By Samindra Kunti in Montevideo, Uruguay
November 26 – After a two-month wait, ups-and-downs and a defeat looming like a major end-of-season crisis, Palmeiras and Flamengo, two super clubs at home, will crown the 2021 Copa Libertadores winners in an all-Brazilian blockbuster.
This will be the third consecutive time a Brazilian club will conquer South America’s premier club competition. In 2019, Flamengo and rock-star coach Jorge Jesus completed a stunning comeback to overcome Argentina’s River Plate 2-1 in the final and last year, behind closed doors at the Maracana stadium, Palmeiras edged local rivals Santos 1-0.
A new Brazilian final highlights the country’s recent dominance of the competition. Even in 2018, when Boca Juniors and River Plate reached the showpiece match, Brazilian clubs had been favoured to win the tournament, but instead, they chose a defensive attitude and fell one by one.
Until 1991, Brazilian clubs had won five of 32 titles on offer since the competition’s maiden edition in 1960, but gradually they have taken control, winning 13 of 27 editions before 2018. That’s when River Plate, the most dominant team of the last decade in the region, spearheaded by coach Marcelo Gallardo, won their last Copa Libertadores. Since then, it has been all Brazil, benefitting from the competition’s format changes with the introduction of more clubs from both Brazil and Argentina and a longer calendar.
The final is also a triumph for Brazil’s own super clubs. Palmeiras, continental champions, Flamengo, Brazilian champions, and Atletico Mineiro, domestic champions-in-waiting, are increasingly pulling away from other big clubs at home. Flamengo have matured on and off the pitch: the flexible front four has become a deadly weapon and off the field, the club have learnt how to monetize their mammoth fanbase.
Palmeiras enjoy the benefits of Brazil’s most modern stadium, the Allianz Parque in downtown Sao Paulo. Last weekend, businesswoman Leila Pereira was elected the club’s first female president. A longstanding sponsor, Pereira brings sound financial backing to Palmeiras through Crefisa bank. Belo Horizonte’s Atletico Mineiro brought back both Hulk and Diego Costa to Brazil and have the influential Rubens Menin wielding power behind the scenes.
But that doesn’t mean these clubs will sustain their dominance in the future. Establishing any form of hegemony in Brazil has proven impossible in the past and defeat on Saturday at the legendary Centenario stadium will plunge at least one of the two Brazilian behemoths into a crisis. It’s the only prize either club can win this season.
Lately, Flamengo have struggled for form, but they can count on their devastating front four, whose interchange and sheer goalscoring prowess is often too much for any South American opponent to deal with. Their understanding and success is a legacy of the Jesus era, but under current coach Renato Gaucho, Flamengo have been inconsistent and prone to costly, defensive lapses. It’s something Palmeiras and their Portuguese coach Abel Braga will seek to exploit. The Sao Paulo club will sit back and wait to strike at the right moment. They know how to protect a result as well. It is often a stifling, but highly effective style.
The winner of the final will receive $15 million in prize money and a ticket to represent South America on the global stage at the 2021 Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates early next year.
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