Boca vs Gremio, Copa Libertadores Final first leg, June 13 2007

So we made it to the finals. Now all we have to do is beat Gremio.

They are not the typical Brazilian team. They won't score much but are very strong defensively.

Here are a couple of articles from TYC sports:

Russo confirmo el equipo que recibira a Gremio:

http://www.tycsports.com/notas.php?id=30369

El equipo formaria con: Mauricio Caranta; Hugo Ibarra, Daniel Díaz, Claudio Morel Rodríguez, Clemente Rodríguez; Pablo Ledesma, Ever Banega, Neri Cardozo; Juan Román Riquelme; Rodrigo Palacio y Martín Palermo

El Plantel (Gremio) viajo a Buenos Aires con algunas dudas:

http://www.tycsports.com/notas.php?id=30372

la formación probable para el miércoles es: Sebastián Saja; Patricio, William, Teco, Lucio; Sandro Goiano, Diego Gavilán, Lucas; Tcheco; Carlos Eduardo, Tuta o Amoroso.

I think of typical Brazilian teams as having more flashy, creative players, and also defenders who love to join the attack.

Gremio, from what I've seen them this Libertadores, plays with several midfielders who are more defensive minded, they like to congest the midfield and make it difficult for opponents. And, their defenders also defend more than they attack.

Porto Alegre teams tend to have a more combative football ... ala Rio de la Plata teams. We saw it with Internacional last year and with this Gremio.

It is no coincidence that Schiavi did not play this weekend (round 5), as he did the weekend prior (round 4). I think he will play on Wednesday and be on top of Palermo. It would be important that Tuta doesn't play, he is "Adrianesque" in his power.

Also ... there is NO AWAY GOAL RULE in the finals. And if needed, in the return leg, as a tie breaker of points and goal diference, EXTRA TIME (30 minutes)takes place ... then pks if still needed.


Dale Boooooooooooooo!


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Palermo's main threat is the air ball and when he pivots, but has little movility.

Schiavi is good in the air and also can "handle" Palermo's movility. But that doesn't mean he will follow him all the way to mid-field.

Yesterday Gremio used 14 players in the practice, Schiavi being one of them. We'll see.


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4 Boca players have been affected with the flu in the past 2 days: Roman, Ledesma, Morel and Marioni. Hopefully this won't affect their play.

Ledesma is the one that is in worst shape as of today due to the flu.


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Strange.. I remember the press saying that several players (especially Riquelme) were not fit before the matches vs. Libertad and Cucuta. They ended up playing just fine. Is it me or does it seem like they are always making up excuses just incase Boca loses? Don't get me wrong, they could be sick, it's just wierd that they've always claimed that players weren't fit/healthy before almost every Boca game after the group stage.

Yeah.. Ever since the away goal rule was created. The finals have never used the away goal rule. And no, after the 30 minutes of ET they go to penalties if they are still tied.