Major clubs missing out on 2017 Copa Libertadores

With the 2017 Copa Libertadores under way, 47 teams are fighting for the most prestigious South American crown. While three of them have been eliminated during the first round of qualification already, others did not even get the chance to enter the competition due to numerous reasons. Here are the 12 former Libertadores champions that will not be there in 2017.

Independiente's players with the trophy in 1984. It was their last triumph to date (Photo: xenen.com.ar).

Independiente

Constantly in the conversation for big titles, constantly coming up well short. It is the story of Argentina's Independiente in the past years. While it has not always been this way, the record winner of the Copa Libertadores (seven titles) has not won the title since 1984. Even their latest domestic title has nearly been forgotten ever since 2003. By finishing three points behind promoted Atlético Tucumán in the league, they missed out on the last qualification spot for the international stage and will instead compete in the Copa Sudamericana later on this year. 

Racing Club

Staying in Argentina, Racing Club was included relatively often in the Copa Libertadores of previous seasons. Not this time around, as they played a very average season to finish in eleventh, well behind the required top 5 position. At least they gathered the final Sudamericana spot and will join their archrivals from next door in trying to win that one. Racing won the Libertadores once, all the way back in 1967.

Cruzeiro

Over to Brazil, a two-time winner of the competition will not be around this time. Despite a whopping eight spots for the association, Cruzeiro's highly disappointing 12th place finish saw them come up well short. Their most previous final appearance came in 1997, when they beat surprise side Sporting Cristal from Peru 1-0 on aggregate. Now, they can instead focus on their state championships and the Serie A later on.

Boca Juniors

After a double in Argentina, many expected the Boca Juniors to march on to the Copa Libertadores title as well. They did anything but that and got eliminated by outsider Independiente del Valle from Ecuador. In the Argentine Primera, they finished 17th and showcased a ton of problems throughout the year. At the end of it, club icon Carlos Tévez left for China as well. Will we see the six-time champion back in action as early as 2018? 

Argentinos Juniors

Argentinos Juniors' team ahead of the final in 1985 (Photo: kaisermagazine.com).

You cannot be much further away from the Copa Libertadores than Argentinos Juniors. Diego Maradona's club is currently playing in the second division. At least that has gone quite well for them after nearly half the season is over. They sit in second place, only two points behind Guillermo Brown. Their agenda includes a lot of steps ahead of a return to the international stage. In 1985, it took three finals to decide a winner between Juniors and América de Cali, with the Argentines coming out ahead on penalties.

São Paulo FC

São Paulo is one of the most popular teams on the continent, also due to their three successes in the competition. Led by iconic goalkeeper Rogério Ceni, they marched to their last title in July 2005. Their past year was less impressive, as they finished tenth in Brazil's Serie A. At least a semifinal appearance in last year's Copa Libertadores could calm the supporters, however Atlético Nacional were way too strong back then. 

Vélez Sársfield

Vélez missed qualification by quite some margin. Their average year was not even enough to get into the Copa Sudamericana in 2017. You would not really expect the club at the top anyway, considering their latest Libertadores triumph came back in 1994. The aforementioned São Paulo FC was beaten on penalties, with the help of another goalkeeping legend: José Luis Chilavert. 

Vasco da Gama

I promise there will be more countries than just Argentina and Brazil soon. For now, back to the North-East, where Vasco da Gama has just managed to return to the Serie A after a year in the second tier of Brazilian football. In 1998, they were in the middle of a sandwich consisting of three winners of the same country in a row. A young Juninho Pernambucano was a part of Vasco's midfield, before he went on to Europe for a great career. Ecuador's Barcelona had no answer, losing 1-4 on aggregate.

LDU Quito

Talking of Ecuador: LDU Quito was the first and only champion of the Copa Libertadores from Ecuador. Their 2008 triumph came on penalties against Fluminense. Lately, they have been more down than up and only finished sixth in their domestic league. It is quite likely that they will return to the competition sooner rather than later though, maybe as early as 2018?

Once Caldas

Once Caldas' ultimate triumph in 2004 (Photo: caracol.com.co)

The Colombian headlines were written by Atlético Nacional most recently, but Once Caldas cannot be dismissed. In 2004, the club won the Copa Libertadores itself, on penalties against Boca Juniors. Their squad back in the days included players such as Elkin Soto, who went on to become valuable players in Europe. That has been the last hooray for quite some time either way, as they finished lowly in Colombia's Apertura and Finalización. 

Internacional

Oh Inter, what happened to you? The two-time winner, most recently in 2010, suddenly finds itself in Brazil's second division following a horrendous season. While their chances to get promoted again soon are possibly quite high, the international stage could be in quite some distance for a few years. It is a shame, because their stadium and fans are made for Copa Libertadores nights.

Corinthians

Last name on the list is another big name from Brazil in Corinthians. The situation for them looks a lot less grim than for Internacional. After their whole team was ripped apart following their title a year ago, they still managed to find some sort of rhythm and finished only two points shy of a Libertadores spot. Able to concentrate on the league fully, it would not surprise to see them back in the competition as early as next year.

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Unstoppable - Colombian clubs excel in Copa Sudamericana

If someone had told me a year ago that both international club trophies in South America were being held by Colombian teams and three of them were in the quarterfinal yet again, I likely would not have taken that person too seriously. Colombia's elite proved me wrong. After Santa Fe won the Copa Sudamericana and Atlético Nacional marched through the Libertadores early this year, there are once again three clubs in the 2016 Sudamericana. 

Atlético Junior will keep on shooting in the quarterfinal after beating Montevideo Wanderers (Photo: elespectador.com).

The development in Colombia is eye-opening lately, with fantastic performances on club level and a strong national team that did well ever since qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. While it helps to have the likes of James Rodríguez playing for you, South American dominance comes even more surprisingly, considering the early exit of the most talented youngsters from their youth clubs.

Three of eight clubs in the Copa Sudamericana quarterfinal are Colombian: Atlético Nacional are there yet again, vying for the next silverware. Independiente Medellín, the champions of the Apertura could not be stopped so far either. Lastly, Atlético Junior completes the strong field. Giovanni Hernández' team was stopped just short of the league title, losing the final. Just one team in Deportes Tolima exited early after a first round loss to Deportivo La Guaira, title holders Santa Fe in the round of 16 in poor style.

Reasons for this success are found quickly. Excellent youth work, that brought along players such as the exciting Marlos Moreno, paired with finally gaining somewhat of a killer instinct, that was certainly also assisted by the success of the national team. While they were stopped short countless times throughout the years, despite counting as favourites more than once, Atlético Nacional dominated in the Libertadores from start to finish this time. 

Going back to the present, they will be facing Brazilian side Coritiba for a spot among the last four. They are playing a completely average Serie A season, ranking 13th and still very much in danger of relegation. Their road to the quarterfinals of the Sudamericana was also a rather lucky one. After beating their countrymen from Vitória via away goal rule, they needed penalties to get past Argentine side Belgrano. Atlético Nacional can feel confident about themselves (as they would anyway currently) following wins over Deportivo Municipal (6-0 on aggregate), Club Bolívar (2-1) and Sol de América (3-1). It is hard to see anyone other than Nacional coming out on top of this tie.

Independiente Medellín will have a home game first, facing the side that got the better of Santa Fe: Paraguay's Cerro Porteño. After losing the first leg 0-2, it all seemed over, even more so when it was only 3-1 after 89 minutes in the return leg. Midfielder Cecilio Domínguez thought otherwise and completed a last minute hattrick that brought Cerro into the round of the last eight. Independiente themselves were on the verge of elimination in the past round as well after falling down 3-0 to Santa Cruz due to a Grafite hattrick. Carlos Ibargüen saved the day on the away goal rule. It is hard to determine a favourite in this matchup, it could once again go all the way to penalties. 

All of Independiente's efforts were not enough for Chapecoense (Photo: mundotkm.com).

Atlético Junior could possibly count as the least strong side of the three. They are going to meet Chapecoense, who are in the middle of a typical midfield range season in Brazil. In the Sudamericana, they did a better job, recently knocking out Libertadores record champions Independiente from Argentina. Junior themselves have not lost a game in six so far and will have to make their home advantage count before a tough travel to Brazil. Whether it will be enough at the end remains to be seen. At least they can count on the support of their VIP fan Shakira.

The final quarterfinal tie sounds like a great one on paper, even if no Colombian club is included. San Lorenzo have finally been able to go deep in a South American competition again and are going to meet Chile's Palestino. The fact that San Lorenzo are still alive is relatively surprising after they lost their first game to Banfield 0-2, before storming back with a 4-1 trashing in the second leg. Palestino have raised some eyebrows by finishing off Brazil's title fighting Flamengo after a first leg loss as well. Yet again, two close games are to be expected with the outcome fully open. San Lorenzo's squad quality speak for the Argentinians, but you can never be certain of anything in South America.

Prediction: Atlético Nacional, Independiente Medellín, Chapecoense and San Lorenzo will make it to the semifinals.

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Deserved triumph - Atlético Nacional wins Copa Libertadores

Atlético Nacional have won the Copa Libertadores for the second time in club history. After their first triumph back in 1989, a 1-0 win over Independiente del Valle on the night was enough to beat the Ecuadorian surprise team 2-1 on aggregate. 

Copa Libertadores final night in Medellín. (Photo: Getty Images)

Following a football-wise pretty disappointing first leg a week ago in Quito, the tie shifted to Colombia. Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere was outstanding and appropriate for the occasion. A stadium-wide chroreography in the club colours green and white was paired with a lot of confetti, lighters in the dark night and the usual fireworks. If you imagined standing on the pitch ahead of this game and listening to the national anthems, it had to be very hard to keep your concentration onto the actual game and you could see just that in many players' faces.

Could you want anything more as a football fan? (Photo: Getty Images)

Lineups

Going into tonight's game, Atlético Nacional's coach Reinaldo Rueda made two changes. Alejandro Guerra and and Alexander Mejia replaced Diego Arias and the suspended Sebastián Pérez.

Pablo Repetto on the other hand left his visiting team unchanged, despite the not fully fit José Angulo and Emiliano Tellechea. Obviously, they would not miss a Copa Libertadores final. It could be the only one in their careers.

First half

After their tactical mistake to do nothing and only sit back ever since taking the lead in the first leg, Atlético seemed determined to not make the same errors again today. Right from kickoff, the Colombians attacked their opponents early and got their first large chance inside a minute. Miguel Borja was sent through with a long ball, but blasted it far over the crossbar.

The always dangerous right-back Daniel Bocanegra followed it up with a thunderous shot from distance and missed just wide. As Atlético kept pushing their opponents back into their own half, it was only a matter of time until we saw an opening goal. Nine minutes in, a freekick from Macnelly Torres went by everyone and hit the left goalpost. From there, Arturo Mina tried to clear but could not make sufficient contact with the ball. Borja was wide open in the centre of the area and made no mistake this time, scoring into the bottom left corner. 1:0.

Miguel Borja, the goalscorer. (Photo: Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images)

Miguel Borja's story is a fantastic one. Transferred over from Cortuluá to their league rivals Atlético Nacional only a month ago, the striker made a name for himself in almost no time. In just four Copa Libertadores games, he now scored five times. After two in each leg against São Paulo, he quickly proved to be his new team's decisive factor.

Torres in the middle of the pitch had one of his best games for his club in quite a while and kept surprising the Ecuadorian defense with passes and set pieces that were tremendously hard to defend. Independiente del Valle did not play bad, with a high line of defense, but was simply overwhelmed by Nacional's offensive tornado during the opening stages. Marlos Moreno and Orlando Berrio on the wings were the ones profiting.

After 30 minutes, it led to a penalty shout when Torres sent through Berrio. He was brought down by goalkeeper Librado Azcona, but it was likely not enough to be given. Just shortly after, it was Borja again who could have made it 2-0, but he was stopped short by a magnificent tackle from Independiente's best defender Mina. Him and Azcona were the reasons it was still just a one-goal deficit when Repetto's team had their first opportunity. A sharp pass from Junior Sornoza had found his teammate Julio Angulo, who could have equalized, but instead saw his shot go over the crossbar as well.

The rest of the first half was a pretty even affair and even though the hosts dominated for large parts and had the lion's share of the possession, they could not stop some quick counter attacks. However, they led to nothing due to offside positions or lack of precision.

