Godoy Cruz x Palmeiras Emelec x Flamengo Nacional x Internacional Grêmio x Libertad River Plate x Cruzeiro LDU x Olímpia Athletico-PR x Boca Juniors San Lorenzo x Cerro Porteño
Boca x River on same side of the bracket, can meet in SF. Palmeiras , Gremio .... Flamengo, Inter all on the other side of the bracket. None facing each other. Could be all Brazilian QF.
Precisely what I thought when I saw the draw. If the four Brazilians advance, it's a "Copa do Brasil" quarterfinals. Duel of the twin uniforms on the other bracket (San Lorenzo vs. Cerro Porteño).
Flamengo going all out in this transfer window before the start of the knockout stages. They just signed Rafinha from Bayern and are said to be a fingernail away from signing Felipe Luiz from Atletico Madrid. Not bad. To our Brazilian posters — are they making any other power moves? How are the other Brazilian teams (Cruzeiro, Paranaense, etc) moving in the transfer window?
A bit late ... but Cruzeiro are in a crisis. Looks like Flamengo are finally getting Filipe Luiz. Palmeiras lost Goulart back to China in a very weird deal. He was here on loan ... they doubled his salary to go back earlier. Willian should be back today though.
^This. @locoxriver as you probably saw last night, Cruzeiro didn't do a lot in the first half. They better get their act together if they are to advance. Your team looked hungrier overall.
I'm 101% sure River will go through. We have already seen this movie... in fact, I predicted a draw for this home leg knowing that they always do the same lol
River without JuanFer is just not the same. The lack the creative spirit and know how. They can still advance though of course but it won't be easy.
Bear in mind that besides Juan Fer, neither Scocco or Borre were available, while Pratto was on the bench since he's still recovering from an injury (hence why an 18 year old with a handful of games started instead). Between the aforementioned players, Nacho Fernandez, De La Cruz, etc., there are plenty of creative offensive options. Of course we're all anxious to see Quintero back on the pitch in September as he's fundamental to our gameplan, but even without him Gallardo's guys treat the ball better than most teams in SA. With that said, I'd still say River has a good chance to advance. They were superior to Cruzeiro last night despite the 0-0 scoreline. Of course you'd expect the Brazilians to play in a different manner at home in the Mineirão, but you'd also have to consider that a more offensive setup will also open more spaces for River's attacks (as opposed to yesterday when every attack was vs. a parked bus). It's up for grabs for either really, and the key is in whoever gets the first goal in Brazil. River's far from dead though...
There may still be some creativity on the roster but not with the same vision and passing distribution as JuanFer. There's not too many players like him anymore. And as we saw last Libertadores he can even be a difference maker with his shots when you least expect it.
Cruzeiro hadn't won its previous 16 matches, and had not scored a single goal in the previous 6 games. It had some good moments yesterday, but based on what it showed in Buenos Aires and then (most of) last night's match, it didn't really play competitive soccer and if it had gotten past River Plate, it would've most likely lost in the quarterfinals. River Plate didn't strike me as the very tough team from last year and I'm not aware of any roster updates they had during the Copa América break, but when it came to PKs, they got the job done. And I must say it was the most uneventful and least dramatic Brazil vs. Argentina knockout match in Libertadores competition I've seen in many years. There was little if any rough/dirty play in both legs (which is great), but I was actually bored last night. Palmeiras getting the job done vs. Godoy Cruz. It faces Grêmio if Grêmio eliminates Libertad.
Not your team's best game, but it got the job done against a team which mostly parked the bus and did little to go forward.
Flamengo x Emelec game ... what just happened only happens in CONMEBOL. Game in play, 2nd ball thrown in the field ... Flamengo on the attack, Emelec player hits the ball towards the middle of the field towards were the play is trying to fuk it up. Pitana instead of stopping the game, tries to kick the ball and whiffs it, then tries again and kicks the ball of the field and play goes on
If Gremio eliminates Libertad tomorrow (they’re up 2-0 in the tie), then we will already have a Brazilian team guaranteed in finals, since the Flamengo-Inter and Palmeiras-Gremio QF match-ups are on the same side of the bracket. Another observation is that we have the possibility of having two derbies in semifinals: River vs Boca, and Gremio vs Inter