Fla, Flu, São Paulo and Santos will not meet in the first phase, but they could face Raposa

GLOBOESPORTE.COM

Top-ranked teams in the Brasileirão will not meet in the first phase. Four clubs from Brazil and Argentina will be seeded in the group draw for the 2008 Copa Libertadores, which will be held on the 19th in Asunción, Paraguay. São Paulo, Santos, Flamengo, and Fluminense will be the Brazilian teams, while Boca Juniors, Estudiantes de La Plata, San Lorenzo, and River Plate are the top-ranked teams in Argentina. The decision prevents the regional derbies between Fla-Flu and San Lorenzo from being played in the first phase. As Boca is the defending champion, Arsenal, fifth in the Argentine league, will participate in the draw as usual, as will Cruzeiro and Lanús, if they advance to the Libertadores preliminary round.

The decision was made last week at a meeting in the Paraguayan capital and benefited the countries with the most spots in the competition, five each. The meeting also confirmed the continuation of the competition's format, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the round of 16, where the seedings will be determined based on their overall placing in the first phase.