After Bahia were eliminated as early as the second preliminary round of the Copa Libertadores, Brazilian football ended up with a total of 13 teams in the group stages of this year’s Libertadores and Sudamericana.
And only Grêmio failed to reach the round of 16.
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Flamengo, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, Corinthians, Palmeiras, Mirassol, Atlético, São Paulo and Botafogo had already booked their places in the round of 16 of their respective tournaments.
Vasco, Santos and Red Bull Bragantino came through the Sudamericana round-of-16 playoffs. But the Tricolor fell by the wayside.
After the 3-2 setback in La Paz, the Immortal needed to win by at least two goals in regular time.
And they were beaten again, this time 1-0, right at their own Arena.
Qualified Bolívar will face São Paulo in the next round.
Bolívar make history! 😱
Known for making life difficult for many rivals in La Paz, the Bolivian side usually struggle when playing in Brazil.
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They had only one win (against Athletico in the 2002 Libertadores), one draw and TWENTY defeats.
And they ended a 24-year winless run in Brazil tonight.
It was only the second time they have knocked out a Brazilian team in Conmebol tournaments.
The first was in 2023, when they eliminated Athletico in the Libertadores round of 16. They won 3-1 at home, lost 2-0 in Curitiba, and went through on penalties.
It was never going to be that simple…
The mission of getting a win by at least two goals in regular time became more complicated as early as the 16th minute.
Asprilla was played through, got past Kannemann and beat Gabriel Grando.
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Grêmio had a great chance with Gustavo Martins before halftime, but Lampe saved it.
They had more possession and attacking pressure. But without being able to make it count.
Changes in search of salvation
Luís Castro made three substitutions at once for the second half.
And Matheus Nascimento, one of those brought on, had chances.
The two remaining changes came in the 58th minute.
With special mention for Gabriel Mec, who managed to make Tricolor more unpredictable on the ball.
Grêmio were even creating chances. But without showing the ability to beat Lampe.
Bolívar had chances to “kill off” the tie. But that did not happen.
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All that was left for Tricolor was to keep pushing until the end. Mec, for example, kept battling.
UGLY scenes and 🟥
The departure of the Bolívar player who was about to be substituted (Melgar) ended with plenty of shoving.
Noriega and Justiniano almost gave us UFC scenes and were sent off (92′).
And Marlon left Grêmio down to nine men after scissoring Saavedra.
Tricolor’s focus now shifts to the Copa do Brasil round of 16 (against Mirassol) and the mission of getting out of the Brasileirão relegation zone.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
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