In 2017, CONMEBOL proposed that the Copa Libertadores final should be held as a single match, replacing the existing two-legged format. On 23 February 2018, CONMEBOL confirmed that the 2019 final onwards would be played as a single match at a venue chosen in advance, and on 11 June 2018 set the date of the match as 23 November 2019. On 14 August 2018, CONMEBOL announced that the 2019 final would be played in Santiago, Chile at the Estadio Nacional. Large street protests in Chile began on 14 October 2019, involving millions of protestors and resulting in the deaths of at least 24 people. The protests led to safety concerns for the teams playing the match and their travelling fans. CONMEBOL consulted both finalists and their football associations, then on 5 November announced the match was moving to the Estadio Monumental in Lima, Peru, due to the ongoing unrest in Chile. This was the first final to be played as a single match at a neutral venue chosen in advance, replacing the home-and-away format used from 1988 to 2018. The second leg of the 2018 final was played at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, the first final held outside of the Americas, after security concerns cancelled the original second leg at the stadium of River Plate in Buenos Aires.
Show
Before the match, the Argentineans Fito Páez and Tini Stoessel, the Colombian Sebastián Yatra and the Brazilian Anitta, who performed "Y dale alegría a mi corazón", by Páez. Then two bands identified with the finalist teams participated: :es:Turf |Turf, for River Plate, and Gabriel o Pensador, for Flamengo.
Road to the final
Note: In all scores below, the score of the home team is given first.
Format
The final is played as a single match at a pre-selected venue, with the higher-seeded team designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes. If scores are level after full time, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.
Match
Summary
River Plate opened the match in a 2–3–3–2 formation, which allowed their midfield to dominate. This tactic gained them an early lead, when Rafael Santos Borré scored in the 14th minute from a cross by Ignacio Fernández. River Plate had numerous chances for a second goal in the first half: Borré missed a opportunity by inches, Nicolás De La Cruz missed a good chance in the 21st minute, and Exequiel Palacios had two long-distance shots that nearly went in. However River Plate were unable to capitalise on these opportunities, so at half time the score remained 1-0. River Plate continued to dominate in the early part of the second half. However, Flamengo began to assert themselves on the counter-attack, with Gabriel Barbosa and Éverton Ribeiro nearly scoring while Borré was down with an injury. Flamengo substitute Diego was brought on for Gerson in the 66th minute, and he helped Flamengo turn the match around. Diego began several counter-attacks, including in the 75th minute when he linked up with Bruno Henrique Pinto and Gabriel. The score was still 1-0 in the 89th minute, with River Plate seeking to finish off the game, when Flamengo's Arrascaeta won the ball from Lucas Pratto in his own half, and started a counter-attack by passing to Bruno Henrique. Henrique dribbled the ball down the left wing and cut inside; near the opposing goal, he passed the ball to Arrascaeta, who avoided the goalkeeper's challenge to pass to an open Gabriel who scored a tap-in to tie the game. Three minutes later, Diego launched a deep pass from his own half that both River Plate centre backs missed. This allowed Gabriel to score again, giving Flamengo a 2-1 lead. The sudden reversal of fortune caused tempers to flare: Palacios kicked Bruno Henrique in the 95th minute, for which he received a red card. Gabriel Barbosa sarcastically applauded the referee in response; he also received a red card. The match ended shortly thereafter. After being behind for most of the match, Flamengo emerged as last minute champions, winning their second Copa Libertadores title.
Details
Post-match
Flamengo won their second Copa Libertadores and earned the right to represent CONMEBOL at the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar. Jorge Jesus became the second non-South American manager to win the Copa Libertadores, following Mirko Jozić's 1991 championship for Colo-Colo. The club went on to clinch the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A title a day later after the second-place team was mathematically eliminated from reaching the title. Flamengo became the first Brazilian club to earn a league and continental double since Santos FC did in 1963. The victory celebrations in Rio de Janeiro attracted tens of thousands of fans as the players rode in an open-top bus, but ended with clashes between riot police and spectators. Flamengo's two late goals to overturn a 0–1 deficit invited comparisons to the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, in which Manchester United defeated Bayern Munich in a similar fashion.
Broadcasting
In Brazil, the match was broadcast by Rede Globo with commentary provided by Luiz Roberto, Júnior and Walter Casagrande, in addition to Fox Sports on cable television with commentary provided by Nivaldo Prieto, Edmundo and Paulo Vinicius Coelho. The broadcast attracted 41.1 million viewers, with almost half of the television sets in Brazil were watching the Globo's broadcast.
