- Palmeiras have seven CONMEBOL Libertadores champions in their squad, two with the 'Verdão' themselves and five more who did it with other clubs.
- At Estudiantes, Marcos Rojo, a champion in 2009, can win it again in the same shirt 17 years later. They also have two players who won it with another Argentine club.
When Palmeiras and Estudiantes take the field at the Estadio Centenario for the Final on Saturday, November 28, several of their protagonists will already know what it feels like to lift the CONMEBOL Libertadores. The 'Verdão' squad includes seven champions of the competition: two won it with the club itself and five with other teams. In the 'Pincha' squad are Marcos Rojo, who celebrated in 2009 in the same shirt he wears now, and Lucas Alario and Ramiro Funes Mori, who did so with River in 2015. And on the Palmeiras bench sits a coach who has already won it twice, once at the same stadium.
Gómez and Piquerez, the ones who have already celebrated with the 'Verdão'
Gustavo Gómez is the captain and the most decorated player in Palmeiras' history: he has won 13 titles with the club, including the 2020 and 2021 CONMEBOL Libertadores. In this edition he stepped up again on a decisive night, with the header that made it 1-0 against Cerro Porteño at La Nueva Olla, 41' into the first half from a Jhon Arias corner, which sent Palmeiras through to the Quarterfinals. If Palmeiras win in Montevideo, the defender will become the Paraguayan player with the most titles in the competition: he currently shares the record, with two, with Ever Hugo Almeida, Francisco Arce, Catalino Rivarola, Celso Ayala and Jorge Guasch.
Joaquín Piquerez completes the list of those who have already won it with the 'Verdão'. The Uruguayan full-back started the 2021 Final, the 2-1 win over Flamengo at the Centenario itself, and in this campaign he wore the captain's armband in the second leg of the Quarterfinals against Liga de Quito, a match Gómez missed through yellow-card accumulation. "I've always been very close to Gustavo, trying to follow his path", he said after that tie.
From Arias to Felipe Anderson, chasing it with a second club
The other five won the Cup with other clubs and, in Montevideo, can do it again with a second team. Jhon Arias was crowned champion in 2023 with Fluminense: he was a key piece of Fernando Diniz's side and, in the Final against Boca at the Maracanã, he was involved in the build-up to the first goal, scored by Germán Cano. After a spell at Wolverhampton, he returned to Brazil in February to join Palmeiras. A title in Montevideo would take him level with the two won by Óscar Córdoba, Jorge Bermúdez, Mauricio Serna, Alexis Henríquez and Orlando Berrío, the most successful Colombians in the competition.
Marlon Freitas and Alexander Barboza arrived with a similar story: in 2024 they won the CONMEBOL Libertadores with Botafogo, the midfielder as captain. Both joined Palmeiras this year and played their part in knocking out Fluminense: Marlon Freitas made it 2-0 in the first leg of the Semifinals at the Maracanã, 40' into the second half, and in the second leg, at the Nubank Parque, he took the penalty that sealed the shoot-out. Barboza, who arrived in May, started in defense that night.
Andreas Pereira and Felipe Anderson complete the group. The former received a winner's medal for the 2022 edition with Flamengo, even though he had left the club in July, before the Final, and in this campaign he rounded off the 4-1 win over Junior that secured Palmeiras' place in the Round of 16. Felipe Anderson, still a youngster, was part of the Santos side that won the title in 2011, the team of Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso, and in the first leg of the Semifinals he set up Marlon Freitas' 2-0 with a header.
Both squads also include CONMEBOL Sudamericana champions. Palmeiras have Khellven, who won it in 2021 with Athletico Paranaense; Estudiantes have Baltasar Rodríguez, a champion in 2024 with Racing, with whom he also lifted the 2025 CONMEBOL Recopa.
Rojo, 17 years later
At Estudiantes, the experience of having lifted the CONMEBOL Libertadores in the same shirt belongs to one man. Marcos Rojo, an academy product, was part of Alejandro Sabella's squad that won the 2009 edition, and this season he returned to La Plata for the decisive nights. In the second leg of the Semifinals, at the Maracanã, Alexander Medina started him at left-back, at 36, and the 'Pincha' held on to a 0-0 draw against Flamengo with ten men before going through on penalties. "It's crazy how it all happened. To play in this incredible match, alongside these warriors, in this stadium", he said afterward.
His story echoes a precedent at the club. In 2009, Sabella brought in Rolando Schiavi for the Semifinals, an experienced defender who started against Nacional and in both legs of the Final against Cruzeiro, and lifted the trophy at the Mineirão. Seventeen years later, the youngster from that title-winning squad fills that role. Rojo, who was unable to play the 2023 Final with Boca and reached the Semifinals with Racing in 2025, can win his second CONMEBOL Libertadores in the same shirt as his first, that of the club presided over by Juan Sebastián Verón, another of the stars of that team.
Alario and Funes Mori, on the scoresheet in the 2015 Final
Rojo is not the only champion in the squad. Lucas Alario and Ramiro Funes Mori won the 2015 edition with River and both scored in the second leg of the Final against Tigres, at the Monumental: the striker opened the 3-0 win with a header and the defender scored the third. The center-back, who also lifted the 2014 CONMEBOL Sudamericana with River, emerged in the closing stages of this campaign, against Corinthians in the Quarterfinals and in the first leg of the Semifinals against Flamengo, in which the 'Pincha' kept a clean sheet. In Montevideo, both can win it with a second club.
Abel, chasing Zubeldía's mark
There is also a champion on the bench. Abel Ferreira won the 2020 CONMEBOL Libertadores, with a 1-0 win over Santos at the Maracanã, and the 2021 edition, with a 2-1 win over Flamengo at the Centenario. If he adds a third, he will draw level with Osvaldo Zubeldía on the second rung of the competition's most successful coaches, behind Carlos Bianchi, who has four. To do so, he will have to beat the very club with which Zubeldía won his, in 1968, 1969 and 1970. On the other side, Alexander Medina will coach in his first Final, in the year in which he broke through the Semifinal barrier.
The Montevideo Final also holds personal stories. For Gómez, it could mean a record; for seven other champions, the Cup with a second club; for Rojo, a reunion with 2009; for Abel, a place alongside Zubeldía. And for most of those on the field, it will be their first.
