Copa Libertadores 2016

[Libertadores FC]

Atletico Nacional has been the best team in the Libertadores so far. Winning 3-0 over Cristal last night, winning without breaking a sweat really (of course not literally ). This Marlos Moreno kid is class. 2 goals and I believe 3 assists in the last 2 Libertadores games. I reckon he'll be a star. Ibarbo has been unstoppable too. He's simply too good for this level. I don't know how he did in Europe, I believe he wasn't great but at this level he makes it look too easy. Serious contender for the Libertadores this year.

The other Peruvians, Melgar, conceded an embarrassing goal and lost at home to Del Valle. Painfully predictable result as Melgar are in awful form at the moment. There seems to be a pattern with the Peruvian teams in the Libertadores. There is always one Peruvian going out before the groups, the second Peruvian club gets humiliated gathering less than 3 points, and the third Peruvian club (CRISTAL) blows 2 goal leads in Paraguay, then fucks up the home leg finishing 3rd. Like in 2013 and 2015 (I know they finished 4th in 2013 but they were 1 point from progressing).

As for the other matches, I put money on Pumas to beat Olimpia last night because it was obvious they were going to win. Olimpia are in bad form at the moment, and it hasn't ended last night as Pumas managed to win 2-0 in Asuncion. Huracan managed to beat Penarol in Uruguay. Didn't expect that. Maybe Penarol wasn't as good as I thought they were.

 

[Megaclyde]

I caught the tail end of the Cristal game last night and also the Penarol one, seems there's some Penarol fans still about in Lima since their game against Cristal. Gutted for Melgar but they look terrible atm

 

[voltage]

Really unexpected Hurácan winning of Peñarol . Hurácan even without their best players did well, differently of what they’ve been showing before, and their goalkeeper made very good saves. Though Peñarol also pressed and had two cancelled goals, their next match being against Atlético Nacional makes things harder. Atlético Nacional totally dominated their match against Cristal, in parts because Cristal didn’t have much reaction but Atlético, besides a good playing, also had a great posture and even winning with a good amount on the score didn’t delayed their game rhythm until the final whistle.

And Olimpia is really in a bad moment not only in Libertadores but in the Paraguayan championship. Their defence failed a lot against Pumas. It’s hard to believe a team like Olimpia has been playing this awful football lately.

 

[voltage]

Group 6 is really being the most disputed. Grêmio, after a disappointing start match, had control of the match against LDU and got a good victory of 4-0. And Toluca vs San Lorenzo was very head-to-head, both teams kept creating many goal chances and ended up with the tie.

As expected for Group 1, The Strongest beat Trujillanos. To be honest I have no hopes on São Paulo even going through the group phases anymore.

Corinthians and Santa Fé was the televisioned match here. Corinthians got the victory not playing good as it's being usual this season for them. Actually none of the teams played good, just a boring game.

 

[voltage]

Palmeiras did a terrible second half against Rosário, they only won because Prass is being the master of penalty saves since he moved teams.

Bolívar did very well against Deportivo Cali. I confess it wasn't my expectation as I thought Bolívar would end up on the bottom but good to see how good they played. For the same group Boca tied again even playing better.

 

[voltage]

São Paulo surprised me yesterday. We're playing bad and loosing for really weak teams lately so I was expecting a shameful defeat against a team like River Plate but we actually played good (not amazingly in my view but way better it's being before and it was superior to River on this match honestly, I got startled with even the argentinian fans praising SPFC). It's a pity we could not keep the victory because of the bizarre fail that caused our own goal. Anything but a win just distance us from the next phase even more but I confess it was nice to see the way São Paulo played and hope we can keep the improvement on all competitions and not only in this game.

 

[Libertadores FC]

São Paulo surprised me yesterday. We're playing bad and loosing for really weak teams lately so I was expecting a shameful defeat against a team like River Plate but we actually played good (not amazingly in my view but way better it's being before and it was superior to River on this match honestly, I got startled with even the argentinian fans praising SPFC). It's a pity we could not keep the victory because of the bizarre fail that caused our own goal. Anything but a win just distance us from the next phase even more but I confess it was nice to see the way São Paulo played and hope we can keep the improvement on all competitions and not only in this game.

