By Samindra Kunti
August 19 – Brazilian clubs have become the playground bullies and are bossing the Copa Libertadores. On Wednesday, both Flamengo and Atletico Mineiro stormed past their opponents to join Palmeiras in the last four. Fluminense will try to complete the Brazilian quartet against Ecuador’s Barcelona after a 2-2 draw in their quarterfinal first leg.
The Rio club will need all its cunning to manoeuvre past Barcelona in the port of Guayaquil. In recent seasons, the Ecuadorians have reached the latter stages of the competition repeatedly and they are seeking to emulate their best result, a last-four finish.
Barcelona are the last obstacle for an unprecedented, all-Brazilian semi-final stage.
No single country has ever had three semi-finalists in the Copa Libertadores. With Fluminense’s qualification, Brazilian domination of the competition would be complete. Flamengo and Palmeiras were the last two winners of the South American Champions League.
On Tuesday, the Sao Paulo giants were the first club to ensure their passage after defeating crosstown rivals Sao Paulo 3-0 to win the tie 4-1 on aggregate. Flamengo, the 2019 champions, annihilated Paraguay’s Olimpia 5-1 to run out 9-2 winners on aggregate.
At the weekend Olimpia coach Sergio Orteman resigned after a league loss and heavy first-leg defeat by the Rio club, but worse was to come in the return leg when Flamengo’s attacking frontline of Everton Ribeiro, Gabriel De Arrascaeta, Bruno Henrique and Gabriel Barbosa proved unstoppable once again. ‘Gabigol’ with a brace and Bruno Henrique both got on the scoresheet to destroy their opponents – Flamengo even had the luxury to rotate and rest certain key players.
Atletico Mineiro consolidated their 1-0 first leg win in Buenos Aires against River Plate with a 3-0 win at home. Hulk was among the scorers and will receive assistance in attack once the last four get under way from new Mineiro acquisition Diego Costa, who was signed at the weekend.
After years of underperforming, Brazilian clubs have finally began to dominate the competition, not in a small part because of their economic riches and both the expansion and longer format of the competition.
Last season Palmeiras took home $22.5 million in prize money. This season much of the prize money will end up in the pockets of Brazilian clubs again, prompting concerns that the financial boost will allow the balance of power to shift further in their favour.
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