Second half

To start the second 45 minutes, Independiente del Valle made a substitution and brought on Jonny Uchuari for Junior Sornoza. It was a change that made limited sense to me, but Sornoza had seen the yellow card already and was probably protected by his coach.

Uchuari brought confusion to the Colombian backline right after coming on, when he danced by several defenders and was suddenly on the ground with his teammates shouting for a penalty the other way this time. Judging by the replays, it was none and the Argentine referee Néstor Pitana made another good decision.

After giving away the control for the first five minutes of the second half, Atlético Nacional regained it in strong fashion and failed to score from a clear cut chance yet again. Marlos Moreno made the whole defense look like youth players with his dribbles and laid the ball back to Berrio. He needed some time to control the ball, but then shot it wide across the face of goal.

While Uchuari did quite well on the other side, the precise passing of Sornoza was missed in a lot of Independiente's few offensive scenes. Instead, Macnelly Torres continued to be the main man in midfield, setting Borja and the wingers in scene multiple times. Borja could have made it 2-0 once more when shooting too far left, afterwards it was Moreno's turn to head it past the goalkeeper Azcona, but also wide.

Even though time was ticking down quickly now, the Colombians kept dominating and therefore avoiding to repeat their aforementioned mistakes. Instead of bolstering the defense for the final minutes, Rueda made it clear to his players what we wanted to see by bringing on striker for striker twice. Goalscorer Borja and Moreno left the pitch under the thunderous applause from their home support.

Not once in the final ten minutes could Independiente del Valle really threaten the in-form backline of Atlético Nacional which had thoroughly impressed during the group stages by not giving up a single goal. Despite its most recent shakyness, they regained their form when it mattered most. When Pitana blew the whistle for fulltime, the night reached its beautiful conclusion with the Colombians winning their first Copa Libertadores title in 27 years.

Trophy time in Colombia.

Analysis

Deserved? A big YES. Both the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana are now being held by Colombian teams. Atlético Nacional was by far the best team in this year's competition and finally justified their favourite status with equally good performances. Their defense was particularly good early on, towards the end it was new signing Miguel Borja that carried them over the finish line.

31-year old midfielder Macnelly Torres pulled off a Man of the Match performance in the biggest game of his career. Lovely passing, always in position to receive balls from his teammates, offensive mastermind of Reinaldo Rueda's XI.

While their team might be ripped apart from European or Mexican clubs (especially young players like Moreno that already has standout status), their triumph will remain in the history books forever.

The same goes for their opponent. Despite not bringing their best performance onto the pitch last night, they played a wonderful campaign. Nobody in the world would have expected Independiente del Valle to make it to the Copa Libertadores final, yet there they were. Their brave performances gave a lot of hope and distraction to Ecuador's people after what they had to deal with outside of football pitches.

Videos

Here are some videos for you: Team entry + anthems, match highlights and celebration.

Thank you!

Lastly, I want to say thank you to everyone that followed this season's Copa Libertadores here on Germancopa. I will be back covering next season's edition for sure. Until then, we will have a lot of Copa Sudamericana and league football from Uruguay and Argentina. 

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All tied up after first leg of Copa Libertadores final

For the first time since 1991, no team from Argentina or Brazil made it to the final of the Copa Libertadores. Instead, surprise team Independiente del Valle from Ecuador hosted Colombia's Atlético Nacional, who had marched through the competition with impressive performances thus far. 

The atmosphere before the game in Ecuador (Photo: tdn_twit on Twitter).

The night was started off by the usual atmospheric highlights in Quito. Independiente moved to the national stadium for this big game, considering their small home ground. Fireworks were shooting into the sky, while more fans had their lighters and phones out to bring some goosebumps across the TV screens at home. A large Ecuadorian flag was rolled out across the far side stand, presenting the colours of a country that had been hit by a huge natural disaster only months ago. 

A true Cinderella story is exactly what Independiente del Valle is all about. Back when their semifinal opponent Boca Juniors last won the Copa Libertadores in 2007, they were still playing third division football in their home country. Slowly but surely, they moved their way up and show that often you just need a good strategy and smart minds to be successful, especially on a continent like South America, which is still more even than Europe's crazy football world. 

Atlético Nacional on the other hand won the competition before, all the way back in 1989. With players such as René Hiquita or Andrés Escobar, the Colombians beat Paraguay's Club Olimpia on penalties after nullifying a 0-2 decifit from the first away leg. Currently, you can pretty surely call them the best team in South America. They dominated throughout the group stages without conceding a single goal and were seeded #1 for the knockout rounds. After beating Huracán, Rosario Central and Sao Paulo FC, they found themselves in the final deservedly. 

In typical South American chaos fashion, the Ecuadorian football association asked Independiente to play a league game which had previously been called off on Wednesday morning, the same day of the Copa Libertadores final. The laughable decision was reacted to with a youth team that lost 2-5 to El Nacional. Tonight's opponents also mainly played their reserves in the last league outing at home against Deportes Tolima, drawing 2-2.

The actual game

With the start of the final itself, we received a little rain from above, leaving the players all options to play good football though. The first better opportunity came within the first five minutes for the Ecuadorian home team when the Angulo's broke through Atlético's defense for the first time. Julio found José with a decent pass, but the shot of the striker went just wide. 

A first attempt for the visitors came soon after when striker Miguel Borja, after having scored four times (!) in the semifinal, fired from a far distance and saw his shot saved comfortably by opposing goalkeeper Librado Azcona. 

While 3000 visiting fans produced a nice setting along with the strong home support, the game itself turned into a midfield battle relatively quickly. Even though Atlético Nacional had most of the ball, they could not find a way through a well-organized defensive line of Independiente. The teams neutralized themselves, which is clearly nothing for the neutral viewer. 

20 minutes in, the biggest chance of the game so far for the hosts: A freekick from the right was deflected onwards by a Colombian defender and hit the head of surprised Arturo Mina. He could not direct it any further, which saw the ball fly right into the open arms of Franco Armani. Shortly after, Mina convinced on the other side of the pitch as well, when stopping the ever dangerous Borja with an excellent tackle. 

Orlando Berrio scored the opener (second from left, Photo: espnfc.com)

Atlético's #10 MacNelly Torres started to gain a little too much space in midfield for his passes. After 36 minutes, the 31-year old made it count. He found Orlando Berrio on the edge of the area. The striker went some more metres, keeping the upper hand against the defense's desperate clearing attempts before finishing strongly into the bottom right corner. An absolute beauty to make it 0-1 on the night and leave the visiting fans in ecstasy. 

