Copa Libertadores. The usual format, established for years – five groups at first, where the representative of two countries competed and the winner proceeded to the semi-final round. The current holder joined the five group winners at this stage, the 6 teams divided into two groups of 3 teams each and their winners going to the final. Nothing all that dramatic at the opening stage:
Group 1 – Argentina and Chile. Perhaps the toughest group, but eventually Estudiantes (La Plata) came on top.
1.Estudiantes (La Plata) 6 3 1 2 8- 6 7
2.Cobreloa (Calama) 6 3 0 3 8- 6 6
3.Colo Colo (Santiago) 6 3 0 3 5- 8 6
4.Ferro Carril Oeste (Bs. Aires) 6 2 1 3 4- 5 5
Group 2 – Brazil and Bolivia. No contest here – Gremio was supreme.
1.Grêmio (Porto Alegre) 6 5 1 0 13- 4 11
2.Flamengo (Rio de Janeiro) 6 2 2 2 15-10 6
3.Bolívar (La Paz) 6 2 0 4 13-14 4
4.Blooming (Santa Cruz) 6 1 1 4 4-17 3
Group 3 – Colombia and Peru. The Colombian teams were clearly stronger, but Tolima was no match to America.
1.América (Cali) 6 4 2 0 10- 3 10
2.Tolima (Ibagué) 6 1 4 1 5- 6 6
3.Universitario (Lima) 6 0 4 2 5- 8 4
4.Alianza (Lima) 6 1 2 3 3- 6 4
Group 4 – Ecuador and Venezuela. The weakest countries grouped together, a little joke of chance. And rather surprisingly Venezuelan team won the group.
1.Atlético (San Cristóbal) 6 3 2 1 8- 4 8
2.El Nacional (Quito) 6 3 1 2 7- 4 7
3.Barcelona (Guayaquil) 5 1 2 2 7- 9 4
4.Táchira (San Cristóbal) 5 0 3 2 1- 6 3
Group 5 – Uruguay and Paraguay. The Uruguayans were simply too strong and extra match decided the winner between them.
1.Nacional (Montevideo) 6 4 1 1 12- 4 9
2.Wanderers (Montevideo) 6 3 3 0 9- 5 9
3.Nacional (Asunción) 6 1 2 3 6-12 4
4.Olimpia (Asunción) 6 0 2 4 3- 9 2
First Place Playoff
May 26: Nacional – Wanderers 2-0
[Luzardo, Aguilera]
Semi-final stage:
Group 1: Once again an Uruguayan battle, for the Venezuelans were way too weak to play any role. Penarol prevailed in the classic Montevideo derby, played this time on international stage.
1.Peñarol (Montevideo) 4 3 1 0 5- 1 7
2.Nacional (Montevideo) 4 2 0 2 8- 6 4
3.Atlético (San Cristóbal) 4 0 1 3 2- 8 1
Group 2. To a point, Gremio was lucky – they finished with 5 points, but their Argentinian pursuers still had one game to play and if they won the away match with America, a play-off had to be scheduled. But the Colombians held Estudiantes at a 0-0 draw and thus left them at the second place.
1.Grêmio (Porto Alegre) 4 2 1 1 7- 6 5
2.Estudiantes (La Plata) 4 1 2 1 6- 5 4
3.América (Cali) 4 1 1 2 2- 4 3
So, Gremio and Penarol went to the final, the Uruguayans with a strong chance to win the South American trophy for a second consecutive year and the Brazilians hoping to win it for the first time. It was typical heavy South American clash, with no favourite – relative strength or weakness practically played no role, the sides fueled by ambition. The first leg in Montevideo ended undecided – 1-1.
1st leg. Centenario, Montevideo, 22- 7-1983
Peñarol – Grêmio 1-1
Morena 1-0
Tita 1-1
Peñarol: G.Fernández, W.Olivera, N.Gutiérrez, N.Montelongo, V.H.Diogo, M.Bossio, W.Silva (J.Villarreal), M.Saralegui, F.Morena, J.L.Zalazar, V.Ramos.
Grêmio: Mazaropi, Baidek, De León, Paulo Roberto, China, Casemiro, Renato, Osvaldo, Caio (César), Tita, Tarciso.
Referee: Teodoro Nitti (Argentina)
Attendance: 70,000
The second leg in Porto Alegre only slightly favoured the home team – very often a third match had to be staged to decide the Copa Libertadores winner.
Almost ironically, it was bearded Uruguayan final – captains Hugo de Leon and Walter Olivera before the match started: both defenders, both Uruguayan stars, neither played World Cup finals, but if Olivera was getting old and this was one of his last chances to triumph internationally, De Leon was coming to his prime, a current star of the 1980s football.
Of course, there was nothing friendly on the pitch, both teams determined to win.
Eventually, Gremio scored, thanks to Caio, but Fernando Morena canceled the fragile lead.
Gremio did not give up, of course, and managed to score a second goal – interestingly, the substitute of Caio, Cesar directed the ball into the net.
Cesar celebrates.
Gremio was happy and Penarol had no answer this time – the match ended 2-1.
2nd leg. Olímpico, Porto Alegre, 28- 7-1983
Grêmio – Peñarol 2-1
Caio 1-0
Morena 1-1
César 2-1
Grêmio: Mazaropi, Baidek, De León, Paulo Roberto, China, Casemiro, Renato, Osvaldo, Caio (César), Tita, Tarciso.
Peñarol: G.Fernández, W.Olivera, N.Gutiérrez, N.Montelongo, V.H.Diogo, M.Bossio, W.Silva, M.Saralegui, F.Morena, J.L.Zalazar, V.Ramos.
Referee: Edison Pérez (Peru)
Attendance: 80,000
Copa Libertadores got new winner and to the delight of the massive home crowd Hugo de Leon received the coveted trophy.
Penarol lost, which of course did not please them in the least, but it was fair – the team was getting too old, they won everything possible already and were not getting stronger – it was time to step down. Nobody can blame the Uruguayans, though – their football may not have been the prettiest, but they were fighters and gave everything they had.
Greamio extracted difficult victory and added its name to the list of the greatest South American clubs. Standing from left: Paulo Roberto, Mazaropi, Baidek, China, Casemiro, de Leon.
First row: Renato Gaucho, Osvaldo, Caio, Tita, Tarciso.
A wonderful team at its peak this year – not everybody was a big star, but this victory more or less established bright new talent – Tita and Tarciso. There was more to it – Brazilian clubs rarely won Copa Libertadores and Gremio was only the 4th team to do so, after Santos, Cruzeiro, and Flamengo. Locally, it was even better – Inter (Porto Alegre) played a final once and lost it, so Gremio came ahead of their home rivals. Their victory practically placed Porto Alegre on the map on one hand, and on the other – the formidable team Inter had in the 1970s never managed to win internationally. Gremio, somewhat in the shadow of various Brazilian clubs and their mighty squads, did what others were unable to do – conquer South America. Wonderful achievement.