WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GROUP PHASE
When the draw for this instance was held, the first debate took place: What is the most complicated group? the one of Lima Alliance or where it ended Sporting Cristal after overcoming two previous phases? The Peruvian champion fell in a series where there were two Brazilian teams: Atlético Paranaense, current runner-up in the Copa Libertadores, and the millionaire Atlético Mineiro. In addition to Libertad from Paraguay, who is already a ‘caserito’ in this tournament. On the part of the ‘brewers’, he was in charge of one of the greats of Brazil, such as Fluminense. In addition to River Plate by Martín Demichelis and a The Strongest that he had at the height of La Paz as his main ally. The one who was lucky had been Melgar, who fit in with complicated but less complex rivals such as Olimpia from Paraguay, Atlético Nacional from Colombia and Patronato from Argentina, the only team in the tournament that plays in the second division of their country.
The start was more than encouraging for Alianza Lima. He added four of six points, also breaking a streak of 30 games without winning in the Libertadores. In addition, in the Opening Tournament he was unstoppable and only added victories under the command of Guillermo Salas. Different luck for Cristal, who lost his first two games and was submerged in a football crisis that was about to end with the process of Tiago Nunes leading the Rímac team. But what matters in football is always the final photo and the panoramas were inverted in an almost radical way. The blue and whites fell and the light blues came back. None could qualify, but Cristal grabbed a place for the ‘Suda’. Melgar’s case was terrible. He only won one game (5-0 over Patronato), but his irregularity left him empty-handed.
EQUIPMENT | MATCHES | TRIUMPHS | TIES | DEFEATS | GOALS+ | GOALS- | POINTS | PROD. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SPORTS CRYSTAL | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 44% |
LIME ALLIANCE | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 22% |
MELGAR | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 4 | 22% |
Cristal was the team that won the most in the group stage (2). The last one was before The Strongest, in La Paz. Video: ESPN.
WHAT IS THE BALANCE OF THE PERUVIAN TEAMS IN THE LIBERTADORES 2023?
1) IMPROVED OVERALL PRODUCTION
Despite the fact that neither team was able to get past the group stage, there was a slight improvement in terms of numbers. To begin with, we had three in this instance: Alianza Lima and Melgar as champion and runner-up, respectively. And Sporting Cristal joined, which had to overcome Nacional from Paraguay and Huracán from Argentina in the previous phases. This hasn’t happened since 2019, when we were represented by the same teams. In terms of numbers, production was the best in the last eight years. Nor is it something to be proud of, because barely 30% of the points in dispute were finalized. Yes it is good if we compare it with previous years, where we have had very poor and nightmare campaigns. What does not mean that a classification has been competed and discussed. The only one that came close was Sporting Cristal, but they failed in their attempt. Alianza Lima and Melgar reached the last date without mathematical options in Libertadores.
YEAR | EQUIPMENT | MATCHES | TRIUMPHS | TIES | DEFEATS | GOALS+ | GOALS- | POINTS | PROD. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Crystal and Aurich | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 | fifteen | 18 | 13 | 36% |
2016 | Melgar and Cristal | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | eleven | 27 | 4 | eleven% |
2017 | Crystal and Melgar | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 29 | 5 | 14% |
2018 | Alliance Lima and Garcilaso | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 3 | twenty | 7 | 19% |
2019 | Cristal, Alianza Lima and Melgar | 18 | 4 | 3 | eleven | 12 | 32 | fifteen | 28% |
2020 | Binational and Alianza Lima | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 36 | 4 | eleven% |
2021 | Crystal and University | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 29 | 8 | 22% |
2022 | Lime and Crystal Alliance | 12 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 2 | 6% |
2023 | Lima, Melgar and Cristal Alliance | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | twenty | 32 | 16 | 30% |
Alianza Lima achieved the first of the four victories achieved by the Peruvian teams in the group stage. Video: ESPN.
2) THE HOUSE WAS NOT RESPECTED
This was one of the reasons that influenced the fate of the Peruvian teams this season. Of 9 games that they played like crazy, only two wins were achieved. Something that, in the Copa Libertadores, is paid very dearly. For example: River Plate he made 9 of the 10 points he scored in his group at the Monumental de Núñez. That is to say, it was 100% effective at home and it was enough for him to draw with Cristal in Lima to seal his pass to the round of 16. His classification to the South American was achieved after the triumph he achieved against The Strongest, in La Paz.
Something similar happened with Alianza Lima. In Matute he had up to two unbeatable chances of at least getting into the ‘Suda’. If he defeated Libertad, a team he had already beaten in Paraguay, he had the ticket in his pocket. But he lost and everything remained in the possibility of defeating Mineiro in the ‘Caldera’, but he too was left empty-handed. Melgar could barely beat Patronato in Arequipa and, if he had added two more points, he would be in the South American Playoffs. But it did not go beyond a draw against Olimpia and a defeat in the final against Nacional.
EQUIPMENT | MATCHES | TRIUMPHS | TIES | DEFEATS | POINTS | PROD. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GLASS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 44% |
MELGAR | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 44% |
LIME ALLIANCE | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | eleven% |
Melgar achieved the biggest victory in this Libertadores, after beating Patronato 5-0 in UNSA. Video: ESPN.
3) HE COMMITTED TO YOUNG PEOPLE
In this edition of the Libertadores we saw several footballers under the age of 25 in action. We were even able to see some of Juan Reynoso’s summons to the Peruvian team in action, such as Jhilmar Lora, Bryan Reyna and Jesús Castillo, who were on the tour of Asia in June. Sporting Cristal made 10 footballers play and their average age in the campaign was 25.35 years. Merit for Tiago Nunes, who opted for the club’s youth ranks and was able to see players grow like Joao Grimaldo (20 years old), Rafael Lutiger (21) and Leonardo Díaz (19).