While the lead was not really deserved by any clear means, it gave Atlético the necessary calmness in their decision making and they had the match under control a bit more comfortably now. Top talent Marlos Moreno nearly made it 2-0 before halftime, but his shot that caught Azcona way outside his goal just flew over the bar. 

Second half

Independiente del Valle now had their work cut out for them in the second half, having to attack while also not being too open at the back. Half chances for Bryan Cabezas and Junior Sornoza was all the Ecuadorians could manage before the hour mark. In fairness, Atlético Nacional defended really well now and stopped their opponents from being dangerous at all. 

As time continued to pass and Independiente kept being chanceless, coach Pablo Repetto had to react. He brought on Jonny Uchuari and Jonathan Gonzalez for Cabezas and Julio Angulo. Both of them had been extremely quiet on the night, compared to their previous performances in the competition. 

A game that kept getting worse and worse was about to be over in ten minutes after an extremely poor second half which was not final worthy. Noone really expected anything to happen anymore and they were wrong. The home team actually managed to strike back and make it a game again after 87 minutes. A long freekick near the centre circle by Junior Sornoza went high all the way into the area. Armani, expecting a striker to get a touch of the ball still, could only let the ball bounce forward as it hit him. Arturo Mina tried to score once and was denied by Armani, but on the second attempt the goalkeeper had no chance to keep the centre-back out anymore. 

A late equalizer gives Independiente del Valle a large moral boost and every chance in the second leg. However, Atlético Nacional will not be too unhappy with the result either, as it sees them move back home requiring a win or a 0-0 draw. They surely have the potential to seal it at home.

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Video highlights

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São Paulo and Atlético Nacional meet in Copa Libertadores semi-final

After a long international break due to the Copa América, the biggest stage of South American club football returns tonight. In Brazil, São Paulo host Atlético Nacional in the first leg of their semifinal. 

São Paulo's Morumbi stadium is ready for tonight.

Following a relatively average start to the new Brazilian league season (10th place and 18 points), the focus shifted to the ultimate competition pretty quickly. São Paulo are in the hunt to win South America's most famous trophy again, for the first time since 2005. This meant that coach Edgardo Bauza rested most of his first XI during their previous league outing. A little surprisingly, they still managed to come away victorious against Fluminense, 2-1. 

The Copa Libertadores winner of 1989, Colombia's Atlético Nacional, have not won their past four games and were eliminated by Atlético Junior in the playoffs for the Clausura title. However, during this international season, the Colombians have been exceptional. A stunning 0.36 goals against per game shows great defensive abilities. Throughout the group stages, they had not conceded a goal. This changed quickly when Huracán and Rosario Central gave them some scares in the following knockout rounds. So far, Atlético Nacional have prevailed and will have to do so again tonight (2:45am CET), likely without the help of one of their best players so far. Farid Díaz is injured and his attacks down the left flank would be severely missed.

Impressive defensive record for Atlético Nacional. (Taken from sporticos.com)

São Paulo on the other hand have a clean bill of health and will look towards Argentine striker Jonathan Calleri, who scored 8 goals in the competition so far and needed 90 minutes per goal. By that same logic, you would be able to expect one from him tonight.

The second leg between the two will be played a week later. São Paulo or Atlético Nacional will face the winner of Independiente del Valle - Boca Juniors in the final (20th and 27th July).

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Copa América hosts drop opener to Colombia

Last night, the Copa América Centenario started in Santa Clara, USA. The hosts dropped their opening match 0-2 to Colombia and are under pressure to win their next game instantly. 

James Rodríguez celebrates his goal against the USA. (Photo: conmebol.com)

Disaster started early on as the Colombians took the lead only eight minutes into the game. Cristián Zapata scored with a thunderous shot from Edwin Cardona's corner. Instead of showing a fast reaction, Jürgen Klinsmann's Americans never found their game and were pretty much chanceless throughout the first 45 minutes. 

Colombia controlled the game and kept finding their Milan striker Carlos Bacca up front, who left out several chances or was whistled offside. While they kept giving away freekicks in their own half, the USA could do near to nothing with them. After 40 minutes, Colombia received the opportunity to double their lead when referee Roberto García awarded the South Americans a penalty. Farid Díaz' cross had previously gone off the hand of DeAndre Yedlin, a correct decision. James Rodríguez left Brad Guzan not the slightest chance, converting it to the bottom right corner (42'). 

If you thought to yourself at halftime that the USA could hardly play any worse, you were proven wrong to start the second 45 minutes. A strangely lifeless performance continued to get even worse, but coach Klinsmann did not elect to react with a substitution. Cardona and Bacca continued to be the most dangerous players on the pitch, endangering Guzan's goal several further times. 

After an hour, the Soccer Boys finally worked out their first big chance. Unsurprisingly, it came from a set piece, as Michael Bradley's corner was headed towards David Ospina's goal by Clint Dempsey, but cleared off the line by Sebastián Pérez. Dempsey continued to shoulder the American attacks afterwards, trying his luck with a shot towards the top corner, countered magnificently by Ospina. Instead of letting his players continue after finally creating some chances, Klinsmann made two substitutions after which the USA was dead again. 

Colombia regained their composure and the endless Bacca marathon continued. Once he was denied by a defender storming back in the last second, another time he hit the crossbar after having Guzan beat already. Towards the end of the game, they even had the physical advantage, receiving a lot of room to counter on top. The USA never got another chance and deservedly lost after an extremely disappointing home performance. 

Coach Klinsmann said after the game: "We are standing with our backs against the wall and we need three points against Costa Rica." To have any chance of winning against their CONCACAF rivals in a few days, they will need a 100% better plan. Paraguay is a very tough opponent they will need points from at the end of the group stage too. Not few have predicted them to be one of the surprises in the Copa América Centenario. In the meantime, Colombia can celebrate a decent start and are well on their way to the quarterfinals. Their only worry is the injury of James Rodríguez, substituted off after falling on his shoulder.

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Copa Libertadores - Quarterfinal preview

Back on February 2, the Copa Libertadores season started with the first round. Ever since then, we moved through group stages and the round of 16 to now await the quarterfinals of this year's competition. Here are all the previews.

