Copa Libertadores 2017

Si el uso del VAR queda a criterio del árbitro se van a desvirtuar muchos partidos...

 

Credit to Lanús for coming back after being down 0-2 at home, and after losing the first game 1-0. This Lanús team strikes me as treacherous and dangerous - and it will decide the final at home.

Having said that, I do feel bad for River Plate. A clear penalty in its favor was not called when it was winning 2-0 - a correct call (with or without VAR) would quite likely made it 3-0, and however psychologically tough Lanús proved to be in the 2nd half, there's no way to know Lanús would have come back from a 0-3.

Furthermore, Scocco had a clear chance to score which he missed. River did fight back and it could have won.

Why was the VAR used to clarify calls which benefited Lanús, whereas not for River? It is clear that River fans who think they were ripped off have a case.

In any case, Grêmio has plenty of reason to be doubly careful tomorrow, because anything can happen. Barcelona has not fared poorly on Brazilian soil in this Libertadores, and they will not go down without a fight.

 

Now, I could be completely mistaken, for the matches must be played. But I am already expecting a Lanús vs. Grêmio final. I only hope Grêmio gets the job done in its stadium on Wednesday.

 

I want to take a moment to congratulate Gremio on their Third Copa Libertadores...

 

FYP.

 

There's no guarantee - but River may well have scored, and if it did go into halftime at 0-3 with that 1-0 at home, it may have been too much for Lanús.

The defense did commit fatal errors.

Lanús and Grêmio in the final. Grêmio would be wise not to play the opening match the way it did tonight against Barcelona - not so much because it lost 1-0, but because Grêmio wasn't as effective as it was last week. It got the job done and reached the finals, where what has proven to be a very hungry Lanús team awaits.

And as the finals do not have extra weight given to away goals, this could always end in a PK shootout.

 

One encouraging statistic for Lanus is that since Estudiantes in 2009, all teams that played the return leg of a final at home lifted the trophy (both in Libertadores and Sudamericana, the latter if we don't count Chapecoense last year).

 

River Plate fans are probably feeling even more that they were robbed as Lanus committed a clear penalty against Grêmio at the end of the second half. Why was VAR not used?

What I find striking is that it isn't just Grêmio and Brazilians sports media pointing this out. Argentine sources like Mariano Closs and even the tabloid "Ole" both pointed out the same thing about the non-called PK which Grêmio should have received.

In any case, the refereeing was poor, but Grêmio won and it has played well away (wins at Godoy Cruz and at Barcelona). Hopefully the refereeing will be better than this Bascunan who proved to be a total joke.

 

"could have whistled a PK"??

it was a clear PK that he should have whistled on his own.

that VAR AGAIN failed is a scandal.

and VAR again failed in favor of Lanus!


Rui Costa, Executive Director of Chapecoense, said that Lanus has direct access to Conmebol. There is something rotten between Lanus and Conmebol.

Chapecoense says that Conmebol misled them into thinking they could use the player against Lanus.

So Chape, who won against Lanus, gets eliminated, Lanus gets 3 points and finishes top of group phase, playing every second match at home.

Then against River everybody knows what happened. VAR was used against River but not used against Lanus.

And now VAR was not used against Lanus again.

(plus, Kannemann was yellow carded and will miss the next match... for doing NOTHING! He was pushed by the Lanus player, fell on the ground on his butt, and was yellow carded for that!)

 

quite the clear penalty.




EDIT: Marsiglia, ex brazilian referee, said at Radio Gaucha that the portuguese owner of the company running the VAR system visited Globo TV box 1 hour after the match, yesterday, and said that the video referees SAW the play the whole world agree it was a penalty, but decided it was NOT a penalty.


Not sure what's worse... thinking it was a penalty and not calling the referee... or thinking it was NOT a penalty.


How can Lanus have such power over Conmebol? A small team? Well, who knows. Sometimes, information is power, specially if your info is about misdeeds of key personnel of one of the most corrupt entities in the world!


If they are helping Lanus on purpose, they are shooting their own foot, considering the competition (not their bank accounts).

A River x Grêmio final would be much more high profile.

 

not sure this kind of pitch, looking like a roller coaster, would be accepted in a Champions League final...

 

It's part of the charm, just like the dogs entering the field.

 

Terrible defending.

 

Oh come on no one thought Lanús had a chance.