Another year with a weak Libertadores champ. Tigres is probably the strongest one but I'll be damned if I'm gonna root for a Mexican to win the Libertadores so come on, River/Inter!
Weak? River Plate struggled in the opening stage, nearing elimination, but has improved. It was hands-down superior to Boca Juniors in the 135 minutes it played against its archrival, it was clearly superior to Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte (despite a surprisingly lackluster home match), and it did not lose either of its games against Guarani. In its league, it is unbeaten since May 5th. Tigres finished 2nd overall, not losing to River Plate in the group stage, and it has several very talented players. It finished 2nd in the 2014 Apertura and first in the 2015 Clausura. The Mexical league has a bracketed playoff stage called "Liguilla" and UANL won neither of the last two editions, but it has shown it is a dangerous team and by very little it failed to draw last week in Porto Alegre. Internacional finished 3rd overall, and while it has conceded a number goals in this Libertadores knockout round, it has faced adverse odds and performed, such as its match-up against Independiente Santa Fe. It has oscillated in the Brazilian championship, where it is ranked 10th, but it is still a dangerous team with veteran players and a seasoned manager, Diego Aguirre, who was runner-up of the Libertadores in 2011. Internacional has had shocking disappointments after Libertadores triumphs (2007, eliminated in the first round; 2011, shock elimination vs. Penarol at home), but this squad is tough and hungry. I don't think that any of these four teams qualifies as "weak," and I'd take any of them over last year's San Lorenzo.
El mal comienzo de river simplemente fue un bajon, ese mismo equipo lleva un año dominando el futbol c ontinental Poco relejaba la realidad de la nomina
Tigres draws first blood. 1-0 at 18 minutes of first half. In virtue of away goal this result sees them through. Inter in trouble.
yah, Tigres is too strong .... a crazy team Tigres will win Copa Libertadores, will be awesome for Mexico, and probably after this edition they will try to join CONMEBOL and leave CONCACAF
It will definitely be a good Final between two solid teams, I was surprise (disappointed) by Internacional's performance last night, honestly was expecting much more from them. I have no doubt River will be a much tougher opponent, they "look" like a completely different team than the one we played against in group stages. On the other hand Tigres has also improved; with the new signings of Aquino, Gignac, and Damm plus Sobis up front makes this team very dangerous. Defensively, for the fist time in Copa Libertadores Tigres will be able to play with their Back Line starters, Torres Nilo and Dueñas should be back by Monday from Mexico's NT, Juninho completely recovered from Injury (what a performance from this guy after not playing for almost a whole year!) and Ayala suspension is over. I have to say the French guys is good, but Aquino (I didn't like him at first) has proved me wrong, and he's making a big impact up font, this guys is a demon. Can't wait for Wednesday!
Yeah, last year's San Lorenzo was arguably the weakest champ in history, that's not saying much. Tigres is definitely strong. I should have stated that it's a weak year for a South American champ. Guarani and River Plate would find themselves towards the bottom of the list of Libertadores winners of the past decade.
Fukin riber if it wasnt for us they wouldnt even got out of the group stage, now we face each other in the final. uy
I don't know man, I think we did just fine getting to the final without spending millions of dollars on transfers
lol I dont know bro, something tells me that if River could have spent millions of dollars on transfers they would of too, or am I wrong? But you're right. Excellent job on getting this far with what was available.
Question, If Tigres were to win the cup, are they required to attend next year's cup as well as defending champion? Reason I ask is because they will be playing in the CONCACAF cup with conflict with next year's tournament. I doubt they can play both at once.
My guess is that they will have to bow out of one cup competition. Probably the Concacaf Champions League as the prize money is better in Libertadores and LigaMX would be sending 4 representatives to Libertadores next year if Tigres were to win it.
No way. CONCACAF would hand them their ass if they did that. They would bow out of the libertadores. CONACACF would most likely strong arm them into doing it because they're own club competition is the CCL no Libertadores and the region would consider it a slap in the face.
We'll see. Those greedy CONCACAF execs are gone and what's to stop Mexico for saying fack off and make their own decisions. It's not like the replacement team for Tigres in CCL will be a weak one. No matter who Mexico sends to CCL it will be a money draw and will be he favorites to win it.
It's politics. Not sure how close you follow the CONCACAF politics, which is crap--but since 2007, CONCACAF has forced MX and any invited nations from the region to send their second team to the tournament and to force them to take the gold cup serious. I forsee them doing the same thing wtih the Libertadores. They may even force them to bow out if it's happening at the same time.
Tigres, deserved finalist. Extremely good players with experience, fitness, and tactical discipline. If this team can avoid attention lapses and keep their minds in the game, it would be no surprise for them to do a victory lap in Monumental stadium. This team might even be better than the Mexico NT, and if it keeps this roster largely intact, it will be a team to be reckoned with in the Mexican league and in 2016. I expected more from Internacional. This is a team with solid players and they were 1 mere game away from its 3rd Libertadores final since 2006. Internacional was outplayed, but without Geferson's amateurish and pitiful own goal and with Allyson's defense of Rafael Sóbis' PK, the game would have been 2-0 until Lisandro Lopez's late goal. A 2-1 result, which would have resulted in PKs. If I were an Internacional fan, I'd feel cheated because while Tigres was the better team and won justly, it's not as if Internacional had absolutely no chance. Now, with the looming dismantling of the squad, Internacional will have its work cut out if it wishes to return to the Libertadores in 2016. It's also unfortunate we will not have a Brazil vs. Argentina Libertadores final, especially given D'Alessandro has made his mark in both River Plate and Internacional. River Plate now with the extra pressure of winning the Copa, because it will not want to be in Japan this December as a runner-up, and even if as a runner-up it won the Club World Cup, thus becoming the first-ever Argentine winner of the CWC, it will have an asterisk on the history books. Rival fans will have no mercy in reminding them of this. Tigres must not repeat its group stage lapse that granted River Plate a late draw after an initial 2-0 advantage. Anything less than at 2-goal victory margin will likely be insufficient against a River Plate which will be hosting a Libertadores return final match for the first time since 1996, and whose fans, having endured numerous cup disappointments since then, will rabidly and fanatically push their players. I expect a far more competitive home-and-away than what we saw in Defensores del Chaco and Nuevo Gasómetro 1 year ago and thousands of white shreds of paper on the field. Prediction: River Plate, 2015 Libertadores champion.
Like I said, those Caribbean execs are gone and like Mexico gives a shit about CCL. They gave less of a shit this year and still won. The gold cup has been prioritize like they wanted this year. Hell we just saved their asses from a horrible final since their beloved "Stars and Stripes" didn't make it. Tigres will make the best decision for their team. It might be going the easy route and facing some shitty Salvadorian side or go as a defending champ in one of the biggest club competitions in the world. It probably won't even come to that because they will fail to win against El famoso River Plate.