Rosario Central - Atlético Nacional

Atlético Nacional's atmospheric home ground. (Photo: ecbloguer.com)

The best team of the group stages, Atlético Nacional, had a little scare against Huracán, but went through with a little luck at the end of the day (4-2 on aggregate). Going to Argentina in the first leg, I am not sure you can still call them the favourites. Rosario Central, after struggling back home in the league in recent weeks, dominated Grêmio completely and knocked them out 4-0 on aggregate. 

Particularly striker star Marco Rubén is slowly but surely regaining his top form if he ever lost it. Three of the four goals scored by Central in the round of 16 came from him. Nevertheless, Central needs a strong game at home in the first leg to build a good foundation ahead of the difficult travel to Colombia a week later. Can they do it? That is for certain. 

The first leg will be played at the Gigante de Arroyito on May 13, 2:45am CET. Atlético Nacional's home leg will take place on May 20 at the same unfortunate time. 

Prediction: A narrow win for Rosario Central. Their individual class, especially their offense, will make the difference in the end. 

São Paulo FC - Atlético Mineiro

A special night can be expected in São Paulo's Morumbi stadium. (Photo: saopaulofc.net)

An all Brazilian clash sees the two remaining sides of the country face each other. If you are a positive person, you will be happy that at least one team from the large football nation makes it to the semifinals for sure. Whichever way you look at it, São Paulo could not convince too much in the round of 16 against Toluca. After smashing them 4-0 in the first leg, the Mexicans nearly made things exciting again with a 3-1 return win. 

With Jonathan Calleri back in the lineup and the team slowly but surely improving its form, São Paulo will have a chance to get a win over their opponents. However, Atlético Mineiro have been the best Brazilian team so far and managed to knock out Argentina's Racing Club in the past round (2-1 on aggregate). Robinho and Pratto have been brilliant and will look to get on the scoresheet again against their countrymen. 

São Paulo's home game will be played at the Morumbi stadium on May 12 at 2:45am CET. The return leg in Belo Horizonte is scheduled for May 19 at 2:45am CET. 

Prediction: Atlético Mineiro probably have the best shot at winning the competition since their triumph in 2013. They will make it past São Paulo FC to face the winner of Atlético Nacional - Rosario Central.

Independiente del Valle - Pumas UNAM

The Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa is ready for Independiente del Valle. (Photo: enquito.com.ec)

Mexico's lonely survivor is facing a surprise team in the quarterfinals. Stunning title holders River Plate with a 2-1 (aggregate) victory, Independiente del Valle relied on at times spectacular goalkeeping. Noone expected them in the quarterfinals, even less after the tragedies in Ecuador. They do not care about expectations and are one of the every-year surprises in the competition.

Independiente's games have all been low scoring ones, minus a 3-2 win over Atlético Mineiro. Despite that fact, Ecuador's team has one of the competition's top goalscorers in Junior Sornoza. His five goals rank 4th among all players. Pumas counter with a top scorer themselves. Ismael Sosa even managed to find the back of the net six times, one of them in the all important 2-0 win over Deportivo Táchira which sealed a place among the last 8 in South America (2-1 agg.).

The first leg in Quito will be played on May 18 at 2:45am CET. The decisive second match takes place in Pumas' Estadio Olímpico Universitario on May 25 (2:45am CET).

Prediction: Independiente del Valle theoretically have no business being here, yet they are. I am still going with Pumas, mainly due to their home strength in Mexico. You can never count out the odd outsider in the Copa Libertadores though.

Nacional - Boca Juniors

Nacional can hopefully count of their support at the Gran Parque Central. (Photo: nacional.uy)

Uruguay's champion has not reached this round since back in 2009. They have a great matchup on their hands as they face the iconic Boca Juniors. While Nacional have been extremely tough to beat (just one loss when they were in the round of 16 already), they do not win a lot either so far. Two wins in group 2, both against Palmeiras, have been it so far. Two draws were enough to get by Corinthians in the past round (2-2 on aggregate). Once again, the Uruguayans will rely on Nico López up front and Esteban Conde who saved them in Brazil as their last backline.

Boca have not lost a single game yet and come into the quarterfinals on a five-game winning streak. In fairness, their opponents have not been the greatest most recently and Cerro Porteño (5-2 on aggregate) were no real indicator of the team's actual strength. Either way, Carlos Tévez has slowly been finding his form and collected 2 goals and 2 assists in the round of 16. Despite their international success, Boca have tremendous injury trouble, especially in midfield where they lost Nicolás Lodeiro most recently.

It is not sure yet, if the game can be played at the Gran Parque Central due to Boca's away support. If not, the Centenario is ready, but it is clearly not Nacional's home ground. The first leg is being played in Uruguay on May 13 at 0:30am CET. The return leg takes place in Argentina on May 20, 0:15am CET. Yay for somewhat European friendly times!

Prediction: Both teams have played great campaigns for their standards so far and look to make it to the last four. Boca will be favourite, but if Nacional can get a result back home, they know how to defend it. They did not lose any away game yet. One thing that is for certain: it will be close.

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Huracán steal draw from heavy favourites

When the best remaining team plays against the worst, you would think it ends with a clear result. Not so much last night: Huracán managed to come away with a goalless draw against Atlético Nacional.

José San Román defends the ball against Jonathan Copete. (Photo: weltsport.net)

Both teams had already met twice in the group stage and while Huracán's home game on matchday 1 ended in a 0-2 loss, the two teams tied 0-0 a week ago. Right from the get-go, the game developed into a pretty chanceless affair. Each team lost a lot of balls going forward and did not really get it done in the final third. 

First Argentine danger was generated on the right wing. Cristian Espinoza was played through with a lovely pass through the still unbeaten (!) Colombian back line, but his cross was not met by anyone in the middle. Next up was experienced midfielder Daniel Montenegro. Following a corner from the left, he reached the ball and tried to hit the far post with a low shot. It went through many legs and produced some trouble for Franco Armani, but the goalkeeper made the save at the end. 

In the aftermath of that scene, Nacional captain Alexander Mejia could have easily been sent off after purposely running into Ramón Abila and knocking the big striker down. He only collected a yellow card and was allowed to continue. 

