Copa Libertadores round-up
Group stage of delayed competition finally reaches its conclusion
The Copa Libertadores was forced to shut down for six months and, as the Argentine championship has yet to resume, it meant that when South America’s premier club competition resumed in mid-September, River Plate had not played a competitive match in all that time. Even training opportunities had been limited. So it was extraordinary that for the first game back, away to Sao Paulo of Brazil, River coach Marcelo Gallardo went with three strikers and two attacking midfielders.
His ring-rusty team, inevitably far from match fit, opted to carry the game away to a powerful opponent in full competitive rhythm – and it worked. River went behind to an early own goal, roared back to take the lead, and were only denied victory by another own goal. Two weeks later, when they met again in Buenos Aires, promising striker Julian Alvarez was in excellent form and River won a fine 2-1 victory, passing holes in the Sao Paulo defence until the legs grew weary in the second half.
The defeat meant that Sao Paulo were the first, and probably the only, Brazilian side not to make it into the knockout stages. To be fair, their group was the only one with three former champions. But with one round to go, they had no hope of catching River or Ecuador’s Liga de Quito.
Two rounds of group matches were played in early March, and three more in the second half of September, when amid empty stadiums and detailed health protocols, much was resolved. Of the 16
second round slots, 11 had already been snapped up, with two more all but mathematically allocated.
With a game still to go Peru had lost all hope of having a team in the last 16 – the country’s seventh consecutive washout. And Colombia is close to its third washout in four years – a very disappointing return for a country that has punched well below its weight since Atletico Nacional won the title in 2016. Chile were also at risk, along with Bolivia and Venezuela – although considering the leagues in the latter two nations had yet to restart, this would scarcely be a surprise.
River Plate were outstanding, but considering their long lay off, it was striking how well almost all of the Argentines performed on the restart. Argentina was the only country to vote against the resumption of the Libertadores, and there was much moaning from the coaches of their clubs about the lack of preparation relative to their opponents. But in the event, their five teams did better in September than they had done in March, when they were at no physical disadvantage.
That said, the Brazilian contingent look especially strong, in spite of Sao Paulo’s elimination.
Incidents involving Brazilian clubs have also highlighted the determination to plough ahead with the competition – and the dangers of doing so.
Reigning champions Flamengo spent over a week in Ecuador, where they played two matches. Away from their training centre, they found it harder to isolate and protect their delegation, and suffered a mass outbreak of coronavirus. In the end 20 players tested positive, plus coaches and directors.
Several of these results had already come through before the second game, against Barcelona of Guayaquil, a city traumatised by its outbreak, where in early April it was estimated that a third of its inhabitants had the virus. The local health authorities suspended the match – and all available political levers were pulled to make sure that it went ahead. An afternoon of backstage machinations ended with the Ecuadorian national authorities over-ruling the local, leaving the feeling that the main aim of the emergency regulations is to protect the continuation of the competition.
Flamengo’s first opponents on their Ecuador trip, Independiente del Valle, then reported a coronavirus outbreak of their own And soon after the end of the fifth week of group phase action came worrying news of Raniel, a 24-yearold striker with Santos. He tested positive for coronavirus at the start of September and served his quarantine period before returning to the squad, starting at home to Olimpia of Paraguay and then coming off the bench away to Delfin of Ecuador and in the return game against Olimpia.
Two days later he was in hospital with deep vein thrombosis in his right leg – a condition probably related to the after effects of COVID-19 plus the number of flights he had been taking to fulfil the fixture marathon in the Brazilian Championship and the Copa Libertadores.
Considering their long lay off, it was striking how well almost all of the Argentines performed on the restart