I actually thought you guys would win to be honest. I thought that Sao Paulo needed to begin performing and that it would begin yesterday. It looks like I was about half right. Had a chance to win the game too.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Atletico Nacional are through to the knockouts, and they are looking stronger than ever. This Atletico Nacional side on paper and on the pitch are the strongest team in South America. They have so much depth too, its not just the starting line up. With a 4-0 routing of Penarol, they continue to have an excellent record against the Uruguayan side. As for Penarol, I massively overestimated them. They're awful, and if Cristal can't make it past their group now, then they are really shit.

As for the other matches, Santa Fe should make it through the group now. I think the battle will be between Cerro Porteno and Corinthians. Melgar continue to embarrass themselves, and lastly, San Lorenzo draw once again. They are such a dull side.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Trujillianos vs Sao Paulo was a great game. Lots and lots of chances for both sides. Unfortunately for Sao Paulo, I think thats the result that will get them knocked out. Luckily for them, The Strongest got a last minute draw against River Plate so that keeps them alive, but considering River Plate will more than likely beat The Strongest and Trujillianos at home, and Sao Paulo still have to play away to the altitude, that doesn't really help their case.

The second match Corinthians vs Cerro ended 2-0 in favour of Corinthians. Even though the second goal was just bad luck for Cerro, Corinthians still deservedly won. It was total domination from them. Start to finish. Its not impossible for Cerro to make it through but its a lot tougher now. It all depends if they can win the game in Chile, although Cobresal aren't doing too well in their league so I've heard. And they're basically out now so I reckon they'll focus on the league.

Anyways, Venezuela are at it again! Playing the wrong anthems. They played the Argentinian anthem for Sao Paulo. Not the first time this happened. Like the time they played the Mexico anthem when Ecuador played Venezuela in the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers.

Someone tell them to do their homework! Getting the anthems right is not a hard task

 

[voltage]

lol I bet the sound technicians were argentinians.

São Paulo is having this constant problem of wasting great goal opportunities. It should be easier if the team had the calm and cunning to utilize well the various chances to score they get. Also it's not the first time in the competition we loose because of missing a penalty, this shouldn't happen. And I still didn't see for what Lugano came in field (well, actually he came just to marketing strategy, even labeled exaggeratedly DIO5, because of Ceni's retirement so they needed someone to sell stuff but I don't understand all the expectation on him on field as it's clear he's not the same as years ago when he first played here). The Strongest and River Plate, despite the tie, are in way better situation and condition to pass through this phase than us.

Corinthians was very different from last week against the same Cerro Porteño but it seems the "play at home" factor helped and they played well and more confident and tranquil.

Atlético Mineiro is still the best brazilian side at this Libertadores edition so far. It already started scoring, kept pressuring and practically gave no chance to Colo-Colo.

Though Atlético Nacional is being the eye candy. I would really like to see them being the champions by what they're currently showing.

 

[voltage]

São Paulo won by 6-0 of Trujillanos. What a good surprise! Despite Trujillanos played very weakly, our retrospect last games and even when we played with Trujillanos at Venezuela is very bad so this great result was very unexpected but also very welcomed since it let us a chance (small but still...) to keep alive in the competition.

 

[voltage]

So the classifieds for next phase are defined. Just missing group 1. Groups 2, 3, 6, 8 were what I was expecting. Del Valle, Hurácan and Táchira were the "ruiners" (not in a bad way) of my predictions. Del Valle and Colo-Colo for group 5 were in a close dispute for 2nd place but Del Valle did well being the only one to beat the leader Atlético MG (and poor Melgar finishing with 0 points). Taking in consideration the beginning of Libertadores I'd never tell Hurácan would classify for next phase but well done. And for group 7 I seriously thought Emelec would get the 2nd place and they just ended up last but well done for Táchira.

Highlights for Boca and Corinthians ending the groups phase with flourish. Boca grows up a lot at La Bombonera: very agitated match with a bombing of kicks and beautiful goals from Boca; thumbs up for Tévez in a good night. And for Corinthians, despite the classification of their group being already knew with a round in advance (last round), is still incredible to see what Tite did with this team: after loosing almost the whole main squad for China it seemed impossible to recover so fast but the guy is brilliant and where Corinthians is now is all due to him.

