Why the rich Brazilian sides have become so poor in the Copa Libertadores

By Euan Marshall in Mirror Football Blog

Published 11:39 18/02/12

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For the new season, MirrorFootball is teaming up with some of the blogosphere's best new writers to bring you even more great football reads every single day.

Saturday is South America day, and here's I Like Football Me 's Euan Marshall with his take on the week's big issues in the region.

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In the beginning of 2011, leading up to the Copa Libertadores (South America’s version of the Champions League), the financial gap was widening significantly between Brazil’s top clubs and the rest of the continent.

With multi-million dollar sponsorship deals and the huge marquee signings of Ronaldinho and Luis Fabiano (among others), you would be forgiven for thinking that Brazilian sides would begin to enjoy a period of unmitigated dominance over their Latin rivals.

When you consider that in the six previous editions of the Copa Libertadores (before the major financial boom), eight of the 12 finalists were Brazilian clubs, a green and yellow-wash seemed inevitable.

However, things did not turn out that way.

In the 2011 tournament, even though Brazil's Santos were the eventual winners, the other four Brazilian sides were very disappointing.

Internacional, Gremio, Fluminense, and Cruzeiro were all eliminated at the last 16 stage.

And, in rather farcical fashion, they all bit the dust on the same night, within the space of four hours.

The first to go were 2010 Libertadores champion Internacional - dumped out at home by eventual finalists Penarol.

Next up were Inter’s cross-town rivals Gremio, who suffered defeat away from home to Chilean side Universidad Catolica.

The final two, Fluminense and Cruzeiro, were eliminated simultaneously, and in the most unbelievable of circumstances.

Both were leading their ties after the first legs, but Cruzeiro managed to lose 2-0 at home to Colombian side Once Caldas, while Fluminense shipped three goals away to ultra-attacking Paraguayans Libertad.

The fact is, Brazilian teams have trouble coping with sides that attack them on their flanks.

The only wide players in a typical Brazilian formation are the full-backs, so when they are faced with a side that plays with an attacking full-back and a wide midfielder/forward, they are very easily overrun.

Unfortunately (for Brazilian sides), the number of clubs playing this attacking style is growing, so it is becoming increasingly hard to avoid them in the draw.

Last year, with Santos (deservedly) winning the trophy, this was slightly overshadowed.

However this season it will be put to the test again, with six Brazilian sides in the tournament and even more potential opponents playing expansive, attacking football.

So far, with each club having played only their opening group match, results are inconclusive.

Out of the six Brazilian clubs, two won, two drew, and two lost.

First to play were Fluminense, who had a home tie against Argentine side Arsenal de Sarandi last Tuesday.

Having been hailed for assembling one of the best squads in the country during the transfer window, Fluminense huffed and puffed to a 1-0 win.

National team striker Fred gave them an early lead, but for the rest of the game they were very negative and sloppy, resorting to some dishonest and violent tactics that saw two of their players sent off in the second half.

The following evening, it was time for Vasco da Gama to debut.

Runners-up in last year’s Brazilian championship, they began with a home tie against Nacional of Uruguay.

Vasco, with ex-Lyon midfielder Juninho Pernambucano in their ranks, are regarded as one of the favourites, but they were taken apart by an intelligent and pacey Nacional side and lost 2-1.

(Those interested in reading more about that match can find a full review on my blog - see links at the top and tail of this article)

Last Thursday, Internacional were at home to Peruvian champions Juan Aurich.

This was a potentially tricky match, but after Juan Aurich were reduced to 10 men in the first half, Inter were able to relax and they won, 2-0.

This week, things began to get a little more complicated.

All three of the remaining Brazilian sides started their campaigns away from home on Wednesday - Santos at interestingly named Bolivian champions The Strongest, Corinthians went to Venezuela to play Deportivo Tachira, and Flamengo travelled to Argentine side Lanus.

Away matches in La Paz, Bolivia’s capital, are never easy because of the staggering altitude and its restricting effects on physical performance.

However, Neymar, Ganso and co started well, and Santos managed to take the lead.

Unfortunately for the reigning champions though, they tired considerably in the second half, allowing The Strongest to steal a surprise 2-1 victory.

In Venezuela, Corinthians dominated, but were unable to make it count in front of goal.

They went a goal down in the first half, and if it had not been for some poor refereeing, they would have conceded more.

Luckily for them however, they managed to grab a last-minute equaliser tha made a depressing 1-1 draw look heroic.

Without doubt, Ronaldinho’s Flamengo had the hardest task of the evening against Lanus - a plucky, attacking side from the province of Buenos Aires.

Their cramped stadium was packed to the rafters, making it a very hostile atmosphere for the Brazilians.

Lanus dominated most of the match, but it was Flamengo who took the lead through right-back Leo Moura.

After the home side deservedly equalised, Flamengo had a golden chance to take all three points near the end, but Argentine midfielder Bottinelli blazed over the bar from close range.

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Follow @euanmarshall on Twitter and at I Like Football Me .

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