Lima (AFP)
Amazing scenario in Lima! Flamengo won his second Copa Libertadores title on Saturday after 38 years of waiting by defeating River Plate 2-1 on Saturday in Lima thanks to two goals from Gabriel Barbosa in the final minutes of the game.
Colombian Rafael Santos Borré opened the scoring for the Argentine team (14th), but Gabriel Barbosa, nicknamed Gabigol, reversed the situation (89th, 92 + 2), after an uneventful final major security.
Last year, the violence that had hit Buenos Aires had forced the South American confederation to choose Madrid for the final return between the two rival Argentine clubs, River Plate and Boca Juniors.
This time it was the Chilean social crisis that forced the South American Confederation (Conmebol) to make a last-minute change.
Expected in Santiago, this final was postponed in extremis to Lima, which had never before hosted the epilogue of Copa Libertadores, South American equivalent of the Champions League.
The first final played in one game and on neutral ground was rich in emotions.
Thousands of kilometers away, at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, tens of thousands of Flamengo fans who watched the giant-screen match exploded with joy at the final whistle, while a horn concert started on the streets.
The disappointment is cruel for the River Marcelo Gallardo, who held his third title of Libertadores in five years (after 2015 and 2018), the fifth in its history, until the 89th minute of play.
It was then that Gabigol, the tournament's top scorer with 9 goals, came up to send to paradise the "torcida" of Flamengo, who had been waiting since 1981, with the golden generation led by Zico.
Sign of fate, the carioca club will be able to find at the World Club Liverpool, he had already beaten in the Intercontinental Cup 38 years ago.
- "Maximum alert" -
For the Saturday final to be uneventful, the police chief in Lima had already warned Wednesday that the police would be in "maximum alert" state, with about 6,000 agents mobilized and the use of drones and helicopters.
Many roads were closed and searches around the stadium were particularly rigorous.
A few hours before the start of the match, dozens of supporters of both teams were confiscated flags and banners they had brought from their respective countries.
At the time of the entry of the two teams on the ground, no flag, practically no papelitos: just the songs of the supporters to recall the warm atmosphere so typical of South American football.
The Imperial soldiers of the Star Wars saga posted in front of the entry tunnel of the players as part of a promotional operation only reinforce this idea of ultra-secure final, to the point of being somewhat sanitized.
- Miraculous Gabigol -
As is often the case in this kind of match, the start of the match was rough and hackneyed, with many faults and a long interruption after Brazilian Rodrigo Caio's bleeding on a head-to-head collision with Borré, a Colombian striker. River Plate.
Flamengo was more pressing in the first ten minutes, but the Argentinian team crashed the first banderilla when Argentinian star Nacho Fernandez slid back from a slipped tackle and Borré crucified goalkeeper Diego Alves from the penalty spot (14th).
The spirits warmed up in the second half when Flamengo created a hot opportunity while a River player was down. Everton Ribeiro found himself in an ideal position, but goalkeeper Armani saved his team (56th).
When Flamengo seemed short of ideas, Gabigol equalized one minute from the end, taking over a center of Arrascaeta (89th), before giving the victory to the Brazilian team ahead of Pinola (92 + 2) to tip definitely this meeting of madness.
© 2019 AFP