They may have less to do than most other Brazilian teams. The biggest threat is keeping their young players from their base on the team because this title was won by them and Renato's coaching. They probably had one of the worst offseasons in the last 10 years in terms of signings and it showed in the state championships. This gave Renato a chance to run out the young players like Arthur, Ramiro, etc. and they improved from there. Bruno Rodrigo, Bressan, Cortes, Jael, Leo Moura, and Fernandinho and they managed to win. They also lost Walace to a transfer, who was pretty good.
What you say makes sense. When I saw Grêmio get routed in a combined 4-0 by Rosario Central in last year's oitavas-de-final, I never imagined that I was looking at the 2017 champions. They sure rebuilt quickly in a short time. Luan is definitely going to be a senior NT mainstay. He proved his mettle at the Olympics and I only wonder how long it'll take before a major UEFA team takes him. That goal made me feel sorry for Lanus. If somehow Grêmio keeps Arthur and Luan for 1 more year, Grêmio should be able to seriously contend for what no Libertadores champion has done since the mid 2000s: reach the final twice in a row. São Paulo did it in 2005-2006. Boca Juniors did it in 2000-2001 and in 2003-2004. And before then, Palmeiras in 1999-2000 before we go too far back. With this swollen Libertadores and the mega-wealthy UEFA clubs, it's become increasingly more difficult for CONMEBOL champions to keep their teams competitive. I wonder if Grêmio will break this spell in 2018.
I like their odds better than I did Atletico Mineiro's. I think they are playing better football than Galo did in 2013 and the new scheduling for the Libertadores also helps -- the final was in November rather than July, and with that, they are less than a month away from playing in the Mundial.
Atlético Mineiro was still a very good team in 2014, and if they did get past Atlético Nacional, I doubt Atlético Mineiro would have fallen to either Defensor Sporting of Nacional of Paraguay. Kind of like U.S. sports, dynasties aren't easy in soccer. Boca had a run in the early to mid 2000s which had one last spurt in 2007 because Riquelme came back. São Paulo had a golden age from 1992 to 1994 and only on PKs did it fail to win a 3rd consecutive Libertadores (this is also the last time a team went to 3 straight Libertadores finals). Santos came close in 2012 but Corinthians was too much for them (even with Neymar), and Palmeiras didn't get the job done in PKs in 2000. I would think it'd be nice if Grêmio won it again next year, but based on what we've seen since the mid-2000s, Grêmio fans may want to savor this title as much as they can. Based on the past 11 Libertadores, a champion hasn't returned to the final. Again, Grêmio now has the challenge of breaking this pattern.
What also helps is that Real Madrid are 8 points behind Barca in La Liga and El Clasico is on Dec 23rd ... right after the Club World Cup. The only thing that helps them is that it's played in UAE instead of Japan.
I just hope for the best. That is, a national or international title. Whatever it is. In Renight Godluppi we trust.
on the other hand, FIFA has a ridiculous new rule where you can´t register players in the CWC that were inserted in the team after JULY!!!! Obviously, South American squads, which are much less deep than European ones, and who are much more likely to LOSE key players in the July transfer window are much more harmed than the already powerful european squads. Arthur got injured. Can´t play. Well, we can use Cícero. He even played the Libertadores final. NO WE CAN´T!