Grêmio has been the most consistent team so far. It remains unbeaten and has suffered 1 goal in 5 matches, and what I notice about this team is that it maintains its focus and marks opponents aggressively. It's unfortunate Botafogo fell tonight as they started out very offensively tonight. San Lorenzo is ranked last in their group, but they'll come out swinging as they'll be home. Hopefully Botafogo will at least draw and go to the round of 16.
I'm starting to think Enderson Moreira can make any winger look good lol. @AcesHigh You going to eat crow about Renato being a better manager yet?
Alecsandro lost a whole year in Atletico Mineiro... He was pretty good for Vasco for 2 years and clutch.. never doubted he was going to be good in Flamengo.
@AcesHigh You claimed he was better than 95 percent of coaches in brazil.. I'm not a gremio fan, I just saw how he worked at Goias and saw he was a much better fit to manage Gremio-especially with this really good crop of young players coming up. I really don't have anything against Renato because he entertains me.
Yep, a certain someone would of took Obina over him lol. Didn't 90 percent of Flamengo fans disapprove?
I wasn't even expecting that from Botafogo and we've seen how bad they can be. You think they can get a result at San Lorenzo? I think they are eliminated. I have to eat crow on Emelec but you never know Bolivar could choke.
Without the advantage of hindsight, I would have preferred Obina over Alecsandro also. Based on his lack of playing time at Galo and his current physique. I would have thought he would just go through the motions.
Well, I don't really see where I compared Enderson with Renato. I said that in his first bad spell, gremistas would be criticizing him too. I also never said he was better than other coaches. Reread my quote. I said what Renato DID, last year, was better than what 95% other coaches did last year. I even mentioned Muricy ... kinda obvious I was not saying historically Renato is better than him...
Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro define their futures tonight - well, Cruzeiro definitely does. I haven't watched any of Independiente Sante Fe's home matches, but in Colombia, they defeated Nacional of Paraguay 3-1 - a team Galo couldn't beat at home. Independiente scored first against Atlético Mineiro in Brazil in their first match. Atlético Mineiro will have an osso duro de roer ahead of them. Cruzeiro thrashed Universidad de Chile 5-1 in Belo Horizonte, but La U is 2 for 2 at home this year (both 1-0 wins). They won their 3 home games in 2012's home matches but only 1 in 2013 (they lost to Olimpia and to Newell's Old Boys, and by goal differential, were eliminated in the first round). Last night, Flamengo did it at the last minute in very hostile territory against Emelec, and Grêmio silenced Atanasio Girardot stadium. Here's to two more Brazilian road victories.
I was under the false impression that a win last night would put us even in goal difference with Leon, meaning a tie next wednesday would get us through. But actually, we still need to win against Leon. Which I fully expect 3 points. I was freaking out about the last goal, and it essentially meant nothing, kkkkk. But winning in Guayaquil while missing 5 starters was impressive. Especially with guys like Feijao, Muralha, Welington, and Joao Paulo playing. Even Negueba, even though he looked great out there, relying on him has historically not turned out so well.
Exactly - I also went nuts only to realize this morning that the win meant nothing. We still must beat Leon at Maraca to advance WHICH WE WILL !!!!!!
Last goal which netted us 3 points instead of 1 could be significant in our overall placing, if we do advance. I'm leery playing Mexican sides at Maracana after the America disaster. Leon will be bunkering to play for a draw because they'll go through with that result no matter what happens in the Emelec x Bolivar game.
On GloboEsporte's simulator, I picked the rest of the results and ended up with Flamengo x Cruzeiro (if Fla wins, Bolivar draws) and Flamengo x Union Espanola (if Fla and Bolivar both win). Obviously, there are other scenarios that could happen depending on the results of the other games.
Its going to be tough for Cruzeiro. They need to win twice (home and away(Chile)), and must root for the Chilean team to lose in the last round in Montevideo.
Probably will be more than Obina's work the whole season. Plenty of showdowns still to come for Alecgol.
Obina is the 2nd top scorer in the Mineiro, so he isn't exactly doing poorly if we are considering Alecsandro's Carioca performances. If Alecsandro scores 12+ (if we advance) or 10+ (if we choke to Leon) goals combined in the Libertadores and Brasileirao, I'll eat crow.
If they can put together a complete performance, I think they can get the result in Chile. This year's La U side isn't like their teams from previous years.