Fluminense drew 0-0 with Unión Santa Fe (Argentina) on Thursday night (19) at the 15 de Abril stadium, and was in a very difficult situation in the Copa Sudamericana.
??⚽?? Zeroed! @clubaunion and @FluminenseFC drew goalless and left open the fight for the spot in Group H in the round of 16 of CONMEBOL #South American.#GreatConquest pic.twitter.com/cmEk8RYjKZ
— CONMEBOL Sudamericana (@SudamericanaBR) May 20, 2022
With this result, Tricolor das Laranjeiras remains in third position in Group H, now with eight points, one less than the Argentines, who take on leader Junior Barranquilla (Colombia), who has ten points, in the last round of the group. Fernando Diniz’s team takes on Oriente Petrolero (Bolivia).
As in the competition, only the first place in each group advances to the round of 16, Fluminense will have to hope for a draw between Unión Santa Fe and Junior Barranquilla, in addition to beating Oriente Petrolero by at least six goals, to discount the Colombia’s best goal difference.
The game
Even though they needed the win to reach the last round with better chances of qualifying, Fluminense and Santa Fe played a very tight match, with few opportunities side by side. In the first stage, the Argentine team had three submissions, and the Tricolor only one, in a long shot by Nathan.
The outlook for the second half was very similar. Trying to improve the production of his team, coach Fernando Diniz removed the midfielders Ganso and Nathan to put players in front (Arias and Willian), but the change more hindered than helped, as it disorganized the team from Rio, which in the end suffered from the pressure from Santa Fe.
Now, before the challenge of seeking classification in the Sudamericana, Fluminense turns its attention to the Brazilian, where it will visit Fortaleza on Sunday (22) at Castelão.
