This year it's been an exception, normally you'd expect a team from Colombia, Paraguay or Ecuador in the semis.
True. That said, if we restrict the analysis to finalists, the exclusivity of Brazilian and Argentine teams becomes more glaring. I do not know that we'll ever have a streak like 1988-1991, when Nacional, Atl.-Nacional, Olimpia, and Colo Colo won the Libertadores. Since 1992, only once did the final exclude Brazil and Argentina: 2016, when Atl.-Nacional defeated Independiente del Valle. There were 2 same-country finals (2005, São Paulo vs. Atlético Paranaense and 2006, Internacional vs. São Paulo), and it's possible we'll have a third same-country final this year. This is why Once Caldas in 2004, LDU Quito in 2008, Chivas Guadalajara in 2010, Penãrol in 2011, Nacional (of Paraguay) in 2014, Tigres in 2015, and the 2016 final are memorable. Some, but not all, teams from other countries tend to be less well-funded, so if they assemble squads that can go far, it's a very impressive accomplishment. And that's why sometimes it's fun to root for the "underdog;" São Caetano in 2002 and in 2004, Godoy Cruz in 2011).
It's also a numbers game. Argentina comes to the tournament with 7 CL berths and Brazil with 8. That's twice the amount of participants for a given country and more so with 2 countries that have the strongest league in the continent.
That is kind of true, but do you think these other countries with less berths would be doing any better if they had more representatives? I mean if their 4 "best" aren't succeeding, what makes you think adding a few teams ranked below them in the league would change anything? Each non-Argentine/Brazilian country gets 4 representatives at the moment, yet not a single Peruvian, Ecuadorian, Venezuelan, Uruguayan, or Bolivian team managed to make it past the group stage this year.. only one of the four Colombian/Chilean teams made it through to Round of 16, while Paraguay did slightly better with two making it through. Still, a weak showing, and I reiterate -- these are supposedly these countries' best teams (at least statistically). Btw, it's actually 6 and 7 berths for Argentina and Brazil, respectively.. the additional one is because each country has a current Libertadores/Sudamericana champion. If you took away one slot from Argentina and two from Brazil, you'd have a more even distribution: Say-- 5 for Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay; 4 for Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela; 2 for defending CONMEBOL champs However, I don't think this would make much of a difference in the number of representatives in the latter stages, to be honest.
CONMEBOL considering incorporating MLS and Mexican teams to the Libertadores in 2020 https://www.ole.com.ar/futbol-inter...-libertadores-conmebol-2020_0_2106989397.html
With amazing matchups like: Defensor Sporting vs. LA Galaxy! The Strongest vs. NY Red Bulls! Carabobo vs. Chicago Fire!
let's see how good these pampered players are when they have to play at 3600 meters under a rain of spits and with rabid dogs invading the pitch!!
I honestly never understand what's to be admired about that. BTW ... no Luan and Everton sounds like you have your work cut out for you.
Some interesting statistics about this year's semifinalists. - River and Palmeiras with the best defense of the four, tied at 4 goals allowed - Grêmio a close second at 5 - Boca last with 7 allowed - The Brazilians have better offense, but the Argentines' lower goals scored tally shows that it's not how many goals a team scores, but rather, that it simply score more than opponents. - Grêmio passes the most by far; River has the "worst" passing, but it has the same number of shots on target as Palmeiras does; River thus does manage to get the football close enough to goal to get well-aimed shots. - Boca has received the least fouls. - River has committed the most fouls. - Grêmio is the most disciplined semifinalist: it has fouled the least of the four semifinalists, and has no red cards; and, incidentally, Grêmio has been fouled the most. - The Argentine semifinalists have received the most yellows (48 combined vs. 31 for both Grêmio and Palmeiras), but Boca has had no expulsions. River and Palmeiras have had 2 red cards each.
Gremio should be the favorite to win it all at this point, but the real fate is defined on the field.
Really you can make an argument for any of the four, but I feel the general consensus is that Palmeiras is the favorite at the moment
If our players can keep their cool. They lose their composure very easily. Not really crazy about the style we are playing. Depends a lot on scoring the first goal IMO.