2020 Copa Libertadores / 2020 Copa Sudamericana

[jason voorhees]

Racing 2:1 Estudiantes de Merida (:38 seconds in for the penaty)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pJirZIRi9w

Nacional 2:0 Alianza Lima
https://youtu.be/TKxTbb6JWxs

Bolivar 2:3 Guarani
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zM0DAVTxNk

Palmeiras 5:0 Tigre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8GCmnXTZME

IdV 2:0 Barcelona
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1vCKOcFf80

Flamengo 3:1 Junior
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp29csyw-e0

[Sporting]

Thanks for all this, jason.

[jason voorhees]

Happy to serve, Sporting.

Unfortunately, no 7:15pm (GMT -3) games tonight, but at least both sets have some sprinkle of permutations, with Group H having as BOLD a dose of Permutation 7-Pot Pepper as Tuesday's games.

Group E
Gremio 10 / Internacional 8 / America de Cali 5 / Universidad de Catolica 4

A la Catolica v Inter
Catolica is playing for the Sudamericana place at home in the hills of Santiago (where SOMEONE's uncle lives,) and Inter only will miss qualifying if the Red Devils overturn a 5 goal differential. Should Catolica go up 2-0....how many Olimpia-like mistakes will Gremio make which will coincidentally knock their derby mates out?

Gremio (which means GUILD...how F'n cool) v America de Cali
So I was at Estadio Gigantes in 1989 for the Marlboro Cup where the United States National Team played America de Cali. The poor goalkeeper David Vanole who died of a heart attack at age 43 (and if you look at his findagrave profile he didn't look that much different in 1989... a kind-of beautiful tribute here - http://la-balompedia.blogspot.com/20...id-vanole.html ) got injured after going up for a cross and getting pulled back down to the center of the earth by the forces of gravity, which led to a kid from Jersey with a mullet coming in and capturing America's heart for a few months in 1994 before trying out to become a kicker for the New York Jets. Mullet Boy's tribute here - https://futbolmajor.blogspot.com/201...ony-meola.html

So if AdC wins, Inter loses, and a 5 goal differential can be overturned....AdC is in the 16. Otherwise America de Cali and Catolica are playing for the Sudamericana place.

---------------------------------------------

Group H
Boca Jrs 11 / Caracas 7 / Lbertad 7 / Independiete Medellin 3

Boca - Caracas
Libertad - IM

What's utterly insane to me since the beginning of 2020 isn't a worldwide pandemic, or wearing masks, or teaching and learning over the internet....but how Independiente Medellin allowed Jhohan Romana to leave the team to join Guarani. I simply have not seen a defender dominate a game like he does since Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants. He just absolutely dominates games. So I figured "wow, this kid can't even make Independiente, how great will they be?" And they weren't and aren't. I mean what the fuck happened there? How the fuck did they allow this kid to come to the 4th team in Paraguay and dominate the whole damn league?

So here we are. It's all about Libertad and Caracas. Caracas has the tiebreaker with 8 goals vs 6 total goals. These games should be as fun as Tuesday night's late whistle results.

[jason voorhees]

Somewhat hilarious race to the bottom in Group H.

Caracas blows a penalty to go up in the Bombanera, then gives up 3.
3-0 Boca.

But Independiente Medellin has just scored again and is up 3-1 in Asuncion against Libertad.

Right now tied at -1 Goal Diff, but Caracas has +2 more away goals for the tiebreaker.

68th minute in both.

----------

America de Cali has the 1-nil lead in Porto Alegre vs Gremio, but Inter is tied 1-1 with Catolica. All positions will hold at this point in Group E in the 69th.

[jason voorhees]

Call DJ Khaled, because Libertad just gave up ANOTHA ONE, and is down 4-1. Those clown bozos are really going to blow this.

They need to score 2 in 19 minutes and hope Caracas doesn't score, or else they're finishing 3rd and going to the Sudamericana.

[jason voorhees]

Libertad was up 1-0 in the 37th, BTW.

[jason voorhees]

Ferreira scores a Giorgio Chinaglia gorgeous thigh-spin-volley for Libertad to make it 2-4....and I was mistaken before, so Libertad has an extra goal in the Goal Differential vs Caracas.

So in the 81st...

Boca 14
Libertad 7 - GD 0
Caracas 7 - GD-1
DIM 6

[jason voorhees]

Group E
Universidad Catolica 2:1 Internacional
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ca5Gr9l-A

Gremio 1:1 America de Cali
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPLQzxWE3OQ

With the goal in the 89th, Catolica takes the Sudamericana spot. One word: CHILENA.


Group H
Libertad 2:4 Deportivo Independiente Medellin (ABSOLUTE GOLAZO FEST)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FUlY2F2ZF8

Boca Juniors 3:0 Caracas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoxvTAXp8iY

[Sam]

Santos gets the 92nd minute lead.

Delfin may end up qualifying if both results hold.

Who saw that one coming before their game against DyJ?

As I remark on the episode of Hand Of Pod that'll be going online over the weekend, Delf?n might be a contender for worst team to make the last sixteen of the Libertadores in the group stage era. I'd love it if they reach the final from here, but I suspect they'll get absolutely moidahd by Palmeiras.

On which note the round of sixteen has been drawn, as has the next stage of the Sudamericana. We now have Sudamericana games over the next month before the Libertadores reconvenes one month from today.

