LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- This year is the 50th birthday of the Copa Libertadores , South American football 's equivalent of Europe 's Champions League . Argentina 's Boca Juniors salute their fans before a Copa Libertadores match against Uruguay 's Defensor Sporting . The Libertadores is the most prestigious tournament in South American club football , seeing the best 32 teams in the continent battle for supremacy . It may not get as much attention as the Champions League , but for South American teams there is no bigger trophy . The tournament has reached semifinal stage , where Gremio and Cruzeiro from Brazil will clash with Argentina 's Estudiantes and Uruguay 's Nacional - a team captained by former Inter Milan star Juan Sebastian Veron . So with the action reaching a crescendo , it 's high-time Fanzone explored what makes the compeition so great . History . The competition was first held in 1960 , its name referring to the `` liberators '' who led South American countries in their wars of independence . For years it was dominated by Argentina , with a team from the country making it to every final between 1963 to 1979 , and Buenos Aires team Independiente winning six times in that period . Since the early '90s , it 's been the Brazilian clubs that have excelled . Brazil has provided 10 Libertadores finalists in the last 10 years , but since the tournament 's inception , every country except Peru and Mexico has supplied a winner . Qualification . Under current quotas Brazil and Argentina both supply five teams for the tournament , while Bolivia , Chile , Colombia , Ecuador , Mexico , Paraguay , Peru , Uruguay , Venezuela are each represented by three teams , with the previous year 's winner also qualifying . Each country has different qualifying criteria for its clubs but essentially , the winners of South America 's top domestic leagues , as well as some runners up , qualify for the Libertadores . They are joined by three teams invited from Mexico ( which is not a member of CONMEBOL , the South American Football Confederation ) . Better than Europe ? In terms of football quality , most would agree that the Libertadores struggles to match the Champions League and the reason is simple -- South American clubs simply do n't have the money to hold onto their best players . Despite this , the Libertadores is still the place where some of the world 's best players cut their footballing teeth . The likes of Ronaldinho and Carlos Tevez once shone in the Libertadores , as did past masters like Pele and Zico . Which do you think is better , the Copa Libertadores or the Champions League ? Sound Off below . While the tournament may lack big-name players , in other ways the Libertadores is as every bit as tough as the Champions League . Alexander Bellos is the author of `` Futebol : the Brazilian Way of Life . '' He told CNN that in the Libertadores , teams often have to travel huge distances for away matches . It can take a Brazilian club 24 hours to get to a match in Mexico , leaving little time for pre-match preparation or training . Some teams play their matches at high altitude , which can be a grueling experience for visiting teams not used to the thin air . Bellos says these factors can combine to make the Libertadores less predictable than the Champions League , as can the fact that clubs regularly lose their best players to Europe , meaning their squads can change drastically from one season to the next . As in the Champions League , big clubs , like Argentina 's Boca Juniors and Brazil 's Sao Paolo , usually make the final stages , but last year 's winners were unheralded Ecuadorian club LBS Quito .
year is the 50th birthday of Brazilian football 's Champions League . The competition has been dominated by Brazilian and Brazilian teams . Liberdatores tends to be less predictable than South America 's 's Champions League . This year 's semi finals include teams from Brazil , Argentina and Uruguay .