Montevideo: 2026 Copa Libertadores Group Stage Preview
The Road To Montevideo: 2026 Copa Libertadores Group Stage Preview South America’s premier club competitions return this week as the 2026 Copa Libertadores group stages get underway. This road to Montevideo officially starts now, but there has already been plenty of action in the competition, with huge upsets in the qualifying rounds. Debutantes, 2 de Mayo (Paraguay) and CD Juventud (Uruguay) put in a solid effort to reach the second and third qualification rounds, but ultimately fell short and will have to settle for Sudamericana football instead.
2 de Mayo saw off Alianza Lima of Peru in the first round, before falling to Sporting Cristal. Juventude went one better by defeating Universidad Catolica and Guarani, before narrowly losing out to Colombian giants, Independiente Medellin. The biggest talking points from the qualification came in the form of two huge upsets of two Brazilian clubs.
Bahia suffered a penalty shootout loss to O’Higgins, and the 2024 Champions Botafogo were eliminated by Barcelona SC. Could this be the year where the Brazilian dominance finally comes to an end? Truth being told, Brazilian clubs often start slow in the Libertadores and peak in the latter rounds.
The Favourites Flamengo Defending champions Flamengo come into the tournament as favourites, something that has been the case since they lifted the competition for a second time in 2019. Since then, the Rubro-Negro have reached three Libertadores finals, winning two of them in 2022 and 2025. Despite their recent form in the competition, they have never successfully defended the title, which they will now be aiming to do.
In 1982, they entered the tournament at the semi-final stage, which was a group format at the time, where they were placed with eventual winners Peñarol and River Plate. They finished second in the group, losing both matches to Peñarol and winning two against River. In 2020, they suffered a shock penalty shootout loss to Racing Club of Argentina, and in 2023, it was Paraguayan side Olimpia that stunned the Brazilian giants.
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