PORTO ALEGRE, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's three-time Copa Libertadores champions Gremio were eliminated from the competition on Wednesday with a 2-1 home defeat to Independiente del Valle of Ecuador.
Jean Pyerre gave the hosts an early lead in the second leg of the qualifier by pouncing on a defensive clearance and taking one touch before rifling a 22-yard shot into the bottom right corner.
Argentine winger Christian Ortiz equalized with a curling free-kick on the stroke of halftime.
Gremio's chances suffered a blow just after the hour mark when midfielder Maicon was shown a second yellow card for a bad foul on Lorenzo Faravelli.
The visitors immediately capitalized on their numerical advantage and it was Ortiz who again inflicted the damage.
The 28-year-old controlled a lofted pass from Faravelli on his chest before lashing an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Brenno in the 66th minute.
Independiente, who won the first leg 2-1, will now feature in the competition's group stage, which begins on April 20.
In Wednesday's only other qualifier, Colombian side Altetico Nacional advanced to the group stage with a 4-1 rout of Paraguay's Libertad. The result followed Libertad's 1-0 win in the first leg. Endiem