2023 UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge

The 2023 UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge (Spanish: UEFA–CONMEBOL Desafío de Clubes 2023), named Antonio Puerta XII in honour of the former Sevilla player who died in 2007, was the inaugural edition of the UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge, a football match organised by UEFA and CONMEBOL between the reigning champions of the UEFA Europa League and Copa Sudamericana. UEFA was in charge of the main organization of the first edition.

The UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge was officially launched on 7 July 2023 as part of the UEFA–CONMEBOL memorandum of understanding.

The single match was played on 19 July 2023 at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Seville, Spain, between Spanish club Sevilla, the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League winners and Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle, the 2022 Copa Sudamericana winners.

Background

The match was announced by UEFA and CONMEBOL as a pilot edition. This was the first meeting between a Spanish and an Ecuadorian club representing UEFA and CONMEBOL, respectively. The match was, at the same time, the twelfth edition of the Antonio Puerta Trophy, an annual football match hosted by Sevilla dedicated to its former player Antonio Puerta, who died in 2007 at the age of 22 following a cardiac arrest, during the inaugural match of the 2007–08 La Liga season between Sevilla and Getafe. The official nature of the match was initially not entirely clear; UEFA considered it as a friendly due to the unlimited substitutions agreed by both clubs. However, on 10 June 2024, UEFA considered the tournament as official.

Sevilla won the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League on 31 May 2023, defeating Italian side Roma 4–1 penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time in the final, making it a record of seven UEFA Cup/Europa League titles for the Sevillians. For its part, Independiente del Valle won their second Copa Sudamericana title by beating Brazilian side São Paulo 2–0 in the final of the 2022 Copa Sudamericana held on 1 October 2022.

In the run-up to the match, Sevilla were in pre-season preparations ahead of their 2023–24 campaign, while Independiente del Valle were in the middle of their 2023 season, having won the first stage of the 2023 Ecuadorian Serie A and looking ahead to their round of 16 tie against Colombia's Deportivo Pereira in the 2023 Copa Libertadores.

Teams

Pre-match

Officials

The refereeing team for this edition was appointed by UEFA.

Squads

Sevilla named a 30-man squad for a training camp to be held from 9 to 19 July 2023, including the UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge match.

Independiente del Valle traveled with 23 players to its mid-season tour in Spain, which, in addition to the UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge match, included meetings with Orlando Pirates and Getafe. Players Kendry Páez, Patrick Mercado and Yaimar Medina were expected to join the team after their participation in the U-20 Copa Libertadores, but ultimately did not do so by decision of their team.

Match

Details

Notes

References

External links