Not much was seen by the best team of the group stages during the first half and it did not surprise anyone that an Argentine team would go to the halftime break with a 0-0 scoreline after the past weekend. Orlando Berrío probably had the best opportunity for Atlético Nacional, but his header went quite a bit wide. 

The second half started like the first one ended: relatively eventless. About 70 minutes into the game, the visitors finally got a little better and controlled possession more the way they are able to. Alejandro Guerra defended the ball well in midfield and fired a shot from inside the centre-circle. Marcos Díaz had paid attention and caught the ball without any problems though. 

The last chance of the game was very likely the best one. After Luis Carlos Ruiz had headed a long ball further into the run of Berrío, the right midfielder had broken into the opposing penalty area. Díaz was out quickly narrowing down the angle and did well to make the save with his feet after Berrío had tried to nutmeg him. 

At the end of the night, a goalless draw was the right result for a match that simply did not deserve a winner. Atlético Nacional could not replicate the form from their past six outings, but retain a big advantage. Seven games into the Copa Libertadores campaign, they still have not conceded a single goal. It should come in handy at home, even if a 1-1 draw would be enough for Huracán due to the away goal.

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Cerro Porteño catch Santa Fe on finish line

Cerro Porteño have caught Santa Fe on the finish line to the round of 16 the past evening. In the last round of Group 8, Paraguay's champion of early 2015 beat the Colombians by a score of 1-0.

Goalscorer Alonso (#4) celebrates with his teammates. (Photo: Conmebol)

All Santa Fe needed in the legendary Estadio Defensores del Chaco was a draw, but they ended up making it impossible for themselves as bad discipline killed any chance of the current Copa Sudamericana champion. 

The game started off with a first chance for Cerro Porteño, when Junior Alonso fired a shot that was parried away for a corner by opposing goalkeeper Robinson Zapata. Not long after, Santa Fe went down to ten men only 20 minutes into the game. Leyvin Balanta had come up with his second clear yellow card and could not complain about the referee's decision. It was hardly a mean to help his away team reach their needed result in Asunción. 

Unsurprisingly, it was punished soon after by an aggressive, but disciplined enough Paraguayan side. Sadly for Santa Fe, bad came to worse and goalkeeper Zapata made an awful error, basically directing a cross from Junior Alonso into his own net. While Cerro had attacked well on the left wing, the end result left the visitors down disappointed. 1-0 after 34 minutes.

Finally, towards the end of the first half, the 10 Colombians tried to get on the offense a little. Now they needed a goal and Cristian Borja's cross found the foot of Baldomero Perlaza in the middle. The attempt of the young midfielder was saved comfortably though by Antony Silva. Going to halftime, it was Santa Fe that had it all to do in the next 45 minutes.

That was exactly what they tried coming out of the dressing rooms. Coach Gerardo Pelusso made a change that saw striker William Palacio come onto the pitch in the team's hopes to produce more danger up front. Through Luis Sejias, the guests collected their first shot of the second half, but he slipped during his attempt and had it go wide all the time. Shots from distance was a theme now, because both teams failed to get into the last third decisively and accordingly bemoaned a lack of quality scoring opportunities. 

At least until Luís Leal got by a defender with a decent move and fired a shot right at Zapata, who cleared it into the middle. Jonathan Santana had an empty Colombian net and put the chance wide. I cannot tell you how he did it. After an hour, Santa Fe hit the self destruction button for the second time tonight. Yerry Mina produced an incredibly dumb elbow to the head on Cerro's Guillermo Beltrán on the way to the corner flag. 

Despite their lackluster discipline, 9-men Santa Fe had two more huge chances to equalize in the game, firstly through Sergio Otalvaro. The right full-back had made his way down the pitch and suddenly was played through by his teammate and found himself all alone in front of Silva. Instead of shooting, he cut into the middle towards two defenders that made their way back until then. In the end, captain Carlos Bonet cleared the danger admirably. 

A second opportunity came from substitute William Palacio's head after a dangerous freekick had exposed Cerro Porteño's defense yet again. Antony Silva reacted quickly to clear the danger yet again. Logically, the home team received a lot of room to counter as the Colombians threw everything forward towards the end. Big chances from Jorge Rojas and Beltrán went begging though. It did not matter anymore, as the referee blew his full-time whistly without any further scary moment for the Paraguayans. 

Cerro Porteño win 1-0 and therefore advance to the round of 16 along with Corinthians, while Santa Fe have to watch the games from home. A little disappointing campaign for the Sudamericana holders that were surely hoping for more out of this relatively doable group.

Ángel Romero scored twice for Corinthians. (Photo: Conmebol)

Corinthians themselves ended the group stages with a fun outing against Cobresal. The poor Chileans got smacked 6-0 in São Paulo. 

Six goals were a little much to handle for Cobresal, who only celebrated their first three points a week ago against Cerro Porteño. Chile's champion was not even bad, but the Brazilian group winners just brutally effective. 

It did not take Corinthians long to build a two-goal lead on the night. Marlone made it 1-0 after just nine minutes with a powerful (and free) header following a corner, Ángel Romero struck four minutes later with a fantastic solo run, making countless defenders look silly in the process. 

In the stages after the two goals, Cobresal had quite a few chances to get back in the game, but were either denied by goalkeeper Cássio or could simply not finish themselves. Instead, after 39 minutes, it was Corinthians who struck for the third time, an absolutely amazing side volley from Marlone that you need to see below. Right on the stroke of halftime, Guilherme Arana's shot from distance added a fourth Brazilian goal to the mix.

The second half was relatively even until Corinthians decided to score another two in quick succession. Lovely team buildup and an even better finish into the near side high corner from Elías (75') made it 5-0, before Ángel Romero scored his second of the night (77') through converting a speedy low cross from the right.

Obviously, the Brazilians deserved their win last night and the fans got to see an exciting game with chances on both ends. Corinthians were dominating in chance usage.

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Peñarol go out with a bang, Huracán advance

Group 4 had its final games take place in the Copa Libertadores last night. While most decisions had been made already, the fans got to see some attractive games across the continent.

Luís Aguiar. (Photo: turojadirecta.com)

Peñarol had not managed to win a single game yet going into last night's meeting with Sporting Cristal. For 45 minutes, it did not seem like they would today either. Down 1-3 going into the break, the Uruguayans had a massive task ahead of them. They ended up mastering it beautifully. 

