Copas Libertadores & Sudamericana
Reviews
The 61st final of the Copa Libertadores will be hard for fans of Palmeiras to forget – and difficult for anyone else to remember.
A goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time gave Palmeiras a 1-0 win over Santos in an all-Brazilian decider, played in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana. The unlikely hero was substitute striker Breno Lopes, plucked recently out of the second division – so recently, in fact, that he was too late for selection for the Club World Cup. Had much-vaunted teenager Gabriel Veron been fit, then Breno Lopes would almost certainly have not been on the pitch. But he was there at the far post to meet a lovely Rony cross from deep right, and he headed firmly back across into the corner to provide some late drama to an eminently forgettable match. The main villain here was the heat. The game kicked off at 5pm in blazing high summer. In the original schedule the final would have taken place in November – springtime. The pandemic forced things back, but sadly not the start time. It seems that free-to-air Brazilian TV insisted, and so the players were forced into a sauna.
The conditions clearly made it impossible for Santos to reproduce what they had done in the two previous rounds. Broke, banned from signing players and with the club president impeached, Santos were forced to go with what they had. Coach Cuca marshalled his resources, putting his faith in youth and the team opened up the campaign with a succession of hard-fought, single goal victories. Growing in confidence, they went bold against the big guns. In the quarters and semis they earned draws away from home against Gremio of Brazil and Boca Juniors of Argentina – teams who are at the business end of the competition every year – then pressed them aggressively at home in midfield on their way to impressive 4-1 and 3-0 victories.
Such pressing was not going to be possible in the heat, and so they brought in an extra midfielder. The result was an inevitable stalemate. Under Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira, Palmeiras are essentially reactive, defending close to goal and leaving centre-forward Luiz Adriano isolated. They would bide their time, sitting deep, controlling the Santos wingers Marinho and Yeferson Soteldo. Their financial strength translates into a deep squad. With plenty more options on the bench, Palmeiras had the air of being happy to take the game into extra time; the longer the match went on, they seemed to be thinking, the greater the chance of their strength in depth tipping the balance.
After the 70-minute mark, Cuca made his move. He made his change, reverting to his usual front four, and suddenly Santos found some attacking fluidity. Seeing the space open up, Ferreira introduced Breno Lopes.
At first it looked as if the Santos substitution would have more effect.
But in stoppage time, two things happened. First, Santos suffered injuries. Centre-forward Kaio Jorge had to be replaced, along with attacking left-back Felipe Jonathan, who had just gone closest to breaking the deadlock. On came two defenders, and the Santos momentum was gone.
And then Cuca got involved in a silly fracas on the touchline, grabbing the ball in an attempt to prevent a quick Palmeiras throw. It set off a jostling session – after which Cuca was sent off and, crucially, his team lost concentration.
New left-back Wellington stood too far off Rony as he shaped to cross deep on the right. With a lovely curve the ball took out both centre-backs, and there was Breno Lopes jumping against the much smaller right-back Para, winning the title for his team and allowing Palmeiras to celebrate like it was 1999 – the only previous occasion they had won the trophy.
A global audience – the match was screened to 191 countries – might have had more to celebrate had Palmeiras not managed to squeeze past River Plate of Argentina in the semi-finals.
In the first leg in Buenos Aires everything went to perfection for Abel Ferreira. Keeper Weverton transmitted security, Paraguay centre-back Gustavo Gomez organised the defence with his customary efficiency, and Palmeiras waited for River Plate’s attack-minded side to self-destruct at the back. Rony was gifted a first-half goal, Luiz Adriano added a fine second, turning on the halfway line and racing away to score, and after a rattled River had Jorge Carrascal sent off, Uruguayan left-back Matias Vina glanced in a header to seal a 3-0 away win.
But it was not all over. Back in Sao Paulo, Ferreira made the mistake of going with the same formation – a line-up that emphatically stated that he was not interested in possession. So Marcelo Gallardo’s River had the ball, and used it to weave patterns dangerously close to the Palmeiras goal. By half-time River had pulled two goals back. After the break only VAR stopped them doing more. A goal was ruled out for a narrow offside, a penalty was overturned, and even after once more being reduced to ten men River kept coming. Right at the end the referee got off the hook when, as he contemplated another penalty decision, an earlier offside was discovered. On the balance of play there was little doubt that River deserved to go through. Even in the heat, a game featuring Gallardo’s River would surely have made for a better spectacle in the Maracana. Instead,
There was Breno Lopes…winning the title for his team and allowing Palmeiras to celebrate like it was 1999 – the only previous occasion they had won the trophy
though, Palmeiras could catch their breath and prepare for an all-Brazilian final.
There was consolation for Argentina in the Copa Sudamericana. True, it is very much a second string competition. But the all-Argentine final, staged in Cordoba, was a much more attractive affair, with a convincing winner.
Lanus had the bigger-name players – such as 40-year-old centre-forward Jose Sand and teenage attacking midfielder Pedro De La Vega. But Defensa y Justicia, their neighbours from the southern suburbs of Buenos Aires, carried the day with excellent team play.
Only in the first division since 2014, Defensa y Justicia stand out because they have developed a strong identity – a back-three formation which seeks to outnumber the opposition in midfield. Players are easily slotted into the system, and the club has proved an effective launching pad for a number of promising coaching careers – now including Hernan Crespo, who guided them to their first major trophy.
Crespo took over early in 2020 when his predecessor resigned in protest at player sales. His team did him proud in a one-sided final where Defensa y Justicia dominated midfield and had Lanus running after the ball. Crespo’s men were good value for their 3-0 win, the goals coming from defender Adonis Frias in the first half, striker Braian Romero in the second, and Uruguayan substitute Washington Camacho right at the end.
With some of the players on loan from River Plate, the club where Crespo made his name, it might be hard for Defensa y Justicia to hold on to this group for the coming Copa Libertadores campaign. And it might also be hard for them to hold on to their coach.