We are now into the exciting part of the 50th Copa Libertadores. Its the Round of 16 and the real contenders will rise to the top. Because of the swine flu and the inability to come to an agreement on where to play, Wednesday's 1st legs of the Chivas-Sao Paulo & San Luis-Nacional ties were postponed. Word is that Mexican pro league matches will be re-opened to the public and hopefully the H1N1 flu will not affect any more people and things can return to normal.

There were matches that took place this week. On Tuesday, Palmeiras beat surprise Group 1 winners Sport Recife 1-0 at home in an all Brazilian affair. Paraguayan forward José María Ortigoza scored in the 75th minute to give Verdão the advantage heading into their 2nd leg in Recife.

The only match on Wednesday witnessed the #1 seed Gremio dominate Peru's San Martin 3-1 in Lima. Two goals by ex-River Plate and Barcelona forward Maxi Lopez sealed the victory and certainly a place in the quarters.

On Thursday, Estudiantes took massive advantage for their home field with a 3-0 victory over Libertad of Paraguay. Ex-Boca striker Mauro Boselli scored twice to put Los Pincharratas in an excellent position to move into the quarters. Deportivo Cuenca carries the Ecuadorian flag in the knockout stage and beat Caracas FC 2-1 in Cuenca. Ismael Villalba gave Deportivo the edge in the 70th minute. Cruzeiro's 2-1 road win against Universidad De Chile continued the good form of Brazilian clubs in the Round of 16. The team from Belo Horizonte takes 2 road goals into the 2nd leg at the Minerao in Belo Horizonte.

Here are the scores from the 1st leg of the Round of 16 - seeds are in brackets:

TUESDAY, MAY 5th

[11] Palmeiras (BRA) 1 - 0 [6] Sport Recife (BRA)
PAL: José María Ortigoza (75')

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6th

[16] San Martin (PER)1 - 3 [1] Gremio (BRA)
SNM: Martin Arzuaga (34')
GRE: Souza (9'), Maxi Lopez (46' & 62')

THURSDAY, MAY 7th

[9] Deportivo Cuenca (ECU) 2 - 1 [8] Caracas FC (VEN)
DPC: Rodrigo Pereira (pen 58') & Ismael Villalba (70')
CAR: Gabriel Cichero (3')

[10] Estudiantes La Plata (ARG) 3 - 0 [7] Libertad (PAR)
EST: Gastón Fernandez (1') & Mauro Boselli (pen 64' & 70')

[12] Universidad De Chile (CHI) 1 - 2 [5] Cruzeiro (BRA)
UNI: Manuel Villalobos (86')
CRZ: Soares (9') & Marquinhos (52')

The 1st leg of the [2] Boca Juniors (ARG) - [15] Defensor Sporting (URU) series will be played on May 14 with the 2nd leg played on the 21st.