The young people who played the most
SOCCER PLAYER | AGE | EQUIPMENT | MATCHES | HEADLINE | MINUTES |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
JHILMAR LORA | 22 | GLASS | 6 | 6 | 509 |
BRYAN REYNA | 24 | LIME ALLIANCE | 6 | 6 | 501 |
ALEC DENEUMOSTIER | 24 | MELGAR | 6 | 6 | 484 |
JESUS CASTLE | 22 | GLASS | 6 | 4 | 433 |
JESUS PRETELL | 24 | GLASS | 6 | 5 | 426 |
JOAO GRIMALDO | twenty | GLASS | 6 | 4 | 396 |
GIANFRANCO CHAVEZ | 24 | GLASS | 5 | 5 | 391 |
PAOLO REYNA | twenty-one | MELGAR | 4 | 3 | 284 |
WALTER TANDAZO | 23 | MELGAR | 4 | 3 | 278 |
RAPHAEL LUTIGER | twenty-one | GLASS | 4 | 4 | 268 |
Jhilmar Lora scored two goals in the Copa Libertadores: one in Phase 2 (against Nacional from Paraguay) and another against The Strongest (groups).
4) THE REINFORCEMENTS MARKED A BREAK (FOR GOOD AND EVIL)
Every time a season in Peruvian soccer ends, it is a constant that the teams are reinforced in the best way to face international tournaments. And that happened, especially, with Alianza Lima. He maintained the base of the two-time champion team and added hierarchy names such as Carlos Zambrano, Christian Cueva, Andrés Andrade, Gabriel Costa and Pablo Sabbag. But the ones who ended up playing all the games were the nationals Bryan Reyna and Jesús Castillo, who in 2022 were in Cantolao. Some injuries prevented ‘Chicho’ Salas from ever playing his best ’11’. In the case of Cristal, he signed two Brazilians and both started in the group stage. Ignacio da Silva, for many the best central defender in Peruvian soccer, and Brenner Marlos responded to the confidence of the ‘beer’ team. Melgar brought the Argentines Tomás Martínez and Pablo Magnín. Both arrived with a good background, but only the first made a difference.
SOCCER PLAYER | POSITION | EQUIPMENT | MATCHES | HEADLINE | MINUTES |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
IGNACIO DA SILVA | DEFENDING | GLASS | 6 | 6 | 540 |
JESUS CASTLE | STEERING WHEEL | LIME ALLIANCE | 6 | 6 | 520 |
BRYAN REYNA | EXTREME | LIME ALLIANCE | 6 | 6 | 501 |
SANTIAGO GARCIA | DEFENDING | LIME ALLIANCE | 5 | 5 | 450 |
CARLOS ZAMBRANO | DEFENDING | LIME ALLIANCE | 5 | 5 | 450 |
BRENNER MARLOS | FORWARD | GLASS | 6 | 6 | 447 |
TOMAS MARTINEZ | STEERING WHEEL | MELGAR | 6 | 6 | 435 |
PAUL SABBAG | FORWARD | LIME ALLIANCE | 6 | 4 | 353 |
CHRISTIAN CAVE | STEERING WHEEL | LIME ALLIANCE | 5 | 2 | 244 |
JOSTIN ALARCON | EXTREME | GLASS | 4 | 2 | 207 |
5) THE ‘LION’ FELL ASLEEP
Much more was expected of Melgar in this Libertadores. For what he had done last season, reaching the semifinals of the Copa Sudamericana. 95% of the squad remained and the only starter who left was the Argentine Martín Pérez Guedes (at Universitario de Deportes). But in his place came his compatriot Tomás Martínez, with a good career in his country. In addition, they finished in the least complex group of the tournament and where, at least, they were expected to get a place in the Copa Sudamericana. The objective was to add 4-6 points with Patronato to put him out of the race, but he could barely beat him in Arequipa, in the only acceptable performance he had. The individualities were well below expectations. On the last date the ‘Suda’ was classified even with the defeat against Olimpia, but in their budget it was not that Patronato would defeat Nacional in Medellín. In six appearances in Libertadores they were never able to get past the group stage. His elimination was well deserved and he was indebted to everyone.
Patronato achieved the first international victory in its history against Melgar. Video: ESPN.
6) SILVER AS A COURT
Qualifying for a Copa Libertadores is always celebrated twice. Because it is the most important international tournament at the club level on the continent and, furthermore, because Conmebol pays well for participation. Just for being in the group stage you receive 3 million dollars. Something that Alianza Lima and Melgar achieved directly for being Peruvian champion and runner-up, respectively. The one who had to row from the bottom was Sporting Cristal, who had to overcome two previous stages. But thanks to that, the Rimans earned an additional 1 million 100 thousand dollars. And this year 300,000 dollars of sports merit were added (for victory in the group stage). And for getting into the South American Playoffs, Cristal will add half a million more. The business turned out well.
EQUIPMENT | LIBERATORS | SOUTH AMERICAN | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|
GLASS | $4 MILLION 700 THOUSAND | $500 THOUSAND | $5 MILLION 200 THOUSAND |
LIME ALLIANCE | $3 MILLION 300 THOUSAND | – | $3 MILLION 300 THOUSAND |
MELGAR | $3 MILLION 300 THOUSAND | – | $3 MILLION 300 THOUSAND |
Irven Ávila’s agonizing goal over Huracán sent Cristal into the group stage and later increased his winnings to more than five million dollars.