Libertadores: Brazilians seek to maintain hegemony – 04/02/2024 – Sport

The group stage of the Copa Libertadores begins this week, with seven Brazilian clubs in contention — Atlético-MG, Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, Grêmio, Palmeiras and São Paulo — seeking to maintain the country’s recent hegemony in the continental competition.

Since 2019, only Brazilian clubs have won the championship cup, with two wins from Flamengo (2019 and 2022) and Palmeiras (2020 and 2021) and one from Fluminense (2023).

It was the first time in the history of the competition that began in 1960 that clubs from the same country won the competition five times in a row. The previous record was four titles in a row, achieved by Independiente-ARG in the 1970s.

Independiente is the biggest winner of the competition with seven trophies, won between the 1960s and 1980s. Next comes Boca Juniors, with six titles. Neither team is classified for the 2024 edition of the Libertadores.

Among Brazilians, four teams enter this year’s competition with the possibility of isolating themselves as the country’s biggest winner in the competition. São Paulo, Palmeiras, Grêmio and Flamengo – in addition to Santos – are the biggest title holders in Brazil, with three each.

With victories in the last five years, Brazil reached 23 Libertadores titles, approaching Argentina, which leads with 25 cups. Experts estimate that, given the current scenario, the country has a real chance of tying and overtaking Argentina as the biggest winner of the tournament in the coming years.

With the reformulation of the Libertadores starting in 2017, which saw the departure of Mexican teams and an increase in the number of places for Brazilians and Argentines, an even greater dominance of the two most winning countries was natural, says Thiago Freitas, director of Roc Nation Sports, a company that manages the careers of athletes such as Vinicius Junior, Endrick and Lucas Paquetá.

Freitas adds that Argentina’s economic crisis and the consequent impact on clubs’ finances paved the way for the current dominance of Brazilian teams. “Where there is more money, you can pay more for the best, and that will continue to be the case.”

The executive recalls that, thanks to their financial power, Brazilian clubs are increasingly able to attract talent from neighboring countries. The last three champions are present again in this year’s edition, with a series of foreigners in the squad with prominent roles — Flaco López and Aníbal Moreno (Palmeiras), Rossi, De la Cruz and Arrascaeta (Flamengo) and Germán Cano and Jhon Arias (Fluminense) are just some of them.

With the evolution of Brazilian sports infrastructure in recent years in the wake of events such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games, most stadiums have undergone renovations, which has brought a new source of revenue for clubs, says Fernando Paz, commercial director from the sports travel agency Absolut Sport.

“It ended up that this made the clubs in Brazil very professional. Because of the investments, I think it’s very difficult that, in the next five years, we won’t have a Brazilian team in the Copa Libertadores final with a chance of being champions.”

In the first round of the Libertadores, however, the recent dominance of the Brazilians could be undermined by the state ones. Four teams will have to be divided to compete in the finals of their respective regionals, with some of them preserving their starters in their debut in the competition.

Having to reverse the 1-0 score in favor of Santos, Abel Ferreira, from Palmeiras, does not rule out resting some of the starters in the team’s debut in the Libertadores against San Lorenzo this Wednesday (3), at 9:30 pm (Brasília time). ), in Buenos Aires.

Endrick and Murilo, who were with the Brazilian team for the friendlies against Spain and England, could start on the bench in Argentina, with Rony and Gustavo Gomés, who is returning from injury, able to take over as starters.

Coming from a draw against Juventude in the first match of the Gaúcho final, Grêmio travels to La Paz, Bolivia, to face The Strongest this Tuesday (2), at 9pm. Given the altitude of 3,600 meters above sea level and the commitment to the state title on Saturday (6), coach Renato Gaúcho opted for a completely reserve formation in the team’s debut in the Libertadores.

Having also drawn the first game of the Mineiro final against Cruzeiro, Atlético-MG should adopt the same strategy and spare the main players against Caracas-VEN, on Thursday (4), at 7pm, away from home.

Flamengo should be the only team in the state finals that will debut in the 2024 Libertadores with maximum strength. With one hand on the Carioca cup after beating Nova Iguaçu 3-0 in the first game of the final, coach Tite’s team will be the first among Brazilians to debut in the group stage, in a clash against Millionarios-COL this Tuesday- fair, at 7pm, in Bogotá.

Current champions, Fluminense begin their search for a second title counting on the attacking duo formed by Germán Cano and John Kennedy under the command of coach Fernando Diniz, while São Paulo tries to recover from being eliminated by Novorizontino at Paulista without knowing if it will be able to count in the first round with striker Calleri, sidelined due to an injury to his right leg.

The only Brazilian classified in the 2024 edition that has not yet won the Libertadores, Botafogo arrives motivated after winning the Taça Rio over Boavista and victories against Aurora-BOL and Red Bull Bragantino in the pre-Libertadores that accredited the team to the stage of groups.

Check out the Copa Libertadores 2024 groups below

A group
Fluminense, Alianza Lima-PER, Cerro Porteño-PAR, Colo-Colo-CHI

Group B
São Paulo, Talleres-ARG, Cobresal-CHI, Barcelona de Guyaquil-EQU

Group C
Grêmio, Estudiantes-ARG, The Strongest-BOL, Huachipato-CHI

Group D
Botafogo, LDU-EQU, Junior Barranquilla-COL, Universitario-PER

Group E
Flamengo, Bolívar-BOL, Millonarios-COL, Palestino-CHI

Group F
Palmeiras, Independiente Del Valle-EQU, San Lorenzo-ARG, Liverpool-URU

Group G
Atlético-MG, Peñarol-URU, Rosario Central-ARG, Caracas-VEN

Group H
River Plate-ARG, Libertad-PAR, Deportivo Táchira-VEN, Nacional-URU