Coluna do Fla
·13 Februari 2026
Three teams progress as Libertadores first phase ends, Brazilians next

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Yahoo sportsColuna do Fla
·13 Februari 2026

The first phase of the Libertadores has ended, and three of the six participating teams have advanced. The next stage begins on Tuesday (17th) and will feature Brazilian teams in the new knockout phase.
Bahia and Botafogo are the Brazilian representatives in the pre-Libertadores. The team from Bahia will face O’Higgins (CHI) on February 18th and 25th, while the team from Rio will take on Nacional Potosí (BOL) on the same dates.
Deportivo Táchira (VEN) was the first to qualify. Last Tuesday (10th), the Venezuelan club eliminated The Strongest (BOL) on penalties.
Additionally, on Wednesday (11th), 2 de Mayo (PAR) made history. The team from Pedro Juan Caballero achieved the club's first international qualification by overcoming Alianza Lima (PER) 2-1 (on aggregate).
Finally, Juventud (URU) was the last team to advance. On Thursday (12th), the Uruguayan team dispatched Universidad Católica (EQU) after penalty shootouts.
Right after the conclusion of the second knockout phase, Conmebol will hold the draw for the Libertadores groups. Thus, on March 18th, Flamengo, the current champion and seed of Group A, will learn its opponents in the competition. It is worth noting that Mengão cannot face another Brazilian team in the initial phase unless the club comes from the preliminaries, like Bahia or Botafogo.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.









































