With the knockout stage looming in May, teams are continuing to be eliminated and on Tuesday, it was learned that there will be a new Libertadores champion. The '08 Champions Liga De Quito were eliminated after their 2-0 loss to Palmeiras in Sao Paulo. 2nd half goals by Marcão & Diego Souza gave Palmeiras the win and kept the Brazilians hopes of advancing to the knockout stage alive.


On Wednesday, the knockout stage qualifiers from Groups 4 & 5 were determined. In Group 4, Sao Paulo had already won the group but 2nd place was at stake when Defensor Sporting faced El DIM of Colombia. The match was an elimination game captured by the Uruguayans when Diego Cabrera scored in the 91st minute to give Defensor a thrilling 4-3 win and a place in the next round.


Group 5 finished with Cruzeiro winning the group after their 2-0 victory over Deportivo Quito. The Ecuadorian side needed the 3 points to advance and their loss allowed Estudiantes to coast to an uneventful 0-0 against Universidad De Sucre ensuring the Argentines 2nd place in the group and a spot in the Round of 16.


On Thursday, Deportivo Cuenca kept their hopes alive for a spot in the knockout stage with a stunning 1-0 home win over Boca Juniors. Édison Preciado's 79th minute goal pulled the Ecuadoreans even with Deportivo Tachira into 2nd place in Group 2.


Argentine powers River Plate were eliminated from the Libertadores after their 4-2 road loss to Nacional of Paraguay. Jorge Nuñez's double helped send Los Millionarios out of the tournament. River's loss along with San Martin's 1-1 draw against Nacional on Tuesday means that San Martin & Nacional of Uruguay will advance from Group 3.


Here are the results from this week's Libertadores action:


TUESDAY, APRIL 21st
Group 1
Palmeiras (BRA) 2 - 0 Liga De Quito (ECU)
PAL: Marcão (48') & Diego Souza (83')

Group 3
San Martin (PER) 1 - 1 Nacional (URU)
SNM: Gonzalo Luduena (88')
NAC: Marcos Mondaini (74')


WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22nd
Group 1
Sport Recife (BRA) 2 - 1 Colo Colo (CHI)
SPO: Moacir (60') & Vandinho (75')
COL: Rodrigo Millar (50')

Group 4
Defensor Sporting (URU) 4 - 3 Dep. Ind. Medellin (COL)
DEF: Alvaro Navarro (14' & 90'+4'), Vera (36'), De Souza (83')
DIM: Luis Carlos Arias (20'), Andrés Felipe Ortiz (78'), Diego Cabrera (90'+1')

Sao Paulo (BRA) 2 - 1 América De Cali (COL)
SPO: Dagoberto (58' & 67')
AME: Wilmer Parra (9')

Group 5
Univ. de Sucre (BOL) 0 - 0 Estudiantes LP (ARG)

Cruzeiro (BRA) 2 - 0 Deportivo Quito (ECU)
CRZ: Leo Fortunato (15') & García (og 29')


THURSDAY, APRIL 23rd
Group 2
Deportivo Cuenca (ECU) 1 - 0 Boca Juniors (ARG)
DPC: Édison Preciado (79')

Group 3
Nacional (PAR) 4 - 2 River Plate (ARG)
NAC: Fabio Escobar (pen 45'), Nuñez (66' & 79'), Carlos Ruiz Peralta (74')
RIV: Radamel Falcao Garcia (pen 44') & Marcelo Gallardo (82')