Copa Libertadores 2018

The only reason this victory by Grêmio is not totally just is Casco not getting red-carded after elbowing a Grêmio in the back of the neck.

Grêmio was copeiro tonight - solid and efficient in defense and almost flawless in its tactical approach. River Plate was mostly shut down. The fouls and yellows that began to happen in the 2nd half were the local players' frustrations. And all this considering Luan and Everton were out due to injury - this was an understrength Grêmio.

This is Grêmio's third international cup match at Monumental de Núñez since 2001 - and Grêmio's third straight win in as many games. There was a group stage 2-4 win in the Copa Mercosul group stage of that year, followed by a 1-2 win in the round of 16 in the 2002 Copa Libertadores. As for River, it is the team's second straight loss and the first time it has lost at home all year.

River lost 0-1 to Cruzeiro in 2015 but bounced back to win 3-0 in the return match. I'm sure Marcelo Gallardo will use that as inspiration - but Grêmio itself went to Argentina in the final last year, like tonight with a 1-0 first match win, knowing it couldn't be too confident at Lanús. Renato Portaluppi will do his part to ensure his players give it their all in Porto Alegre.

Kannemann will be out due to accumulated yellow cards. But Luan and Everton - or at least one of them - is highly likely to be back.

 

Bressan? Not as good. Kannemann is the starting full-back for a good reason. Grêmio is fortunate it has Geromel.

 

I think in part even the stadium's design has something to do with this. Rosario Central's venue for example - the fans get quite close to the pitch.

 

If you're talking about the qualify of full-backs and laterais direitos/esquerdos, then arguably you're right. But numbers alone remain unchanged, at least of now, from the chart I put up yesterday.

Palmeiras allowed 3 goals in the group stage (one by Boca Juniors in the final minute, as the team got careless) and only 1 in the elimination stages - and only because Felipe Melo got himself red-carded. Cerro Porteño took advantage and scored 1 goal, but Palmeiras had already won 0-2 in Paraguay. Against Colo Colo, Palmeiras had two 2-0 wins.

Grêmio has allowed 5 goals up to now, with only 2 in the group stage and 3 vs. Estudiantes in the round of 16. Some were saying Grêmio was declining at that time - but Grêmio then rebounded to defeat Atlético Tucumán by a combined 6-0, and with yesterday's win, Grêmio has 3 straight clean sheets.

Thus, if Boca Juniors fails to score tonight, going into the return leg of the semifinals, Palmeiras will still have the best defensive numbers in this Copa Libertadores, with only 4 goals allowed.

 

Some opponents are less difficult than others.

Estudiantes is a team in transition and it deserves credit for pushing Grêmio to PKs given it's got a number of very young players. But as for being "copeiro," while Estudiantes has tons of history, except for 2009 and 2010, it hasn't been copeiro in an extremely long time.

Starting in 1999, Estudiantes appeared only sporadically in the Libertadores. In the quarterfinals that year, it beat Cerro Porteño 3-0 at home only to lose 0-4 in Paraguay. It returned in 2006, losing to SPFC in PKs in the quarterfinals. Two years later, it was back - eliminated by LDU in the round of 16, at home.

2009 was a title year and in 2010, Internacional ousted them in the semifinals. From then on, Estudiantes has either left in the group stage or gone no farther than the round of 16.