On 2024-10-31 7:48 p.m., Binder Dundat wrote:
On 2024-10-31 3:16 p.m., Werner Pichler wrote:
On 31.10.2024 06:19, Lléo wrote:
1st legs played on October 22 and 23rd, 2nd legs on October 29th and
30th. Both semis were over in the first leg, really, and we're on to
the 4th all-Brazilian final in 5 seasons.
Atlético Mineiro 3-0 River Plate (at Arena MRV, Belo Horizonte)
River Plate 0-0 Atlético Mineiro (at Monumental de Nuñez, Buenos Aires) >>>
In front of a crowd of 44,870 (which is now Arena MRV's record),
Atlético dominated its home fixture and had Deyverson putting out a
man-of-the match performance, scoring twice and assisting Paulinho
for the third goal. River could do little but try to limit damages,
and fail at that.
Second leg was a different story. Before a full house at Monumental
de Nuñez, River dominated actions and made most of the play. Yet
Atlético put on a solid defensive display and, when that wasn't
enough, goalkeeper Everson rose to the occasion, making a number of
key saves. Indeed, for all of River's dominance, the best chance of
the match was Atlético's. River fans put out a great show, though,
and kept singing on even when it was clear that they would not bridge
the three-goal gap - and, indeed, carried on after final whistle.
Botafogo 5-0 Peñarol (at Estádio Nilton Santos, Rio de Janeiro)
Peñarol 3-1 Botafogo (at Estádio Centenário, Montevideo)
This one had more tension to it. Incidents of vandalism involving
Peñarol fans in Rio de Janeiro, coupled with the violent approach of
RJ police resulted in the arrest of 20 of them before the game. They
are still behind bars to this day and there are narratives pointing
fingers and shifting blame, with the Brazilian press on one side and
Argentinian/Uruguayan press on the other.
During the match, Peñarol even put on a good show in the first half
and held a 0-0 draw, but in the second half Botafogo kicked up a
couple of gears and the floodgates opened, with goals by Barboza,
Luiz Henrique, Igor Jesus and two by Savarino. A bloodbath, which was
probably Botafogo's finest display this season.
Tensions were very high for the second leg, in Montevideo, due to the
situation of Peñarol fans arrested in Brasil. Over the week, the
Uruguayan Interior Ministry requested that the game be played without
away fans, with the support of the AUF and Peñarol's. Conmebol would
have none of that, though, and replied that either the game would go
on with both sets of fans present (and with due security guarantees)
or it would be played (a) behind closed doors or (b) away from
Uruguay. In the eleventh hour a solution was found: it was moved away
from Peñarol's stadium, Campeón del Siglo, to the old Centenário,
which is larger and made it easier to separate both sets of fans.
On the field, Peñarol played with a lot of heart and earned a
deserved victory. It is true that Botafogo rested players who were
one yellow card away from a suspension (which included some of their
main stars), with the only exception being goalkeeper John, who, due
to this, was under strict orders to not waste time on goal kicks or
even try to talk to the referee. Artur Jorge was visibly tense about
this every time his keeper had the ball :-). But, though the game was
hard (one red card for each side), it did not descend into a hackfest.
No exchange of jerseys post final whistle, though, as Botafogo
players stayed celebrating on one end of the pitch, in front of the
emptier side of the stands, where their fans were, while Peñarol
players were around the middle of the pitch, receiving the applause
of the rest of the stadium's crowd
The final will be played on November 30th, at Estadio Monumental de
Nuñez, in Buenos Aires. With a capacity of 84,567, it is currently
the biggest stadium in South America. Conmebol may have hoped that an
Argentinian club made the final, which would make it easier to make
it a full house, but now they're stuck with two Brazilians. I've
heard talk about moving it to Independiente's aptly named Estadio
Libertadores de America (capacity 49,592), but I'm not sure if this
is indeed being considered by the powers-that-be.
This will be Atlético Mineiro's second final, the previous one having
been in 2013, in which they beat Olimpia on penalties. Botafogo makes
the final for the first time, having been a semifinalist in 1963
(eliminated by Pelé's Santos) and 1973 (outdone by Colo-Colo and
Cerro Porteño in their semifinal group). They are the only Brazilian
big club that still haven't won Copa Libertadores.
Both teams have also to contend with battle in other fronts: Atlético
Mineiro plays Flamengo in Copa do Brasil final, while Botafogo leads
the league by three points, with seven rounds to go. Atlético settles
their deal on November 3rd (in Maracanã) and 10th (Arena MRV), while
Botafogo has to face four league rounds over the month before
November 30th.
Thanks for the round-up!
This also means Brazil will send four teams to the newfangled Club World
Cup next summer, despite an ostensible two-clubs-per-association limit
(that doesn't apply to the Copa Libertadores winners).
Ciao,
Werner
Best regards,
Lléo
The true hipsters are watching Copa sudamerica
Wait what? Memphis Depay is playing for Corintihinans? That makes this
so not Hipsternow. But game over, Corinthinas lead 3-2 with 80 mins
left, there is not possibble way Racing comesback with only 80 minutes left
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