South America review: Wrapping up 2018 news before the holiday break

With soccer leagues about to shut down across South America for the holiday break, let’s look at how the contests transpired across the continent in 2018.

Only a few matches remain to be played in South America during the 2018 calendar year, all in midweek action in Argentina and Bolivia. Otherwise, the domestic leagues of the other eight CONMEBOL countries across South America have crowned their champions and settled in until the new year.

This week, for the last review of South American action of 2018 before this weekly column takes a hiatus until the new year, let’s look around at each of the 10 countries whose leagues comprise the world of soccer in South America.

Argentina

Huracan and Argentinos Juniors played a scoreless draw on Dec. 13 in the final Superliga Argentina match of 2018. The battle in Parque Patricios saw both sides take 11 shots, with Argentinos Juniors putting four on goal and the hosts managing to test goalkeeper Federico Lanzillotta three times.

Racing Club will enter the new year with a six-point lead in the Superliga table ahead of Defensa y Justicia, who shot past Atletico Tucuman on Dec. 8. The biggest story at this point is the disparity in matches played between the teams in the league.

While league leaders Racing have played 15 matches, for instance, Copa Libertadores champions River Plate have four matches in hand after all the delays and postponements around the intercontinental tournament to crown the kings of South America. They will look to make up those lost matches in the new year once Superliga play resumes on Jan. 27.

Bolivia

After the penultimate matchday in Bolivia, Royal Pari still technically has the chance to take down CD San Jose for the 2018 Primera title. Three points behind San Jose, Royal Pari faces the league leaders on the road on Wednesday down three points in the table. They are also 15 goals behind on goal differential, meaning that they will need to win by eight goals to flip the tables on San Jose.

If Royal Pari loses, though, they could also fall out of Copa Libertadores qualification into a spot in the Copa Sudamericana. Bolivar and The Strongest are both two points behind Royal Pari entering the final matchday on Dec. 19, with Bolivar playing at Oriente Petrolero and The Strongest hosting Blooming.

Should Royal Pari fall, they need both Bolivar and The Strongest to lose to remain in place for a spot in South America next year.

Brazil

Until October, Sao Paulo were sitting atop the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A. They were passed in the table after a 2-2 draw against Botafogo on the final matchday of September, and over the next two months the Tricolor took only 11 of a possible 33 points from their final 11 matches of the year. That caused Sao Paulo to drop from first to fifth and out of a guaranteed place in the Copa Libertadores.

Instead Palmeiras ran away with the title, finishing eight points clear of Flamengo after going unbeaten in Serie A play since late March. Flamengo swooped in to finish ahead of Internacional and Gremio, but all ultimately landed top-four spots to qualify directly into the Copa Libertadores group stage.

Atletico Mineiro, Atletico Paranaense, and Cruzeiro landed the other spots in the Libertadores qualifying rounds. Botafogo, Santos, Bahia, Fluminense, Corinthians and Chapecoense landed the six Brazilian spots in the first round of the Copa Sudamericana, with Chapecoense passing Ceara on the final matchday after their win over São Paulo.

Chile

Universidad Catolica managed to hold on for the Primera title in Chile this year with a win at Deportes Temuco on the final matchday on December 2. Temuco was down a man for most of the match after Mathias Riquero received a red card seven minutes in, though the hosts took a 1-0 lead on a penalty in the 15th minute.

Catolica pulled ahead in the second half, relegating Deportes Temuco from the Primera in the process and staying three points ahead of Universidad de Concepcion. Both clubs will play in the Copa Libertadores next year as a result of their finish, while Universidad de Chile can also play their way in from the second qualifying stage.

Palestino joins Universidad de Chile in the second stage after winning the 2018 Copa Chile. Antofagasta, Colo-Colo, Union La Calera, and Unión Española took the four Chilean spots in the Copa Sudamericana next year.

Colombia

Junior FC came into the second leg of their championship final against Independiente Medellín on Sunday already up 4-1 after their first leg at home. Independiente came close to forcing extra time, but after Yony Gonzalez scored an away goal for Junior in the 71st minute the hosts were only able to get one of the two goals they needed to draw level on aggregate.

Both clubs were already ensured of at least reaching the qualifying stages of the Copa Libertadores in 2019. By winning the Clausura title, though, Junior guaranteed themselves a spot in the group stage. Deportes Tolima gets the other guaranteed spot for winning the Apertura, while Atletico Nacional joins Independiente in the second qualifying round.

Once Caldas, La Equidad, Rionegro Aguilas, and Deportivo Cali rounded out the top eight and claimed a spot in the bracket for the Copa Sudamericana. Cucuta Deportivo and Union Magdalena earned promotion from Primera B to take the place of Boyaca Chico and Leones.

