The last four stages of the 2009 Copa Santander Libertadores are the knockout stages: the Round of 16, the Quarterfinals, the Semifinals, and the Finals.
Contents
Format
The remaining stages of the tournament constitute a single-elimination tournament. In each stage, the teams will play an opponent in a two-legged tie on a home-away basis. Each team will earn three (3) points for a win, one (1) point for a draw, and zero (0) points for a loss. The team with the most points at the end of each tie will advance.
Tie-breaking
The following criteria will be used for breaking ties on points:
- Goal difference
- Goals scored
- Away goals
- Penalty shootout
Seeding
The 16 qualified teams in the knockout round will be seeded according to their results in the group stage. The top teams from each group are seeded 1-8, with the team with the most points as seed 1 and the team with the least as seed 8. The second-best teams from each group are seeded 9-16, with the team with the most points as seed 9 and the team with the least as seed 16. Teams with a higher seed will play the second leg of each tie at home.
Round of 16
The Round of 16 began on May 5. Team #1, as the higher seeded team, played the second leg at home.