Libertad will play in the Copa Sudamericana again in 2027. The Loja club drew 0-0 at Guayaquil City on Sunday afternoon at the Estadio Christian Benítez, in matchday 5 of LigaPro’s Sudamericana playoff group (the cuadrangular), and that point was enough to secure first place with a round still to play.

It wasn’t pretty. Guayaquil City, with Miller Bolaños in their side, had most of the attacking play, and El Diario described a Libertad team under Jorge Célico that sat deep to protect the draw and held out through the closing minutes. Goalkeeper David Cabezas kept the clean sheet with two saves and finished with a FotMob rating of 7.3.

The table

The group uses accumulated points. Libertad are now on 51, out of reach of Guayaquil City (47) and Leones FC (46), who beat Emelec 2-0 on Saturday. Emelec are fourth on 42. Mr. Offsider and Sonorama noted that this will be Libertad’s second Copa Sudamericana in a row. According to Extra and Havoline Deportivo, Libertad will enter the 2027 tournament in the preliminary phase, which is played as an all-Ecuadorian tie.

Still to play for

There is one round left, on Sunday, November 8: Libertad host Emelec in Loja, and Leones FC host Guayaquil City. Second place is still open. Primicias and El Diario both report that a second Sudamericana place could go to the runner-up, depending on how the Copa Ecuador berth is decided, so the Leones-Guayaquil City game still matters. LigaPro has not yet announced the kickoff times. They will go on our schedule page once confirmed.