Atlético-MG and Botafogo compete, this Saturday (30) in Buenos Aires (Argentina), for the Eternal Glory of the Copa Libertadores da América. To decide who will win the title of the main club competition in South America, the teams will face off at 5pm (Brasília time) at the Monumental de Núñez stadium. THE National Radio broadcasts the confrontation live.
This final is a demonstration of the strength of Brazilian football on the South American continent at the club level, as in the last five Libertadores decisions only one was not contested solely by teams from Brazil: that of the last edition, in which Fluminense defeated Boca Juniors (Argentina) at the Maracanã stadium to take the trophy.
🇧🇷🏆 An unprecedented Final! @Athletic and @Botafogo go in search of #EternalGloryat Monumental.
🤔 Who will be the new CONMEBOL champion #Libertadores? pic.twitter.com/cdoRv6ktG4
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@LibertadoresBR) October 31, 2024
Favorite stove
Botafogo reaches the decision as favorites. This can be said due to the season that the team led by Portuguese coach Artur Jorge has had so far. Leader of the Brazilian Championship (a condition it resumed after an impressive 3-1 victory over Palmeiras 3-1 at Allianz Parque in the last round of the national competition), General Severiano’s team has a real chance of achieving a feat that only Jorge Jesus’ Flamengo and Pelé’s Santos did the trick: triumphing in the Brasileiro and Libertadores in the same season.
🇧🇷🔥 Victory to warm up the week!
🖤 The @Botafogo won the #Palmeiras 3-1, away from home, and resumed the leadership of the @Brasileirao.
🔜 Final 🏆 CONMEBOL #Libertadores
📸 #Botafogo pic.twitter.com/xyCkFJrmqq
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@LibertadoresBR) November 27, 2024
But, to achieve this feat, Alvinegro from Rio needs to take the first step this Saturday, winning an unprecedented title, the Libertadores. And coach Artur Jorge made it clear, in a press conference held last Friday (29), that he understands the importance of this game: “I would venture to say that it is the most important game of my career. There’s no doubt about that. It also brings me the responsibility and satisfaction of being able to enjoy the moment. This doesn’t mean that we don’t know our responsibility, because we carry a lot of people on top of us, we have the dreams of a lot of people behind us.”
For the decisive match, Botafogo will put its best on the field. The only doubt is defender Bastos, who, with an injury to his left thigh, must make way for Adryelson. Therefore, General Severiano’s team must start the decision with: John; Vitinho, Adryelson, Barboza and Alex Telles; Marlon Freitas and Gregore; Luiz Henrique, Almada and Savarino, Igor Jesus.
🔥 This duo is hot @Botafogo!
⭐ Igor Jesus and Luiz Henrique, black and white heroes for #EternalGlory.
🏆 CONMEBOL #Libertadores pic.twitter.com/pGBNqUIEnM
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@LibertadoresBR) November 29, 2024
Rooster Confidence
If Botafogo has slight favoritism, Atlético-MG arrives confident in the continental final. “I have a lot of confidence in them [nos jogadores do Galo]. I feel like we’re going to have a great final. That we will be very competitive towards this dream of reaching the cup”, declared Argentine coach Gabriel Milito in an interview.
Someone who also has confidence in the Minas Gerais team’s title is striker Hulk. The veteran, who at 38 years old is playing in a Libertadores final for the first time, admitted Botafogo’s favoritism, but also highlighted that Atlético-MG is capable of guaranteeing a second title in the competition (Galo already won the tournament in 2013) : “I actually said that Botafogo is a favorite and I continue to share the same idea. If you analyze it, their year was better than ours. But this is a final, the winner is whoever arrives better on the day, whoever is more focused and makes fewer mistakes. The week was important for us […]. If we want to succeed tomorrow, we have to put into practice what we worked on during the week. And I believe we are capable of that.”
💪 It’s the Rooster Hulk!
🐔 @Athletic | CONMEBOL #Libertadores 🏆 pic.twitter.com/FabS7KaDzD
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@LibertadoresBR) November 28, 2024
In the decisive match, Galo will not be able to count on attacking midfielder Zaracho, who will be absent due to an injury to his left thigh. Therefore, there is no certainty about the team that Milito will choose to start the clash. One possibility is the option for center forward Deyverson, decisive so far in the continental competition, and who already decided a Libertadores final when playing for Palmeiras.
📸🏆 11/27/2021 😍
🔜 And there goes Deyverson again in search of #EternalGlory… pic.twitter.com/4DmL59T20a
— CONMEBOL Libertadores (@LibertadoresBR) November 27, 2024
Thus, a possible Atlético formation for the final with Botafogo is: Everson; Lyanco, Battaglia and Alonso; Fausto Vera, Alan Franco, Scarpa and Arana; Paulinho, Hulk and Deyverson.
National broadcast
THE National Radio broadcasts the Copa Libertadores decision with narration by André Luiz Mendes, comments by Waldir Luiz, reporting by Rafael Monteiro and duty by Bruno Mendes. You can follow the National Ball Show here:
