Conmebol must change the draw criteria and Bahia could go to pot 1 of the Libertadores

After publishing the updated ranking of clubs, Conmebol may change the criteria for the Libertadores draw, which would benefit Bahia, one of Brazil’s representatives in the competition. The definition of the tricolor opponent and the seeding of the preliminary phase will be defined this Thursday (19).

In an interview with ESPN, Frederico Nantes, director of competitions at Conmebol, stated that clubs from countries that have not yet defined their representatives will be placed in pot 2 of the draw for the second phase, regardless of the ranking.

At this moment, Colombia and Bolivia have no defined representatives. In the case of the Colombians, Tolima and Millonarios compete for the place and, despite being well ranked compared to the other clubs in the second phase, they would be in pot 2.

The measure could benefit Bahia, as the Esquadrão would be promoted to pot 1, getting out of the way of teams like Boca Juniors. In addition to facing theoretically weaker teams, the Esquadrão would play their first match away from home and decide their place at Fonte Nova. The criteria for the draw will still be officially announced by Conmebol.

UNDERSTAND PRE-LIBERATORS

The pre-Libertadores is divided into three phases. In the first, six clubs face each other in a round-trip system and the three classified go to pot 2 of the second phase.

The eight classifieds will face each other in the third phase. At this time, clubs from the same country can face each other. The four winning teams guarantee a place in the Libertadores group stage. The four losers go to the South American Championship.

To reach the group stage of the Libertadores, Bahia needs to go through both knockout stages. The Squad also needs to go through at least one of the qualifiers to avoid running the risk of being left without an international calendar.

SEE WHAT THE POTS WOULD LOOK WITH CONMEBOL’S NEW CRITERIA

• El Nacional (Ecuador)
• Lima Alliance (Peru)
• National (Paraguay)
• Monagas (Venezuela)
• Defender (Uruguay)
• Bolivia 1

• Boca Juniors (Argentina) 3º
• Corinthians (Brazil) 18th
• Cerro Porteño (Paraguay) 20º
• Barcelona (Ecuador) 25th
• Santa Fe (Colombia) 45th
• Melgar (Peru) 51º
• Bahia (Brazil) 77th
• Ñublense (Chile) 90º

• Sports Iquique (Chile) 152nd
• Boston River (Uruguay) 206th
• Union Central (Venezuela) – no position
• First phase 1 classified
• First phase 2 classified
• First phase 3 classified
• Millonários (53rd) or Tolima (54th) – both from Colombia
• Representative of Bolivia