Alberto Rodríguez, Cristal's centre-back, gave the visitors an 18th minute lead through a header from Carlos Lobatón's corner. As if that was not enough goalscoring for a defender, he added another one just six minutes later. After another corner, this time from the left, confusion broke out in Peñarol's area. The ball was not cleared and Rodríguez was there to pick up the pieces and smash it home.

It took the hosts a little while to get the game back under control. Once they did, they made it count right away. Luís Aguiar's shot (30') was fantastic and left Diego Penny in Cristal's goal no chance to make a save. In their brandnew stadium, they were back in the game, at least for seven minutes. That was how long it took the Peruvians to add a third goal. Gabriel Costa's through ball found the run of Irven Ávila and the striker left no doubts by scoring his seventh career goal in the Copa Libertadores. Down 1-3 at home and staring into the face of a complete disaster, Peñarol's coach Pablo Bengoechea ended up making three game-changing substitutions throughout the second half.

Cristian Palacios, Nicolás Albarracín and Hernán Novick entered the pitch up until the 69th minute. By now, Uruguay's Apertura winner had come up with increasing pressure onto Penny's goal and finally made it count in quick succession. Who else but Hernán Novick would score two goals right after coming on. Firstly, goalkeeper Penny could not handle a Palacios shot, deflecting it right in front of Novick's feet and the midfielder only had to slot it home (72'). Tied game after 81 minutes: Palacios' run created a lot of space for Novick in the middle again and he used his colleague's assist with a great finish to the far post. 

At the end of the night, Peñarol even took all three points away from Sporting Cristal who so desperately needed them to try and advance to the round of 16. A long ball to the right side found the run of Novick and he crossed it right into the danger zone. Palacios got to the ball and was beaten by a great reaction from Penny, but there was only so much the goalkeeper could do. Third super-sub Albarracín was first to get on the rebound and finished the game off by scoring the fourth and last goal to give his team a spectacular 4-3 victory. 

Peñarol won their final Libertadores game for some time deservedly. While they were out before, this win puts them ahead of Sporting Cristal, with 5 points. The Peruvians, with 4, join their Uruguayan opponents on the tv screen ahead of the round of 16.

Lots of battles, but no goals between Atlético Nacional and Huracán. (Photo: Conmebol)

As lucky as Atlético Nacional were to win all three points the last time around against Sporting Cristal, last night was an unlucky one for the comfortable group winners. Against Huracán, the Colombians dominated from start to finish, not allowing a single shot on goal against. Still, it was only enough for a 0-0 draw on the night.

Especially towards the end of the game, the hosts created a lot of pressure on their Argentine visitors. The chances were there for Atlético Nacional: Farid Díaz' shot from distance that hit the crossbar, Víctor Ibarbo's header wide, another Díaz attempt that sneaked past the far post. After a long cross, El Globo defender Federico Mancinelli even came close to scoring an own goal, but Marcos Díaz saved his side from further problems with a great reaction. 

It was just not meant to be for the Colombians today, who finished the group with 16 from a possible 18 points. In particular left-back Farid Díaz had an outstanding game and was present in nearly every highlight of the night. Atlético Nacional are ready for whoever they might face in the round of 16. Huracán needed a point to go through and they got it as well. The Argentines will need a lot of improvements though before thinking about beating a group winner which they will face.

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Peñarol crash out while Atlético Nacional stays invincible

The group stages of this year's Copa Libertadores are reaching their decisive time. Last night, four games were being played.

Uruguay's Apertura winner Peñarol travelled to Argentina to take on Huracán in a must-win game. Having only collected one point previous to last night, Diego Forlán & Co. had it all to do against the in-form team. Sadly, for them, it was over before it really started.

Marcel Novick fights for the ball with Huracán's Matías Fritzler. (Photo: Conmebol)

The opening stages were not too eventful, both teams had a chance they could not convert. Instead, midfielder Nahitan Nández got himself sent off after just 23 minutes. His challenge was a clear and stupid attack on Mauro Bogado's health, leaving his Peñarol teammates down to 10 men early. The visitors had to react early and take off one of their goalscorers from the past weekend, Nicolás Albarracín, to fill the gaping hole in central midfield. 

While the game continued to be pretty even throughout most of the first half, Peñarol stood no chance in the second and was very lucky to get away with a 0-0 draw last night. Heavy pressure from El Globo ended in big chances for Ezequiel Miralles, Hugo Nervo or José San Román, to name a few. Especially the left side with Miralles and Romero was Huracán's focal point of attack, pushing their visitors back around their own penalty area. Goalkeeper Gastón Guruceaga made tremendous saves on multiple occasions and kept the clean sheet at the end.

Both teams actually got the ball into the back of the net late, Huracán from an offside position, while Guruceaga wanted to become the matchwinner for the Uruguayans on the other end. His header went in, but clearly after an offensive foul on his goalkeeping colleague Marcos Díaz.

For Peñarol, one point is not enough. Bad performances throughout the group stage have eliminated the club from the competition. When recalling their first won point against Sporting Cristal, it was a very lucky one as well, so elimination is far from undeserved. Diego Forlán will have to attack his dream again next season. Huracán meanwhile are close to advancing to the round of 16, barring a loss of their five goal advantage to Sporting Cristal during the last round.

Víctor Ibarbo. (Photo: Conmebol)

That very same Sporting Cristal faced already advanced Atlético Nacional last night. The Colombians stayed invincible with a 0-1 away win, but were the worse team for the first time during these group stages.

Peru's vice champion played forward right from the get-go and still it was the favourite who took the lead 13 minutes in. Defender Alberto Rodríguez saw no other option to stop Víctor Ibarbo than to foul him from behind. The Colombian had previously produced an outstanding run through the whole Peruvian half. Ibarbo himself stepped up and converted the spotkick comfortably.

It took Cristal a while to get over conceding the first goal of the game. Towards the end of the first half, they regained control of their home game. Santiago Silva had the biggest chance for the hosts as he suddenly found himself in possession right in front of the goal following a weak punch by Franco Armani. The goalkeeper made up for it by closing the striker down quickly and making the second effort save. After yet another deflection fell onto the foot of Silva, he shot it wide.

