Group 8 is almost a group of elite football: Should be the group with more International Caps in all the tournament. From long time ago wasnt a group like this Boca: Tevez-Arg (76) Edwin Cardona -Col(31) Wilma Barrios-Col (8) Frank Fabra - Col(17) Nahitan Nandez - Uru(9) Fernando Gago - Arg(61) not counting benedetto and sebastian perez Junior: Teo Gutierrez -Col(52) Yimmy Chara-Col (6) Mudo Rodriguez-Peru (71) Sebastian Viera-Uru (15) Palmeiras: Miguel Borja-Col ( 6) Michel Bastos-Bra (10) Felipe Melo-Bra (22) Alejandro Guerra-Ven (60) Alianza: Miguel Araujo-Peru 6 Butron-Peru 39 Also the group have 3 america best player: Tevez (2004) Teo (2014) Borja (2016) Alejandro Guerra was elected the best player of libertadores 2016 A lot of these players played in world cup editions. and others will played it for first time. Also importants participation in UCL
Also Luis Ramirez and Rinaldo Cruzado who were Peruvian NT starters in the 2014 qualifiers. Alianza has good players, but they have a big weakness in both their full back spots, and for that reason I can't see them surprising anyone.
Yeah, right. They play like dogshit. Okay. I suppose in Argentina when you lead the league in dominant fashion from start to finish after winning the last one, being up nine points, scoring the most goals, allowing the least goals, having by far the best goal differential, it is not described as dominant but rather as "playing like dogshit". Well, as Riquelme once said in another year when Boca was also winning and everyone else also kept saying Boca was playing like crap: "Si Boca juega mal, (y gana todo), que queda para el resto de los equipos?". Boca is winning because our players are good, not just expensive. They are the best team in Argentina right now. It's true that for the most part they are winning more with individualidades than with team play, but the results speak for themselves. I don't know if it's good enough to beat the best of South America in a tournament as difficult as Libertadores, but it would be absurd not to consider Boca as one of the favorites. I do agree that Independiente and Racing have been playing well lately, but I would still bet on Boca against either one if they played right now, even though they did lose to Racing back in November. River also has assembled good players, and they have the potential to contend in Libertadores, but they are underachieving at this point. The club that's playing well right now is Talleres, not because of brilliant players, but because of a disciplined approach and solid tactics. I wish they were participating in La Copa.
The defending champions start off their campaign at turtle pace. I usually enjoy watching Gremio but this is their Spain 2010 side. Passing with perfection but with little excitement to be found.
You missed Cristian Pavon in Boca, he has only 2 caps for Argentina (both in last November), yet he's most likely going to the world cup.
You keep farming points against the weaklings while the other big clubs are distracted with international competitions (let's remember you didn't play any of them during last 6 months of 2016 and during whole 2017). We'll see how you do now that you have the same competition as everyone else.
My point of view regarding the groups. https://colfootball.wordpress.com/2018/02/26/copa-libertadores-2018-group-stage-preview/
I agree with your picks, they are the logical choices. Obviously I have my eye on Boca's group, but other than that, Group 5 is the most interesting one to me, with Racing, Cruzeiro, Vasco and U de Chile. Group 6 also could be good. I'm watching Estudiantes vs Nacional. Obviously these are not our parents' Estudiantes and Nacional from the good old days when they used to meet in the final, but they both look quite solid, the type of teams that could advance and complicate things for the favorites.
This Bolso-Pincha game has been quite good tactically. PS: Otero just flubbed a great chance near the end. On the other side, qué malo es Bueno!
I don't know if Group 5 is going to be that interesting. Do you really think that U de Chile is as strong as Cruzeiro/Racing? And having seen Vasco playing against Wilstermann, they're average at best. Destroyed at Bolivia and an undeserved difference at Brazil. I think Group 3 is much more balanced. Anyone could be 1st or 4th...
Quite impressed with Libertad, that has gone back to its counter-attacking style. They just let Tucuman do the work and hit on the counter, without ever losing their defensive discipline. Libertad looks quite formidable this year.
Estudiantes have been garbage so far. I maintain that they'll find a way to beat Real Garcilaso, but no way these are contenders. Morales has done well to keep Garcilaso in this but I still see him insecure today. It wouldn't surprise me if his mistake in the second half costs RG the game. If they get a draw though, he'll be man of the match as there is no need to think in what ifs.
Like I said, they are far from contenders.. I don't think anyone is expecting Estudiantes to even make a decent run in the Copa, let alone win it. 3-0 isn't a bad start, though, for a team that isn't expected to do anything significant.
I will do a quick overview of all groups now that all teams have played at least one match: Group A: Gremio will obviously go through, Despite Cerro is leading the group, I really rate this Defensor team, I think they will narrowly catch that 2nd place at the end. B: Atl. Nacional will top it (duh), Colo Colo got an absolute key point in La Paz, I see them taking 2nd now. C: Libertad, very solid team just like last year in Sudamericana, they will go through. I think Peñarol will take 2nd at the end, despite they just lost in La Paz. Tucuman will be last place but they will take some points from others. D: River and Flamengo, don't know who will top it though. E: Racing 1st, Cruzeiro 2nd. F: Santos 1st, Estudiantes 2nd. Garcilaso will take all points at home but will fail to win any away. Nacional will be last place. G: All four teams aren't playing good football (well, Lara does the best they can). I still think sheer experience of players will prevail and Corinthians & Independiente go through. H: Palmeiras will take 1st, Boca plays poorly but they have too many good players to not advance.
Regarding B. Do not underestimate the choking ability of my Chilean friends and don't count Bolivar out.
Indeed; only Groups D (half of the teams), F, and G have played 2 matches. In Group D, Flamengo came close to defeating River Plate at home, and losing 2 out of 3 points in what was a winnable home game were recovered with its away win at Emelec. Flamengo has oscillated in the Libertadores group stage, but despite its loss in the Sul-Americana final to Independiente, it's nonetheless a solid team. They have a home and away vs. Santa Fe in a 7-day period next month; if they take 4 points, I think Flamengo will in a safe position for the round of 16 by the time it plays its final group stage game when it visits River Plate on May 23. As River Plate just won its country's "recopa" type confrontation, its morale is high, and I would be surprised if they didn't go through as well. In Group F, I have to say I'm surprised Estudiantes is first after 2 games. They are not their country's finest representative this year, but it did well to draw 0-0 when visiting Nacional and gained 3 points with a good win over Real Garcilaso. It was disappointing for Santos to lose vs. Real, but this team showed its mettle by winning vs. Nacional 3-1 after being 1 man down. It's going to be a tough call in this group, and for the Uruguayans, a win at Real Garcilaso on April 3 will be a must. If they fail to win there and one of Estudiantes and Santos wins when these two meet on April 5, Nacional would be the last team with 1 or 2 points while Estudiantes with 7 or Santos with 6 might be group leader. In Group G, the surprise was Deportivo Lara defeating Independiente at home. With Corinthians beating the Venezuelans 2-0 and Independiente defeating Millonarios 1-0, the stage is set for this Brazil vs. Argentina clash on April 18 (Independiente hosts). As in Group F, a non-draw result will push one team to the top and may well serve as an impetus to get this match's winner on the road to the round of 16. I had pegged Corinthians and Independiente to advance from this group, and so far it looks likely.
Hopefully Alianza beats Junior tonight. I can see it being hotly contested. Based on projected lineups, Alianza are playing something better than recently, but that right side will need lots of cover to make sure Marina doesn't get torn apart. Hopefully Leyes doesn't start. He sucks.
Vi a los dos en la cancha, y Cruzeiro al lado del Vasco me pareció Brasil del '70. No entiendo cómo no le pudo ganar.