Vélez was unable to capture three more points than necessary to aspire to a place between the two classified for the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores from Group C, drawing this Thursday 2-2 at the José Amalfitani stadium against the Brazilian Bragantino, who now they lead this area together with Estudiantes, from La Plata, who tied goalless last night with Nacional in Uruguay.
The 4-1 win suffered by Vélez in his debut in Group C, no less than against Estudiantes in La Plata, added to the poor performance that he develops in the local competition and that he already took coach Mauricio Pellegrino and unleashed the wrath of the fans against the leadership, made this game against Bragantino a key milestone for the future of the team in this hectic April-May schedule.
This is what the Velez fans told their players before the match began and much more when just two minutes later the Brazilian team had already taken the lead through the bald Ytalo.
But the immediate tie achieved with a header by the Uruguayan defender Matías De los Santos, replacement of captain Lautaro Gianetti, who broke the cruciate ligaments in his left knee against Boca, seemed to calm things down in that frenetic start that revived the hopes of the local bias.
However, despite the will of all, the brushstrokes of the kid Luca Orellano, the incisive presence on the sides of Lucas Janson and the permanent ambition of Lucas Pratto, the first half was going to consume the same as it had been referred to before the 10 minutes.
A shot from “Bear” Pratto that grazed the left post of the goal defended by Cleiton was the clearest action that the Liniers team had in the final stretch of that first period.
But it would be Cleiton who would do the “favor” to those led by Julio Vaccari at the start of the complement, also after two minutes, when he was incredibly unable to retain a center that reached him not very high from his right, with no rivals in sight. , and the error surprised his teammate Natan, who was behind him and who bounced the ball off his chest to slowly get inside his own fence.
It seemed then that history could smile at Vélez tonight after so many days of serious faces, but at 17 minutes Ytalo appeared again to put his head in and break Lucas Hoyos again.
Once again the night darkened for the “Fortín”, when just three minutes later the side Aderlán earned the second yellow card and left Vélez open for the last half hour of the game as if to twist history in his favor.
But the team with the bluish “V” became entangled in its own impotence and once again defrauding its people, since the tie left him last in the group with a point along with Nacional, the Uruguayan team that will be their next rival, while Estudiantes and Bragantino, who will meet on the third date, lead the way with four units per side.
