1966 Copa Libertadores

1966 Copa Libertadores de América

Tournament details
Dates	February 5 - April 15
Teams	17 (from 8 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	Peñarol (3rd title)
Runners-up	River Plate
Tournament statistics
Matches played	95
Goals scored	283 (2.98 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Daniel Onega (17 goals)
← 1965 1967 →

The 1966 Copa Libertadores de América was the seventh edition of the premier South American club football tournament, organized by CONMEBOL. Colombia and Brazil did not send their representatives. This edition became the first club competition of the world to include not just the champions but also the runners-up of each of its participating association. Despite the fact that Colombian and Brazilian clubs did not participate, this tournament saw a record 95 matches being played out to determine the year's champion.

Colombia did not send a representative due to the disagreements between CONMEBOL and the Colombian football federations. The Brazilians protested the inclusion of the runners-up of each nation and argued that the tournament should be reserved for national champions. That led them to become denatured and the powers reserved only for the champions, in addition to the priority order they gave their interstate tournaments and the many unattractive encounters-to-come against teams from the "Pacific", the Brazilian clubs opted for tours around the world instead as they were seen more economically rewarding. Not having any economic incentives, CONMEBOL was forced to allow clubs the freedom of whether they participated or not. This trend will continue for the next 5 editions.

After winning each of their home legs, Peñarol and River Plate required a playoff to break the deadlock. The match was played in the Estadio Nacional of Santiago, Chile. River Plate finished the first half 2-0 and was in cruise control towards its first title. The manyas managed to revert the disadvantage to push this match into extra time. With two more goals, the final score of 2-4 meant that Peñarol became the first three-time winners of the competition. The collapse of River Plate in the second half led the club to being known, even now, as the "gallinas".

Country	Team	Qualification method
CONMEBOL (1 berth)	Independiente	1965 Copa Libertadores winners
Argentina (2 berths)	Boca Juniors	1965 Primera División champion
	River Plate	1965 Primera División runner-up
Bolivia (2 berths)	Deportivo Municipal	1965 Copa Simón Bolívar champion
	Jorge Wilstermann	1965 Copa Simón Bolívar runner-up
Chile (2 berths)	Universidad de Chile	1965 Primera División champion
	Universidad Católica	1965 Primera División runner-up
Ecuador (2 berths)	Emelec	1965 Campeonato Ecuatoriano champion
	9 de Octubre	1965 Campeonato Ecuatoriano runner-up
Paraguay (2 berths)	Olimpia	1965 Primera División champion
	Guaraní	1965 Primera División runner-up
Peru (2 berths)	Alianza Lima	1965 Primera División champion
	Universitario	1965 Primera División runner-up
Uruguay (2 berths)	Peñarol	1965 Primera División champion
	Nacional	1965 Primera División runner-up
Venezuela (2 berths)	Lara	1965 Primera División champion
	Deportivo Italia	1965 Primera División runner-up

Sixteen teams were drawn into two groups of six and one group of four. In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The top two teams in each group advanced to the Second round. Independiente, the title holders, had a bye to the next round.

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Argentina Peru Venezuela	Chile Paraguay	Bolivia Ecuador Uruguay

At each stage of the tournament teams receive 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and no points for a loss. If two or more teams are equal on points, the following criteria will be applied to determine the ranking in the group stage:

1. a one-game playoff;
2. superior goal difference;
3. draw of lots.

Sixteen teams were drawn into two groups of six and one group of four. In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The top two teams in each group advanced to the Semifinals. Independiente, the title holders, had a bye to the next round.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		RIV	BOC	UNI	ITA	ALI	LAR
1	River Plate	10	8	1	1	23	8	+15	17	Qualified to the Semifinals			2–1	5–0	2–1	3–2	3–0
2	Boca Juniors	10	7	0	3	19	9	+10	14			2–0		2–0	5–2	0–1	2–1
3	Universitario	10	4	3	3	10	13	−3	11			1–1	2–1		1–2	2–0	1–0
4	Deportivo Italia	10	4	2	4	15	18	−3	10			0–3	1–2	2–2		3–1	1–0
5	Alianza Lima	10	2	0	8	9	16	−7	4			0–2	0–1	0–1	1–2		3–0
6	Lara	10	1	2	7	5	17	−12	4			1–2	0–3	0–0	1–1	2–1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		CAT	GUA	OLI	UCH
1	Universidad Católica	6	2	3	1	9	5	+4	7	Qualified to the Semifinals			2–0	0–0	2–2
2	Guaraní	6	2	2	2	9	9	0	6			3–1		2–0	1–1
3	Olimpia	6	2	2	2	7	10	−3	6			0–4	3–3		2–0
4	Universidad de Chile	6	1	3	2	6	7	−1	5			0–0	2–0	1–2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Peñarol	10	8	0	2	20	10	+10	16
Nacional	10	7	1	2	22	10	+12	15
Jorge Wilstermann	10	4	2	4	14	14	0	10
Deportivo Municipal	10	4	1	5	21	22	-1	9
Emelec	10	4	0	6	15	18	-3	8
9 de Octubre	10	1	0	9	13	31	-18	2

Seven teams were drawn into two groups, one of four and the other of three. In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away. The top team in each group advanced to the Finals.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		RIV	IND	BOC	GUA
1	River Plate	6	3	2	1	13	8	+5	8	Qualified to the Final			4–2	2–2	3–1
2	Independiente	6	3	2	1	9	6	+3	8			1–1		0–0	2–1
3	Boca Juniors	6	2	3	1	7	6	+1	7			1–0	0–2		1–1
4	Guaraní	6	0	1	5	5	14	−9	1			1–3	0–2	1–3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		PEÑ	CAT	NAC
1	Peñarol	4	3	0	1	6	1	+5	6	Qualified to the Final			2–0	3–0
2	Universidad Católica	4	2	0	2	4	5	−1	4			1–0		1–0
3	Nacional	4	1	0	3	3	7	−4	2			0–1	3–2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Peñarol	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	2
2	River Plate	2	1	0	1	3	4	−1	2

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Copa Libertadores de América 1966 Champion
Peñarol Third Title

Pos	Player	Team	Goals
1	Daniel Onega	River Plate	17
2	Pedro Rocha	Peñarol	10
3	Alfredo Hugo Rojas	Boca Juniors	7
	Julio César Morales	Nacional	7
	Orlando Virgili	Nacional	7
	Agostino Nitti	Deportivo Italia	7
	Salomón Moyano	Deportivo Municipal	7
	Gerardo González	Olimpia	7
	Hugo Lencina	Emelec	7
	Cirilo Fernández	9 de Octubre	7
	Ausberto García	Jorge Wilstermann	7

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