the brazilian champion palmeiras this Wednesday ratified its classification in the semifinals of Libertadores Cup of football with a lackluster goalless draw at home with the Sports Pereira. The São Paulo team defeated the Colombian eight days ago 0-4 in the city of Pereira and almost left their classification on track. Palmeiras’ opponent in the semifinals will be Boca Juniors, who eliminated Racing de Avellaneda.
Since the series was almost decided in favor of Palmeiras, coach Alejandro Restrepo’s team came out to play not to lose, while the Brazilians took shelter so as not to risk their players. However, the team led by Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira had chances with Argentine José ‘Flaco’ López, twice, and Rony.
The Colombians came close with Johan Bocanegra and Juan Pablo Zuluaga, who asked local goalkeeper Weverton, and the clearest of all with a shot that Ángelo Rodríguez crashed onto the crossbar.
In the second half, Raphael Veiga and Artur again put visiting goalkeeper Aldair Quintana on the line, while Uruguayan Adrián Balboa was the star of the game for Pereira.
In the 75th minute, after a foul on youngster Endrick, a player already acquired by Real Madrid, Chilean referee Cristian Garay sent off defender Juan Sebastián Quintero, who played for Fortaleza and Vasco da Gama in Brazil.
With another player, Palmeiras tried to corner Pereira and Endrick came close to scoring twice, but the Colombians held on and took the 0-0 lead, which, in part, calmed down the defeat that suffered a week ago to bid farewell to the tournament with the tie.
DATA SHEET
0 – Palmeiras: Weverton; Luan, Gustavo Gomez, Murilo; Marcos Rocha (m.46, Mayke), Ze Rafael, Richard Ríos, Joaquín Piquerez (m.46, Vanderlan); Raphael Veiga (d.61, Artur); Rony (m.61, Endrick) and José “Flaco” López (m.87, Kevin)
Coach: Abel Ferreira
0 – Deportivo Pereira: Aldair Quintana; Emiro Garcés, Juan Sebastián Quintero, Carlos Ramírez; Jordy Monroy, Ewil Murillo (m.69, Jimmy Congo), Johan Bocanegra (m.69, Maicol Medina), Jimer Fory; Juan Pablo Zuluaga (m.82, Kener Valencia), Adrián Balboa (m.82, Geisson Perea); and Angelo Rodriguez
Coach: Alejandro Restrepo
Referee: Chilean Cristian Garay. He expelled Quintero (m.75) for double reprimand. And he showed yellow cards to Murillo and Bocanegra
Incidents: The second leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores was played in front of 37,785 spectators at the Allianz Parque stadium, in the city of São Paulo
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
