Six Chilean clubs will know their fate: what the draw for the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana groups will look like

This Monday, the eyes of the continental football scene will fall on Luque, Paraguay. From 8:00 p.m. in Chile, at the Conmebol headquarters, the draw for the group stage of the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana will take place. , with six Creole teams involved. In the case of the most important club tournament on the continent, an unprecedented event occurs, with the largest participation of Chilean teams in a final phase: four. These are Huachipato, Cobresal, Palestino and Colo Colo. Added to this are the two representatives of Sudamericana: Coquimbo Unidos and Unión La Calera.

For the assembly process of the eight zones, with four castings each, a series of guidelines for understanding process development . First there will be the draw for the Copa Sudamericana, before giving way to the main course, the big attraction of the day.

In the case of the Copa Libertadores 2024, the composition of the four pots for the draw is based on the Ranking of Conmebol clubs as of December 18, 2023. For this reason, Huachipato and Cobresal fell into pot 4. In fact, both are the participating teams with the worst positions in the ranking: rainbow trout are 105°, while albioranges are 154°. In the case of Colo Colo and Palestino, both have better positions in the ranking, but they appear in pot 4 entering the previous phases. The same thing happens with Botafogo and Nacional de Uruguay.

In pot 1 are the seeds for each zone. The last champion, Fluminense, will be placed directly at the top of group A. The rest, from groups B to H, will be determined by drawing lots. Here the powers appear: Palmeiras, River Plate, Flamengo, Gremio, Peñarol, Sao Paulo and Liga de Quito.

After knowing the seeds, we will continue with seeds 2, 3 and 4, respectively. In addition to the impossibility provided by the regulations, the Chilean teams will not be able to share a group, because they are all in the same pot. Of course, they will likely have strong rivals in their respective fields. In pot 2, teams like Atlético Mineiro, Independiente del Valle, Libertad, Estudiantes de La Plata and Junior de Barranquilla appear. In pot 3 are San Lorenzo, Rosario Central and Millonarios, among others.

The group stage will begin the week of April 2 (after the FIFA date) and end the week of May 29. Qualifications will begin on August 14 (post Copa América) and the grand final will take place on November 30 in Argentina, in a stadium to be defined. Everything indicates that it will be the Monumental de River.

In the case of the second most important South American tournament, the Copa Sudamericana, Coquimbo Unidos and Unión La Calera will be responsible for carrying the national flag. The competition has already recorded good Creole performances in recent history, as the Pirates themselves reached the semi-final of the 2020 edition.

The draw in question will be similar to that of the other competition, but the only big change is how the rankings were awarded. Six Argentinian and Brazilian clubs were already pre-classified. After them came the 16 winners of the keys between teams from the same country. Eventually, they were joined by the four eliminated in the final qualifying phase of the Copa Libertadores: Bragantino, Nacional de Asunción, Sportivo Trinidense and Always Ready.

The buccaneers and cement workers will appear in pot 2 of the draw, following the aforementioned Conmebol ranking. The big cuckoo is in pot 1: Boca Juniors. The Xeneizes will play against Sudamericana and will therefore become a serious candidate, along with Athletico Paranaense, Internacional de Porto Alegre, Corinthians and Racing.

The first in each group secures their place in the round of 16, while the second must face the playoffs and face the third in each group in the Copa Libertadores.