Now it's wait and see what happens with group 1, the one I'm more interested in because of São Paulo. Not with high hopes though. Our last match on Sunday was horrible despite The Strongest last performances on Libertadores were equally awful but we already lost for them once and today we're playing at Bolívia what is not easy. But hopefully the weight of a competition like Libertadores turns into a changing of posture.

 

[voltage]

São Paulo got into the next phase! Hardly but got it.
The Strongest doesn't exactly live up to its name. Only could see Pablo Escobar, altitud and field (if I received 1$ each time a player slipped...) being a differential. São Paulo also hadn't a good game but Calleri once more saved us and with the tie, result classifying us, the team back for a second half very deffensive and that worked well until Denis being sent out in the last minutes.
The thing is for next match against Toluca we don't have Calleri because of the red card for fighting on the after match confusion and he's our most decisive player plus I don't know what we'll do with the goalkeeper position with Denis red card and our supplent keeper recovering from an appendicitis surgery.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Calleri is an excellent player. 8 goals in just the groups were as last year the top scorer had 8 goals in total. The year before that 5.

As for the round of 16

Cerro Porteno vs Boca
Nacional de Montevideo vs Corinthians
Independiente del Valle vs River Plate
Deportivo Tachira vs UNAM
Sao Paulo vs Toluca
Racing vs Atletico Mineiro
Gremio vs Rosario
Huracan vs Atletico Nacional

The matches I'm most looking forward to are Cerro Porteno vs Boca and Racing vs Atletico Mineiro. I'll give my opinions on the matches a bit later though.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Sao Paulo has really clicked as of late. Excellent performance against Toluca last night. A 4-0 win without Jonathan Calleri and that will see them in quarters as I can't see where Toluca will get 4 goals in Mexico. Ever since their loss to The Strongest, they've really tried to change things up. After seeing them recently, they are now the favourites to win the whole thing for me after Atletico Nacional has put up poor performances of late. Best Brazilian club in the competition by a mile. A Boca - Sao Paulo semi would be interesting!

Speaking of Boca, 2-1 win away to Paraguay against Cerro Porteno. Tie done, I cannot see any way Cerro will win by more than 2 at La Bombonera. First time since 2009 (I think) that there will not be a Paraguayan club in the quarter finals.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Correction: Boca can only meet São Paulo in the final, not semi's. My mistake, for some reason I remember São Paulo being on the same side as Boca.

 

[voltage]

It was by far the best match I've seen of São Paulo this year. It showed we don't have to be dependent of Calleri to play really well (like it was 20 shots for the goal for us against 0 of Toluca only in the first half). Actually São Paulo is being a doubt for me, sometimes playing really bad others really good. But a match like that is very important to restore the confidence of the team and put things together. Anyway with this São Paulo we never know what comes next. Also Toluca wasn't complete but probably will at next match and there's also the altitud though we have a good advantage. Hopefully São Paulo starts being more consistent now and keeps showing good performances like yesterday's.

 

[Libertadores FC]

I always forget that there is altitude in Mexico for some reason. I'm still confident you will at least score one in Mexico, and Toluca DEFINITELY won't score 4. You're through to the next round in my opinion.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Atletico Nacional and UNAM Pumas are the first teams through to the quarter finals. Nacional have gotten worse but I still think they'll make at least semi-finals. Alejandro Guerra, the Venezuelan Iniesta, played really well last night. I rate him quite a bit. As for Pumas, I wanted Tachira through but Pumas were always going to win. I don't think Pumas will go any farther though as I can see both Del Valle or River (the team they will meet in quarters) can both beat them. Pumas are good, but they are missing something. Nothing on the Tigres side from last year.

 

[voltage]

First time Pumas gets so far at Libertadores. They did not bad yesterday but definitely not pulling a Tigres, at least not until now, and from now on it's just hardness for them, even if they pass for River or Del Valle they can face Boca in the semi then. Hardly see them reaching the finals now. And Atlético Nacional finally took a goal, despite everything Hurácan was better than I expected them to, but don't see Atlético Nacional having hardships to beat Rosário or Grêmio.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Huracan are sore losers.

