Brazil's Cruzeiro, Arsenal of Argentina, Mexican outfit Atlas, Ecuador's Olmedo and Peruvian club Cienciano all made home advantage count as they took a step towards the group phase of the 2008 Copa Libertadores. Defeated opponents Cerro Porteno, Mineros, La Paz, Lanus and Montevideo Wanderers, respectively, all have work to do in the decisive return clashes. FIFA.com is here with all the news.

Game of the week
Cruzeiro 3-1 Cerro Porteno
Goals - Cruzeiro: Ramires (40, 89), Marcelo Moreno (56); Cerro: Nelson Cabrera (74)

Cheered on by a 55,000 crowd at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte, home favourites Cruzeiro dominated virtually from start to finish. Star of the show was 20-year-old midfielder Ramires, who scored two goals and created a number of openings for his side. Overwhelmed at times, the visitors were indebted to goalkeeper Diego Barreto and kept their hopes alive with a potentially vital away goal.

Surprise of the week
Reigning Argentinian champions Lanus slumped to an unexpected 1-0 defeat on their trip to Olmedo of Ecuador. Armando Osma's home side rode their luck at times but were rewarded for a determined display when second-half substitute Estuardo Quinonez grabbed a well-worked winner 20 minutes from time.

Elsewhere
Arsenal marked their Libertadores debut at their Sarandi stronghold with a solid 2-0 win over Mineros of Venezuela. Jose Luis Calderon opened the scoring just before half-time and Luciano Leguizamon added a second-half free-kick to give the new boys a comfortable advantage for next week's second leg.

Despite a somewhat patchy performance, Mexico's Atlas recorded an identical scoreline when they hosted Bolivian representatives La Paz at the Jalisco. Ulises Mendivil and Eduardo Rergis were on the scoresheet for the hosts, with visiting keeper Mauro Machado at fault on both occasions.

Cienciano of Peru also managed to win and keep a crucial clean sheet when they entertained Uruguay's Montevideo Wanderers on Thursday evening. Even so, Masakatsu Sawa's solitary strike 13 minutes in was a poor return for their domination, and having withstood the rain and humidity of Cuzco, the Charrúa outfit will be confident of turning the tie around next week.

Number crunching
1. The total number of goals scored by the away teams in this week's five fixtures. The only visiting side to hit the back of the net were Cerro Porteno of Paraguay.

37. The age of Arsenal's incombustible striker Jose Luis Calderon, who set the Argentinians on their way to victory against Mineros. In the course of his lengthy career the veteran has also scored Libertadores goals for Mexico's America and Estudiantes de La Plata.

What they said
"2-0 was a good result for us, but then they scored the penalty. That's why it was so important we got a third. I'm sure the coach will put together a team to take us through to the next round now." (Fabricio, Cruzeiro midfielder).

This week's results:

Tuesday 29
Arsenal (ARG) 2-0 Mineros (VEN)

Wednesday 30
Cruzeiro (BRA) 3-1 Cerro Porteno (PAR)
Atlas (MEX) 2-0 La Paz FC (BOL)

Thursday 31
Olmedo (ECU) 1-0 Lanus (ARG)
Cienciano (PER) 1-0 Montevideo Wanderers (URU)

* Second legs to be played in the first week of February.
** The first leg between Boyaca Chico FC (Colombia) and Audax Italiano (Chile) will be played on 7 February.