Libertadores: the 32 classified, drums and the draw for the Ecuadorians

This Thursday the last two qualifiers for the group stage of the Copa Libertadores were defined. The 32 teams that will go for the maximum dream, which will begin on April 4, are already known. Here, all the information you need to know. When is the draw? How did the hype come about? And the Ecuadorians?

The last day of Phase 3 left two candidates on the way to enter the final instance of the Cup. Cerro Porteño, led by Facundo Sava, won 2-1 (3-1 global) and eliminated Juan Pablo Vojvoda’s Fortaleza.

At the end of the evening, Irven Ávila gave the euphoric and agonizing cry to Sporting Cristal over Huracán at the National Stadium in Lima. It was 1-0 at 96′ and a series with the same score for the Peruvians to advance.

The draw for the groups will take place on Monday, March 27., at the Conmebol headquarters in Luque, Paraguay. There, all the qualifiers are already there and, according to the club ranking that was published at the end of last year (it is defined based on history and performance in the cups), it is known which teams will be the eight seeded teams and the conformation of the different bass drums.

Kick drum 1: Flamengo, River, Palmeiras, Boca, Nacional (Uruguay), Paranaense, Valley Independent and Olympia.

Kick drum 2: Libertad (Paraguay), Atlético Nacional, International, BarcelonaRacing, Corinthians, Colo-Colo and Fluminense.

Drum 3: Bolívar, The Strongest, Melgar, Alianza Lima, Argentinos Juniors, Metropolitanos, aucas and Monagas.

Kick drum 4: Liverpool, Deportivo Pereira, Ñublense, Board of Trustees, Atlético Mineiro, Independiente Medellín, Sporting Cristal and Cerro Porteño.

The group stage will begin on April 4 and end on June 29. Then, the round of 16 will take place between July 18 and 27, the quarterfinals will take place between August 22 and 31, the semifinals will take place between September 26 and October 5. The grand finale will be on November 11 at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

There will finally be three tricolors that will be battling for a place in the round of 16 of the Libertadores. Independiente del Valle (2022 South American Champion), Aucas (LigaPro Champion) and Barcelona (LigaPro Finalist). Outside were Universidad Católica (out with Millonarios) and El Nacional (Independiente Medellín), for losing in Phase 2.