World Soccer - UK (2020-03)

LEADING CONTENDERS

The first Libertadores of the new decade

will climax with a November 21 Final in

Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium, the

home ground of Flamengo, and the

defending champions will certainly

expect to be present on the big day.

Under Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus

there is little sign of Fla resting on the

laurels of a magical 2019. They can

count on an array of attacking options,

although the loss of Spanish centre-

back Pablo Mari, who has joined Arsenal

on loan, is a big blow. He made the

high defensive line viable last year, but

without him they could be vulnerable.

Their group is far from easy, so there

could be some early jitters.

While Flamengo are undoubtedly the

team to beat, fellow Brazilians Gremio

will be gunning for revenge after their

semi-final humiliation last year. The

2017 winners are a well-run club

and they have backed coach Renato

Portaluppi, who has been allowed to

strengthen the squad this year, with

priority given to cup competitions.

Palmeiras may be the one club in

South America capable of matching

the financial resources of Flamengo,

but they had a frustrating 2019. Having

bucked the trend for foreign coaches in

Brazil, they have put their faith in former

national team and Real Madrid boss

Vanderlei Luxemburgo who will be

under pressure to produce results

• and to do so in style.
  Meanwhile, the long reign of Marcelo
  Gallardo continues at River Plate, who
  will be expected to lead the Argentinian
  challenge. Exequiel Palacios has joined
  Bayer Leverkusen and will be a major

loss for the side that came within

minutes of winning last year’s title.

Once again River must be considered

contenders but they must be wary

of repeating last term’s slow start

in a group that contains three former

champions. They will not be helped

by having to play their first two home

games behind closed doors.

River’s great rivals Boca Juniors

appear to be in an easier group – which

is just as well. While River are all about

continuity, Boca are on their third coach

in three years with the return of Miguel

Angel Russo, who took them to the

Libertadores title in 2007.

If there is to be a repeat then

the team will have to grow during the

competition, but Russo’s task of finding

a blend has been hampered by the

loss of attacking midfielder Alexis Mac

Allister, whose loan spell from Brighton

& Hove Albion has finished.

THE NEXT RUNG

Some of the other Argentinian clubs

would be very unlikely winners. Defensa

y Justica, for example, lost coach

Mariano Sosa who resigned in January in

protest at player sales and was replaced

by Hernan Crespo. The most likely other

Argentinian contender are the current

domestic champions, Racing. They

also lost their coach, Eduardo Coudet,

but Sebastian Beccacece, who is a

former assistant to Jorge Sampaoli, is

a fascinating replacement. Their group

looks straightforward and they should

be very watchable.

Sampaoli enjoyed a splendid year

in Brazil with Santos but he has since

moved on and veteran Portuguese

coach Jesualdo Ferreira could find him

a hard act to follow. While Sampaoli did

wonders on a shoestring, Ferreira may

have even less to work with, but at least

his team are in one of the easier groups.

Coudet, meanwhile, has gone to

Brazil to take over at Internacional,

a club striving to improve on last year’s

mediocrity. They will have had to

negotiate two qualifying rounds to

make the group stage, but if successful

they will find themselves up against

local rivals Gremio.

The will be aware, however, that

progression may not be straightforward,

as fellow Brazilian giants Corinthians

discovered. With the club’s recent style

of play having become somewhat

sterile, they appointed Tiago Nunes as

coach in the hope that he could come

up with something more expansive. But

leading 2-0 at home to Paraguayan side

Guarani in the second qualifying stage,

they conceded a second-half goal to

draw 2-2 on aggregate and go out on

away goals.

Losing Nunes was a blow to

Athletico Paranaense, an ambitious

club who won the Copa Sudamericana

in 2018 and now have their sights set

on the Libertadores, although this year

would appear to find them in a state of

transition. There will be more pressure

Flamengo go again

Jesus’ men prepare to defend their South American title

Slim chance...

Hernan Crespo

Interesting...

Independiente del

Valle won last year’s

Copa Sudamericana

Copa Libertadores

TIM VICKERY

While Flamengo are undoubtedly the team to beat,

fellow Brazilians Gremio will be gunning for revenge

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