And they weren't even done there, they took it to Twitter afterwards which should see them receive a fine.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Del Valle knocked out River. What a surprise, and what an effort. With the earthquake in Ecuador recently, Del Valle has given the Ecuadorian public something to smile about. They are now in quarters, I didn't even think they'd get past the playoff round, and they nearly did go out! With Guarani missing that last minute penalty.

Corinthians going out to Nacional de Montevideo is no shock to me. I thought Nacional were great in the groups where as Corinthians did not impress me.

 

[voltage]

All those fights after match at Libertadores, so unnecessary. Will they never understand it only prejudices themselves?

Del Valle was surely a nice surprise. They did very well at Ecuador though yesterday River was superior and attacking more but that Del Valle's goalkeeper was a monster.

São Paulo scared me to hell. Our away campaign is horrible. Luckily we had a considerable advantage from last match. Now we get Atlético MG, don't know what to expect since by yesterday only saw Galo going through due to a beautiful performance from Pratto.

And didn't saw not even one good game of Corinthians at Libertadores. They got that far just slapping it together. But somehow it was working but Nacional's strategy was very smart to unstablish Corinthians. They didn't start cautious closed on the back (deffensively) as the expected of teams playing away and it took Corinthians structure down the drain.

 

[Libertadores FC]

And didn't saw not even one good game of Corinthians at Libertadores. They got that far just slapping it together. But somehow it was working but Nacional's strategy was very smart to unstablish Corinthians. They didn't start cautious closed on the back (deffensively) as the expected of teams playing out and it took Corinthians structure down the drain.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that Corinthians side was massively overrated. I've seen people tell me that Nacional knocking out Corinthians is a "shock" and I can here say I am not one bit surprised by this.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Boca and Rosario are through.

I have to say, this may be an unpopular opinion, but Gremio was the worst Brazilian side in this Libertadores. Even worse than Palmeiras. They were just awful. How bad is San Lorenzo that they finished below these?

Quarter finals are:

Atletico Nacional - Rosario
Atletico Mineiro - Sao Paulo
Boca - Nacional de Montevideo
Independiente Del Valle - UNAM Pumas

 

[Libertadores FC]

Also, it should be noted this is the first year since I believe 2009 that there are no clubs from Paraguay in the quarter finals.

 

[voltage]

São Paulo x Atlético MG opening the quarters. And as expected no team moved out of the comfort zone of being extremely deffensive on the first leg and the ref had a lot of job because of it. It was being really rare the goal opportunities and I think the only good one was the one São Paulo scored to be honest, a free kick well executed and very fast move to not allow Atlético's a chance to avoid it.
And well, any advantage is appreciated to take to second leg but this 1x0 is not very assuring. It's worrying to play the second leg away as we almost don't win away and Atlético is completely different and probably will come to strongly attack at their home stadium.

 

[voltage]

So Atlético Nacional lost its invincibility to Rosário. And what a beautiful goal it was the single who gave Rosário the win though it came from a fail of the adversaries. Atlético is facing more hardships now compared what they were showing in the beginning but anyway who of this confrontation get to the semi-finals is very strong.

 

[Libertadores FC]

Atletico Nacional played great in the first half, but got outplayed in the second and Franco Armani made sure Nacional didn't concede more goals. I really rate him.

Also, Montoya scoring the goal of the tournament for Rosario.

 

[voltage]

São Paulo's classifying seemed very distant due to the first 11 minutes of Atlético with already two goals. It looked we'd be thrashed. But free kicks has been our salvation. However away matches still are an aspect to be (a lot) improved. The game was unpredictable after São Paulo's goal. Everything could change at any time. And I almost had a heart attack with the last ball in favor of Atlético, like...imagine loosing the classifying on the last minute? But anything could be expected.

Anyway it's really good to see São Paulo, before so discredited (even I couldn't believe they'd go through the group phases) - and with reason at first, reaching that far.