It’s been a nice break from football outside of the United States since the World Cup concluded, but top level professional footy returns with a vengeance tonight with the return of Copa Libertadores. The semi-finals take place over two legs with the first legs taking place tonight and tomorrow and the second legs taking place this weekend. The final four consists of two surprise teams, Chivas de Guadalajara and Universidad de Chile, and two favorites, Brazilian clubs Sao Paulo and Internacional. On Tuesday, Chivas and Universidad de Chile square off, with Internacional and Sao Paulo playing on Wednesday.
Chivas de Guadalajara’s run to the semi-finals was a surprise not because of a talent disparity to their opponents, but because of form and national team call-ups. Chivas had a very poor second half of the Bicentenario and Mexican national team players Luis Ernesto Michel, Adolfo Bautista, Javier Hernandez, Alberto Medina, and Jonny Magallon were not available for the knockout stages. Despite that, Chivas were able to upset Velez and Libertad behind strong performances from the previously vacant Omar Bravo. Chivas will still be without Javier Hernandez in the semi-final as he has met up with his new team, Manchester United, but the others have returned and will give Chivas a boost. A key for them will be whether or not Omar Bravo can pick up where he left off earlier in the knockout rounds, as well as how well the team as a whole can defend on the counter attack. They didn’t impress in their first game of the Apertura on the weekend and will need to improve.
Their opponents, Universidad de Chile, commonly known as La U, pulled off an even bigger upset than Chivas by defeating Brazilian champions Flamengo on away goals. The firepower of Adriano and Vagner Love wasn’t enough to out-duel the stunning counter-attack of La U. They will be without Uruguayan international Alvaro Fernandez for the semi-final as his loan has expired, but La U still come in with a very strong squad. Chilean international goalkeeper Miguel Pinto has been one of the best players so far in this tournament and is key to La U’s success. As good as Fernandez and Pinto have been, La U’s effort has been much more of a team one than an individual one. Not one player from the squad is among the top ten scorers in the tournament, nor have any of their players been named Copa Libertadores player of the week. Their biggest attacking threats are likely to be striker Eduardo Vargas and their dynamic #10, Walter Montillo. Don’t expect slow build-up play from La U – creating from set pieces and a lightning fast counter-attack is their game.
Sao Paulo has disappointed so far in the 2010 Brasileiro, but they still have the talent to challenge for the Copa Libertadores title. They impressively got here by defeating Cruziero 4-0 on aggregate and shutting out the deadly strike pairing of Thiago and Kleber. The star of the show for Sao Paulo is box to box midfielder Hernanes, who will be called up to the Brazil side that faces the United States in an upcoming friendly. Despite constantly being linked to teams abroad, he’s still at Sao Paulo and is likely to remain there for the foreseeable future. Ageless striker Washington is a big boost to their attack as well. The 35 year old towering striker has five goals in Copa Libertadores play and has Brasileiro, J. League, and Club World Cup golden boots to his credit. He’ll be aided in attack by the small and quick Dagoberto. Dynamic left sided player Richarlyson is usually good for some highlight reel crosses and tackles, but he’s also a card machine and a player with a very hot temper. If someone tells you a red card was shown in this match, odds are it was shown to Richarlyson. I don’t want to end on a negative note, though, so I’ll mention that Sao Paulo have an absolute legend in Rodrigo Ceni between the sticks.
Unlike Sao Paulo, Internacional are currently playing solid football in the Brasileiro. They sit in fourth place having just defeated Flamengo 1-0 on the weekend. One of their stars, holding midfielder Sandro, has recently been sold to Tottenham Hotspur, but he has been allowed to remain with Internacional through the remainder of their Copa Libertadores campaign. Him and Hernanes are likely to butt heads on multiple occasions and that battle will be crucial to their match. For those of you who watch this match on Fox Sports en Espanol and don’t speak Spanish, you may be confused when the attack-minded trio of D’Alessandro, Alecsandro, and Andrezinho pass between each other. Even if you can’t keep the three straight, they’re all excellent players who are likely to cause problems for Sao Paulo. The much easier to keep straight Taison is also likely to see some action after scoring the winner against Flamengo mid-week. I mentioned Sao Paulo’s keeper and Internacional don’t exactly have a chump between the sticks either. Former Argentina international Roberto Abbondanzieri should have a good duel with his fellow 37 year old across the field.
Predictions:
First semi-final – Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Universidad de Chile
Both teams have over-achieved a bit thus far, but Chivas are gaining quality players from the first two knockout rounds while La U lose one of their best. Still, Flamengo are much tougher competition than both Velez and Libertad, and Chivas did not impress in their first game in the league. I see a close tie with goals, and I’m going to give it to La U on away goals.
Leg 1: Chivas 2-2 La U
Leg 2: La U 1-1 Chivas
Universidad de Chile advance on away goals.
Second semi-final – Internacional vs. Sao Paulo
These teams are difficult to separate on talent, but there are a couple places where they do show separation. Both teams had to defeat very tough opponents in the quarterfinals, but the previous round is a different story. Internacional’s round of 16 defeat of Banfield and their young star James Rodriguez, who has since moved to Porto, is much more impressive than Sao Paulo’s failure to score and penalty shoot-out victory against Universitario of Peru. In addition, Internacional has performed adequately in the league while Sao Paulo has not. While Sao Paulo’s even goal differential in league play suggests that they are better than their 16th position, the fact still stands that they are not reaching their full potential. I see a narrow victory for Internacional.
Leg 1: Internacional 3-1 Sao Paulo
Leg 2: Sao Paulo 2-1 Internacional
Internacional advance 4-3 on aggregate.
