Close your fists Gabriel Milito. His players throw water at him, hug him. He Atlético Mineiro is a finalist for the Libertadores Cup. He has just achieved it in the Monumental of Buenos Aires itself and before the giant River of the legendary Marcelo Gallardo, in a series rounded out with a 3-0 aggregate, with pure forcefulness in the first leg thanks to Deyverson and Hulk, with pure solidity and endurance in the rematch with the strengths of his goalkeeper Everson and his markers center backs Lyanco, Rodrigo Battaglia and Junior Alonso.
The man who was part of the greatest FC Barcelona with 10 titles in 4 seasons wants to be king of America with Atlético Mineiro. Since arriving at the French club from Belo Horizonte on March 27, Milito has already won a tournament and is a finalist not only for Libertadores but also for the Brazilian Cup (he will meet Flamengo). Gaby demonstrates his class as a coach…
Gaby Milito won the planning duel against Gallardo in both games. River ended up paying dearly for that lack of elaboration, change of pace and forcefulness that it has been suffering for a long time. There is a reason why it is so difficult for him to generate, win and score goals. After the dismissal of Martín Demichelis, there was no ‘Doll Effect’ in the Cup, not even with the four brilliant additions he demanded.
Milito and his Mineiro, to the final of the Libertadores
With 0-3 in the first leg, it seemed impossible due to that difference and its current nature for River to reverse it. However, the millionaires chose to believe by setting up a huge banner the day before and a reception for the memory at the team’s entrance, as if wanting to provoke a unique spiritual response, capable of hiding the football problems. When the time came to play, in the first half, River did not have lucidity, did not exhibit ideas to hurt and only approached with approaches.
Gallardo appealed to three forwards, with Pablo Solari, Miguel Borja and Facundo Colidio, supported from midfield by Matías Kranevitter, Santiago Simón and Maximiliano Meza. The experienced Nacho Fernández was left out, who was not even on the bench. The Doll chose looking for freshness and depth, but found none of that.
Atlético Mineiro covered the spaces well, always with one more man in each sector so as not to be surprised and thinking about counterattacking with Hulk, Deyverson and Paulinho. He had the clearest shot of the first half: Kranevitter gave it away and Deyverson ran alone towards the goal, but lost the one-on-one with Franco Armani. And at the start of the second half, Gustavo Scarpa shook the crossbar and then Armani beat Deyverson again.
Deyverson, one of the most active in Mineiro
As if accepting the mistake in the initial formation, with half an hour left Gallardo changed the entire midfield and sent Rodrigo Villagra, Franco Mastantuono and Claudio Echeverri to the field. Immediately El Diablito generated a face-to-face, but he was left without an angle for the shot and the goalkeeper frustrated him. Then, Pity Martínez and Adam Bareiro entered for Colidio and Borja.
With Echeverri and Pity Martínez there was more spontaneity in River, but it was insufficient to break the solidity of the Brazilians. And the former FC Barcelona man celebrated it at the Monumental. Gaby Milito and his Atlético Mineiro, finalists of the Libertadores. On November 30 they will return to the Monumental dreaming of lifting the Cup.
TECHNICAL SHEET
0 – River Plate: Franco Armani Fabricio Bustos, Germán Pezzella, Paulo Díaz, Marcos Acuña; Matías Kranevitter (d. 57, Rodrigo Villagra), Santiago Simón (d.57, Franco Mastantuono), Maximiliano Meza; Pablo Solari (m.57, Claudio Echeverri), Facundo Colidio (m.63, Gonzalo Martínez) and Miguel Borja (m.63, Adam Bareiro).
Coach: Marcelo Gallardo.
0 – Atlético Mineiro: Everson; Gustavo Scarpa, Lyanco (m.45, Renzo Saravia), Rodrigo Battaglia, Júnior Alonso, Guilherme Arana (m.83, Eduardo Vargas); Alan Franco, Fausto Vera; Paulinho (m.72, Otávio), Hulk and Deyverson (m.62, Rubens).
Coach: Gabriel Milito.
Referee: Colombian Wilmar Roldán admonished Lyanco and Everson.
Incidents: second leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-finals played at the Estadio Más Monumental, in the Argentine city of Buenos Aires.