Ecuador

Over the past week in Ecuador, Apertura champions LDU Quito squared off in a two-leg final against Clausura winners Emelec to determine the season champion for 2018. LDU Quito had the advantage for the second leg after scoring an away goal in the 1-1 draw on Wednesday in Guayaquil.

Coming home for the return leg, LDU Quito took a 1-0 win off Emelec that secured victory for the team from the capital. Anderson Julio scored the winner just 10 minutes into the match, unleashing a blast from the arc at the top of the 18-yard box with his left foot that gave Emelec goalkeeper absolutely no chance. The win gave Liga de Quito their first championship in eight years, and the club claimed its 11th all-time Ecuadorian title in the centennial of LDU’s formation.

Liga de Quito and Emelec both earned a trip straight into the Copa Libertadores group stage in 2019, while Barcelona and Delfín earning the additional spots into the qualifying rounds. Universidad Catolica, Macara, and Independiente del Valle are Copa Sudamericana bound. The league returns to the pitch on Feb. 10 for the 2019 Apertura.

Paraguay

Olimpia had the Primera title sealed up in Paraguay long before the final matchday across the league on Dec. 8. With both the Apertura and Clausura titles in hand, Olimpia left nothing to chance as they finished a whopping 20 points clear of defending champion and 2018 runner-up Cerro Porteno.

Olimpia went 12 matches unbeaten on their run to the title, with their last defeat coming back on September 15 at Sol de América. Between the 44 matches of the Apertura and Clausura, Olimpia scored 100 goals and lost just four matches all year in domestic league play.

The champion and Cerro Porteno will both be in the Copa Libertadores group stage, and Libertad and Nacional have the chance to join them if they make it through qualifying. Sol de America, Independiente, Deportivo Santani and Guarani are all into the Copa Sudamericana bracket. The clubs return to the field in early February.

Peru

Sporting Cristal made short work of Alianza Lima over the two-leg final for the 2018 season title in Peru over the past week, wrapping things up a few weeks before the holidays. The first leg in La Victoria on Wednesday ended in a 4-1 victory for Sporting Cristal, the winners of the Torneo de Verano and the Apertura.

Alianza Lima were in a major deficit on the return leg at the Estadio Nacional, and they collapsed even further. Sporting Cristal earned another three-goal victory on Sunday to cap the season title, with Emanuel Herrera capping the match with the third goal to top the league table with his 40th goal of the season.

League action returns for the 2019 Copa Movistar a month into the new year on February 3. Sporting Cristal and Alianza Lima will both play in the Copa Libertadores group stage, while Melgar and Real Garcilaso must get through the qualifying rounds. Deportivo Municipal, Sport Huancayo, UTC, and Binacional will represent Peru in the Copa Sudamericana in 2019.

Uruguay

The 2018 champion in Uruguay has been determined for the past month, after Nacional lost to Penarol 2-1 in extra time on Nov. 11 in a playoff to determine the overall champion. Penarol scored the winner in the 95th minute when Cristian Rodriguez converted a penalty, breaking the 1-1 gridlock between the two teams after regulation time.

Nacional won the Apertura and the Torneo Intermedio earlier in the year, but Penarol had the overall lead on aggregate after claiming the Clausura. The 2019 schedule is not locked in yet, but Penarol will get their chance to start up the title defense sometime in late January or early February.

Penarol and Nacional will both be in the Copa Libertadores group stage, with Danubio and Defensor Sporting also having a shot at getting through Libertadores qualification. Cerro, Liverpool, Montevideo Wanderers and River Plate feature in South America next year when they play in the Copa Sudamericana.

Venezuela

Zamora crushed Deportivo Lara in the second leg of their two-leg final in early December. After Antonio Romero and Freddy Vargas scored a pair of first-half goals just three minutes apart in the opening leg in Cabudare, Zamora dominated their opponents once they returned home to Barinas.

Romero was instrumental in the dominant 4-0 victory in the return leg for Zamora, as he potted a hat trick. The striker’s first goal came just five minutes into the match, the second strike found the back of the net in the 25th, and Romero completed the trio of goals a dozen minutes after intermission in the 57th minute. Romero subbed out 12 minutes after his third goal, and his replacement Angel Osorio found a fourth goal in the 90th minute.

Zamora and Deportivo Lara are both into the Copa Libertadores group stage when it starts in the new year. Caracas earned passage into the second qualifying round, while Deportivo La Guiara made it into the first qualifying stage. Mineros, Estudiantes de Mérida, Monagas, and Zulia earned the four spots in the Copa Sudamericana.

With the leagues going into hibernation over the next few weeks, the South America review will next return on Jan. 7 for a look at upcoming action around the continent.