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Can River Plate make amends? Will Boca Juniors do it for Diego Maradona? The end of a long wait for Palmeiras? Or could it be the year of Santos?
The Copa Libertadores, South America’s biggest club football competition, is approaching its long-awaited climax – and you can watch it live on the BBC.
The first leg semi-finals will take place on Wednesday, January 6, with the return matches the following week and the final on January 30 at the famous Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The semi-finals are used for two matches between Brazilian and Argentinian teams, the four clubs being from Buenos Aires or Sao Paulo.
The 2020 Copa Libertadores started last January, but group stages were halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic and only resumed in September.
Boca seeks to honor Maradona
Six-time winner Boca Juniors hope to pay tribute to former player Diego Maradona by winning his first title since 2007.
This is the fourth semi-final in five years for Boca, one of the most decorated teams in the competition.
Maradona went through two spells and ended her career at Boca, who could once again face fierce rivals River Plate in the final.
The famous clubs of Buenos Aires met in the final for the first time in 58 years in 2018.
The match was postponed after Boca’s team bus was attacked by River fans, before being moved 6,000 miles from Buenos Aires to Madrid, where River won 5-3 overall.
Brazilian side Santos, who scored an impressive 5-2 overall victory over Gremio in the quarter-finals, are blocking a Boca side led by former Manchester United and Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez.
It was in Santos that Brazilian legend Pelé set a single club goal scoring record – a record broken by Lionel Messi when he scored his 644th Barcelona goal in December – but they failed to win the Copa Libertadores since 2011.
Can River Plate recover from a dramatic loss?
River suffered a devastating last-minute loss in the 2019 Finals.
Gabriel Barbosa scored twice in a spectacular five-minute final as Flamengo – knocked out in the last 16 this time around – came from a goal to win 2-1 and deny River back-to-back titles.
River, whose most recent triumph dates back to 2018, recently lost, like Boca, a former top player to Alejandro Sabella. He died last month, two weeks after Maradona.
A former Argentina international who played for Leeds and Sheffield United, Sabella also led his country to the 2014 World Cup final as a coach.
Marcelo Gallardo’s River team will have to defeat Brazilian Palmeiras to reach the final.
Palmeiras, the 1999 champion, who reached the final four times, beat Libertad of Paraguay 4-1 on aggregate to reach the last four.
Can Palmeiras take another step towards the end of a two-decade wait for a second title? It will be a tough task against a team from River who beat Nacional 8-2 overall in the quarter-finals.
How to watch on the BBC
You can follow the Copa Libertadores semi-finals live on the BBC Sport website, iPlayer and via the red button at the following times:
Wednesday January 6 – semi-final first leg
River Plate vs. Palmeiras (00: 20-02: 30 GMT)
Boca Juniors v Santos (22: 05-00: 15)
Tuesday 12 January – semi-final second leg
Palmeiras vs. River Plate (00:30)
Santos v Boca Juniors (22:15)
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