Both participants in this weekend’s Copa Libertadores final had midweek league challenges to contest with before they could make the trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina where the biggest game of the South American season will be held on Saturday.
Botafogo had been winless in three league games, drawing each of those and therefore letting Palmeiras join them on 70 points at the top of the table. They invited the team that snatched the title from them last year, back into the race for this year’s prize.
However on Tuesday night Botafogo freed themselves of the shackles that was their recent form and blew Palmeiras away in their trip to São Paulo. A top of the table clash in just the third last game of the season was won 3-1 by the visitors thanks to goals from Gregore, Savarino and Adryelson.
The win put Botafogo three points clear at the top once more, with just two games to go, but perhaps more importantly it has given the whole club a huge boost ahead of this weekends historic Copa Libertadores final. A chance for Botafogo to win the tournament for the first time in their history awaits, and they have managed to turn around their form at just the right time.
Botafogo might have wanted the league title all but won at this stage, and a chance to rest players against Palmeiras, but the reality is that this was a must win fixture and the best team possible had to start. Given the magnitude of the victory you feel that the only thing Botafogo will take into the weekend will not be tired legs but surging momentum and brimming confidence.
On the flipside, other finalist Atlético Mineiro did rest their players for their midweek league game, but they certainly did not advance any positive turn in momentum ahead of the final. Mineiro is on a really poor run of form now, and Tuesday night’s 3-2 defeat to Juventude means a run of 10 games in all competitions without a single victory.
Mineiro has lost six of those 10 matches and scored only six goals, conceding 14. It’s pretty harrowing reading for a fan of the club from Belo Horizonte but anything can happen in the final on Saturday. Mineiro did draw 0-0 with Botafogo recently and they have won this competition before, so despite Botafogo looking like the team with all the momentum we know that this final, of course, could go either way.
Stylistically, Mineiro will look to nullify the Botafogo threat and be potent on the counter themselves. Figures like Deyverson and Hulk have plenty of experience and the likes of Gustavo Scarpa adds plenty of quality to this team too. On Saturday in Buenos Aires, a sea of Brazilian black and white stripes will descend upon the Estadio Monumental as Botafogo search for their first ever continental crown, and Mineiro chase their second.
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