South America’s premier club competition, the Copa Libertadores, began its group phase this midweek, with five Portuguese coaches leading teams from three different countries into the opening matchday.
Four of the five enjoyed winning starts, with Vítor Pereira’s Corinthians the exception as the Brazilians lost in Bolivia, incurring strong criticism from the former Porto boss. Reigning champions Palmeiras, coached by Abel Ferreira, won 4-0 at Venezuelans Deportivo Tachira, while fellow Brazilians Flamengo won in Peru under Paulo Sousa, and there were also victories for Renato Paiva with Ecuadorian champions Independiente del Valle and Pedro Caixinha’s Talleres de Cordoba of Argentina.
First up on Tuesday evening’s round of fixtures was Vítor Pereira, who took charge of Brazilian giants Corinthians in February. Timão faced the always tough trip to Bolivia on the first meeting of Group E, travelling almost 3,000 miles to play the superbly-named Always Ready in El Alto. The concession of an early penalty, converted by Marcos Riquelme on 8 minutes, put Corinthians on the back foot and Rodrigo Ramallo’s goal within a minute of the re-start proved too much for Pereira’s team to recover from.
Speaking after the match, Pereira was scathing in his assessment of the display: “What bothers me the most is the way we conceded the two goals and then the way we reacted to the second,” he said. “We have to keep our balance. What makes me sad is our inability to react emotionally and tactically. We have to be more aggressive, react, we must present a different image than the one we did.”
??? ¡Lo mejor del partido que @ClubAlwaysReady le ganó a @Corinthians por 2-0! Los bolivianos comenzaron el Grupo E de la CONMEBOL #Libertadores con una alegría como locales. @FutbolSantander pic.twitter.com/AwLsZe8iM8
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@Libertadores) April 6, 2022
Sousa’s Flamengo on form
In a slightly later kick-off, new Flamengo manager Paulo Sousa guided his much-fancied side to a 2-0 win at Sporting Cristal in Peru. Goals from Bruno Henrique (22’) and Matheuzinho (88’) gave the Rio de Janeiro club victory in Group H, recovering from the recent disappointment of losing the Carioca State Championship final to Fluminense.
“We are all Flamengo, we are all a family,” Sousa said after the triumph, having already faced questions about the togetherness within his squad. “The more united and connected we are, the more victories we will conquer. Today was a day of consistency during the game with a view to winning. We wanted to honour the competition with a victory.
“I’m very focused on aligning everyone to what is our target, which is to try to win all the games with the maximum quality and commitment so that we can be successful. I am very focused on the day to day. In a team, there are many people, a lot of personalities, and we are certainly very aligned and very focused on winning games.”
? ¡Para volver a ver! Lo mejor del triunfo 2-0 de @Flamengo ante @ClubSCristal en Lima por el Grupo H de la CONMEBOL #Libertadores.@FutbolSantander pic.twitter.com/eyl8hFVwhQ
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@Libertadores) April 6, 2022
Caixinha starts Wednesday’s clean sweep
Wednesday night’s games produced a 100% record from the three matches involving Portuguese coaches, including a winning start for Pedro Caixinha in his new adventure with Argentines Talleres de Cordoba. Caixinha took over at Talleres late last month, becoming the first Portuguese to manage in the country on a one-year contract.
Talleres, who have been struggling early in the Argentina Primera Division, join Paulo Sousa’s Flamengo in Group H, where they were drawn against Chileans Universidad Catolica at home on matchday one. A goal by Hector Fertoli midway through the first half proved enough for a 1-0 victory in Caixinha’s debut in the competition.
? ¡Para volver a ver! Lo mejor del triunfo 1-0 de @CATalleresdecba ante @Cruzados por el Grupo H de la CONMEBOL #Libertadores.
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@Libertadores) April 7, 2022
? @FutbolSantander pic.twitter.com/HE7AE2SPtT
“We played against the champion of Chile, it was not against any team,” Caixinha said. “We are motivated and with ambition to continue in this competition. It was important to start with a victory, now we are going to think game by game.
“The group worked hard to be here and knew the importance of the game. It is important that the team stays together. There’s a lot of emotional pressure, but the players dealt with it like no one else. Their attitude, work and effort led us to this victory. Now let’s think about our possibilities from now on.”
The next round in Group H will see a Portuguese duel as Caixinha takes his Talleres side to Rio de Janeiro to meet Flamengo on 13th April.
Abel’s Palmeiras begin defence in style; Paiva’s Independiente win in Brazil
Brazilians Palmeiras are back-to-back Copa Libertadores champions and Abel Ferreira’s team got the defence of their title off to the perfect start with a convincing 4-0 win over Deportivo Tachira in Venezuela. Dudu, Raphael Veiga and a brace by Rafael Navarro had the visitors four goals up long before they lost midfielder Jailson to a 72nd minute red card.
Abel’s assistant João Martins spoke to the media post-match and emphasised the quality of the performance in Venezuela just three days after Palmeiras hammered Sao Paulo to lift the Paulista State Championship on Sunday evening.
“This game was very difficult to prepare, we had a decisive game on Sunday, we knew how difficult it would be,” said Martins. “The players had a good performance from the first second. It is very important to start the competition well, especially in away matches. We had to train at 7 am on Tuesday, the trip lasted 9 hours.”
?? ¡Para volver a ver! Todas las jugadas destacadas de @Palmeiras 4⃣-0⃣ @DvoTachira por la CONMEBOL #Libertadores. @FutbolSantander pic.twitter.com/liBp8Qvj0y
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@Libertadores) April 7, 2022
Finally, there was an impressive start by Renato Paiva’s Ecuadorian champions Independiente del Valle, who were 2-0 victors at America Mineiro in Brazil. Paiva, who last season guided Independiente to their first-ever championship in Ecuador, saw his team score in both halves in Belo Horizonte through Junior Sornoza and Billy Arce.
Frustratingly for Paiva, he remains unable to take charge of continental matches with Independiente, having yet to receive his Pro Conmebol License. Paiva experienced the same issues last year and has stated that the situation is the “saddest news of his professional life” while Juan Urquiza of the Ecuadorian Soccer Federation insisted that there is no Portuguese/European discrimination and that Paiva must arrange to undertake the relevant courses.
With Paiva taking a seat in the stands for the match in Brazil, Independiente are off to a winning start in Group D, where they next entertain Colombian outfit Deportivo Tolima.
By Sean Gillen