Libertadores last sixteen

Sudamericana last thirty-two

[danielmak]

I have ranted regularly about teams dropping down from the Libertadores to the Sudamericana. A team that finishes second from the bottom getting another chance is ridiculous. But then we add COVID into the mix and this would have been the year to shift the Sudamericana. But I get it. TV money. I will hope that all of the Libertadores washouts lose in the next round.

[cantagalo]

The left half of that Libertadores draw looks a lot stronger than the right half.

No representatives from Venezuela, Chile, Colombia or Peru but a great effort from Ecuador with three qualifiers and always good to see a Bolivian team there.

[jason voorhees]

Was wondering why Diego Churin wasn't playing in this red-hot tie against Guarani yesterday - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X66OavzkV0 -

That's because he'll be playing them On the 26th of November.
https://www.hoy.com.py/deportes/grem...a-diego-churin

Great Podcast, Sam! Harrowing shit from Bolivia.

[Sam]

I have ranted regularly about teams dropping down from the Libertadores to the Sudamericana. A team that finishes second from the bottom getting another chance is ridiculous. But then we add COVID into the mix and this would have been the year to shift the Sudamericana. But I get it. TV money. I will hope that all of the Libertadores washouts lose in the next round.

Never underestimate CONMEBOL's eagerness to seize any opportunity they get to copy what UEFA are doing. The idea back in 1915 of getting national teams together to play against each other for a continental championship was literally the last original one they had.

[jason voorhees]

Round of 16 Starts Tonight (24 Nov 2020)

LDU Quito - Santos
Atl Paranaense - River Plate
Racing - Flamengo

Delfin-Palmeiras
Independiente del Valle - Nacional
Internacional-Boca Jrs
Libertad-Jorge Wilstermann

Guarani-Gremio

[jason voorhees]

River gets the equalizer in Curitiba to tie AP 1-1 after AP played the last 30 with 10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-rFGejhFSU


Santos holds on in Quito for a 2-1 win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgBWEpbipzM

[jason voorhees]

Racing 1:1 Flamengo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Oxt9Uy3KI

[cantagalo]

I watched the Athletico v River match. It was a really gutsy performance by Athletico. With 12 players out with Coronavirus, a third choice keeper and 10 men for the last 25 minutes, they almost held out for an unlikely win but River's last minute equaliser was more than deserved.

Santos' win at LDU featured goals from Soteldo, who we've spoken about before, and my other favourite Santos player, Marinho. He's quite a character and someone who can produce something out of the ordinary in what is quite a limited team. Watch out for him in future rounds.

Flamengo continue to show signs of recuperation under Rogerio Ceni. From the highlights, it looked a good game against Racing with Gabigol back on the scoresheet. You'd think they would finish the job at the Maracana but history shows several examples of Flamengo blowing it in exactly that situation.

[cantagalo]

Inter v Boca game tonight postponed until next week.

[jason voorhees]

Santos and River are through to the Quarters.

Santos lost 1-0 after winning 2-1 on the road for a 2-2 aggregate and River won 1-0 in the Monumental.

Racing - Flamengo is 0-0 at the end of the 1st half. Flamengo has the away goal in a 1-1 tie in the 1st leg.

[ursus arctos]

Are injury time brawls now mandatory in close ties, or just recommended?

[jason voorhees]

Yeah, the psychology cuts both grotesque ways. It gives the team with less goals more time, and it gives the team with more goals more time to set up.

[ursus arctos]

I can't get used to Rodrigo Ceni managing Fla.

It looks like he is doing community service.

[jason voorhees]

He did the right thing into teaching his keepers not to save penals and not to score them.

Racing scores in the 66th with Brasil '82 style defending to take the 1-0 lead, then poor Willian Arao scores in the 93rd with his afro only to miss his penal at spot #4 in the shootout to lose the shootout and quarterfinal 5-3 to Racing.

Night 1
Racing
River
Santos

Tomorrow:
Nacional - IDV (0-0)
Palmeiras - Delfin (3-1)
J Wilstermann - Libertad (1-3)

[ursus arctos]

Racing's penalties were of a very high quality
Arias, their keeper, also played a blinder

[cantagalo]

I can't get used to Rodrigo Ceni managing Fla.

It looks like he is doing community service.

He should have subbed himself on to take Arao's penalty.

That defeat will have really hurt. Reigning champions and with the prospect of this year's (well, January's) final at the Maracana, under Rogerio Ceni within a couple of weeks they have been eliminated from both the Copa do Brasil and the Libertadores. Only the Brasileiro remains this year and they are arguably only third favourites for that behind Atletico Mineiro and S?o Paulo.

Not that Ceni is to blame. He has inherited a team still mourning the departure of Jorge Jesus and hit by key injuries, most notably to Gabigol. His replacement, Vitinho had a reasonable game but is nowhere near as assured a finisher. Should Ceni have selected Pedro instead? Quite possibly but then there is the problem of central defence. In the space of two second half minutes Rodrigo Caio, returning after a two month absence, foolishly got a second yellow and the error-prone Gustavo Henrique was partly responsible for the Racing goal. And their two most creative players, Everton Ribeiro and Arrascaeta, didn't have their usual impact and were substituted before the end.

Even Diego Alves, the penalty specialist couldn't help them out. He's saved penalties from Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo but couldn't get anywhere near Racing's.