Grupo 2, Copa Libertadores 2011

 Reports & highlights of Group 2 in the 2011 Copa Libertadores.

Results

17-02-11
León (Per)	1-2	Junior (Col)
Grêmio (Bra)	3-0	Oriente Petrolero (Bol)
23-02-11
León (Per)	1-0	Oriente Petrolero (Bol)
24-02-11
Junior (Col)	2-1	Grêmio (Bra)
03-03-11
Grêmio (Bra)	2-0	León (Per)
08-03-11
Oriente Petrolero (Bol)	1-2	Junior (Col)
15-03-11
León (Per)	1-1	Grêmio (Bra)
17-03-11
Junior (Col)	2-1	Oriente Petrolero (Bol)
24-03-11
Oriente Petrolero (Bol)	2-0	León (Per)
05-04-11
Grêmio (Bra)	2-0	Junior (Col)
14-04-11
Oriente Petrolero (Bol)	3-0	Grêmio (Bra)
Junior (Col)	1-1	León (Per)

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Junior	6	4	1	1	9	7	+2	13
Grêmio	6	3	1	2	9	6	+3	10
Oriente Petrolero	6	2	0	4	7	8	−1	6
León de Huánuco	6	1	2	3	4	8	−4	5

Match reports

Round 1

Peruvian side and Copa Libertadores new boys León went down to a 1-2 home defeat against Junior of Colombia on their Copa Libertadores debut. In the other game Grêmio secured an unsurprising 3-0 win against the Bolivian side Oriente Petrolero.

Round 2

León, who are such minnows that they have to kick off their home games early because their stadium doesn't even have any floodlights recovered from their opening day defeat to record their first ever win in the competition with a tightly contested 1-0 home win against Oriente Petrolero. Things still look incredibly tough for the Peruvians, only one of their remaining four games is at home and they still have to face group favourites Grêmio twice.

Junior recorded their second win with an impressive 2-1 home win against Grêmio. They had to come back from conceding after only five minutes and they managed it with goals from Giovanni Hernández and ex Southampton & Portsmouth player Jhon Viáfara to give themselves a three point advantage at the top of the group.

Round 3

In their third group game Grêmio recorded a confident 2-0 victory against Peruvian Libertadores new boys León. Junior resumed leadership with a 1-2 away win against Bolivian side Oriente Petrolero. The Colombians are the only team to record three wins out of three in the group stages and could seal qualification with another win in the return match against Wilstermann and competition new boys fail to beat Grêmio in round four. The only consolation for the Bolivians was that they managed to bag their first goal of the tournament with a 92nd minute strike from Juan Carlos Arce.

Round 4

 Colombian side Junior qualified for the knockout stage with a 2-1 home win against Oriente Petrolero of Bolivia, the home team had to do it the hard way coming back from behind after Jhasmini Campos put the visitors in front at the beginning of the second half with a wonderful long range blast. Junior's second half substitute Carlos Bacca was the hero of the day bagging both of the goals to ensure their early qualification and put them within touching distance of finishing as group winners. Bacca scored his first with a good turn and finish and his second from the penalty spot.

Grêmio moved to five points behind Junior with two games remaining after a 1-1 draw at León however the Peruvian side will have to get positive results in both of their remaining home games and hope that the Brazilians drop points in both of their remaining games. Carlos Elías scored for the hosts with a brilliant looping header just before half time but Carlos Alberto secured a useful point for the Brazilians with a smart finish nine minutes into the second half.

Round 5

Oriente Petrolero became the first Bolivian side to win a game at Copa Libertadores 2011 with a 2-0 win against León putting an end to seven consecutive defeats for Bolivian sides. Teams from Bolivia have managed only two wins from their last 39 Libertadores games. The result means that both sides will go out of the tournament at the end of the group stage with Junior and Grêmio progressing to the knockout stage.

Grêmio ended Junior's 100% record with a 2-0 win meaning that the Brazilians still have a chance of finishing as group winners.

Round 6

Everything in group 2 was already pretty much decided before the last round of games kicked off. Junior secured their place at the top of the group with a 1-1 draw against León and Grêmio suffered a shock 3-0 defeat against Oriente Petrolero who put in the best Copa Libertadores display by a Bolivian side in many years. Their man of the match was Juan Carlos Arce who set up the first two goals and scored one for himself late in the game.

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