The second half was literally all Sporting Cristal, but despite dominating in possession (55%), shots (13-7) or corners (13-0), Peru's survivor could simply not find an equalizer. They tried to speed up the game by executing set pieces quickly, but lacked final precision in their attacks, especially when time ran out on them. Still, Carlos Lobatón did well and created one good scene after the other.

It ended with just the one goal being scored and it leads to Atlético Nacional collecting 15 out of 15 possible points. They will most likely be the #1 seed for the round of 16. As previously mentioned, Sporting Cristal needs to make up a 5 goal disadvantage over Huracán in their final game to advance.

Elsewhere in the Copa Libertadores

San Lorenzo find themselves on the verge of elimination after yet another attempted fail to win in this season's competition. Despite holding a lead until the 82nd minute, the Argentines lost 2-1 away to Deportivo Toluca. Nicolás Blandi had given the visitors the lead right before halftime, but Colombian striker Fernando Uribe turned out to be the Mexican supporters' hero. He scored twice (82', 88') to turn a seemingly lost game into a win. Toluca are assured group victory, San Lorenzo are out with a Grêmio win tonight over last place LDU Quito.

Trujillanos made affairs in Group 1 exciting again by winning their home game against The Strongest 2-1. A penalty in the fourth minute of added time proved decisive on the night. It was Maurice Cova who decided the game late, after Carlos Sosa (32') and an own goal from Hector Perez (67') had previously produced a tied game. The Bolivian visitors with the tiger in their logo could have come close to advancing, but are held to 7 points, one behind River Plate. They are followed by São Paulo FC (5) and Trujillanos (4). Despite their win, Venezuela's subcampeón is eliminated from the competition already.

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River score six, spectacle in Rosario

The Copa Libertadores did not disappoint in its return for the second night in a row. Yesterday, 24 goals were scored in 5 games and Germancopa has you covered on all of them.

4.8 goals per game would be a pretty decent number, right? Title holders River Plate kicked things off the past night and did not show their league face at all. While struggling heavily home in Argentina, River lead their Libertadores Group 1 comfortably. They beat The Strongest 6-0.

Andrés D'Alessandro.

It was a first half for the ages in El Monumental, as River struck five times in the first 45 minutes alone. Andrés D'Alessandro (14'), Ignacio Fernández (26'), Camilo Mayada (30'), Emanuel Mammana (42') and Lucas Alario (45') were the goalscorers early on. As you guessed by now, the Bolivian visitors did not have the slightest chance and were outplayed by their opponents from start to finish.

In particular the first one from D'Ale was beautifully created and the offensive midfielder himself could show his full qualities. First he went by three defenders and played a lovely pass to Mayada. He backheeled the ball towards D'Alessandro and the Argentine finished into the near side with a precise poke. Expectedly, Andrés D'Alessandro's celebration was very emotional after scoring his first goal back in a River shirt.

The Strongest had their best chance when it was 3-0 against them already, but Iván Alonso's brother Matías shot it wide across the face of goal. Iván himself came on towards the end of the game to have a brother's duel in the Copa Libertadores.

Ignacio Fernández added his second goal in the 83rd minute to give River their 6-0 victory and maybe a catapult out of their crisis. The round of 16 is very close for them (8 points), but The Strongest are not done either despite their heavy loss. They hold on to the second spot (7), followed by São Paulo (5) and Trujillanos (1, eliminated).

Prolific figure in Rosario: Palmeiras' Gabriel. (Photo: es-us.deportes.yahoo.com)

In Group 2, Rosario Central was involved in yet another goal spectacle this season. Against Brazilian cup winners Palmeiras, the Argentines drew 3-3.

Gabriel Jesus was the man of the first half for the visiting team as he scored two goals. One came early (5'), after a disastrous back pass from Damián Musto right into the run of Gabriel. Musto knew it as soon as it left his foot, but there was nothing anyone could do anymore. His second goal came right at the brink of halftime via header (45'+1), assisted by Robinho's freekick cross. It was a little surprising at the time, because Central had started to dominate about 15 minutes in and equalized in the meantime through centre-back Alejandro Donatti's deflected freekick (33').

Still, it went to halftime with a lucky Brazilian lead. Central dominated the match with 70% possession and nice football, but at the end of the night, Palmeiras actually had the more precise attack which produced a higher amount of shots on target.

Gabriel nearly made completed his hattrick to start the second half, was only denied by the woodwork on his powerful attempt. Instead, Central got their deserved equalizer after 51 minutes through one of their young talented offensive midfielders, Franco Cervi. Teammate Gustavo Colman produced a lovely freekick variation into the horizontal run of Cervi who was simply forgotten by Palmeiras' defenders.

The visitors brought on Lucas Barrios up front and Zé Roberto for defensive insurance, but it backfired for the time being. Referee Olmedo awarded Central a penalty after Musto was pulled down in the area. If anyone gets on the scoresheet regularly for Rosario Central, it is striker Marco Rubén and he left no doubts today either with his penalty into the bottom right corner (67').

The Argentines had the game where they wanted it now, but gave the lead away again just ten minutes later. Despite having the numerical advantage after Gabriel's brainless red card (74'), substitute Lucas Barrios was found all alone on Egidio's freekick and produced the final score of 3-3.

Rosario Central and Nacional have 8 points, while Palmeiras follows them with 5. At the bottom are Uruguay's River Plate with 2 points. A point tonight for Nacional gets them into the round of 16.

Elsewhere in the Copa Libertadores

Independiente del Valle surprised Atlético Mineiro with a 3-2 home victory. Man of the match was Junior Sornoza who scored two goals and therefore put the game out of Atlético's reach. Group 5 sees both teams close to advancing (10 points each), as Colo Colo (5) have a must-win game against Melgar ahead of them to have any chance.

After a 0-1 away lead, Olimpia could not hold onto their lead in Mexico. Already advanced Pumas UNAM scored four on their Paraguayan opponents in the second half. Ismael Sosa found the back of the net for the fifth time in the competition this year and leads the way along with Jonathan Calleri. In Venezuela, they also celebrated Pumas' win, because it puts Deportivo Táchira through to the next round, while Emelec and Olimpia have to go home.

Finally, Santa Fe and Corinthians met in Group 8. It remains led by the Brazilian side after a 1-1 draw in Colombia last night. Antony Otero gave Santa Fe the lead (45'), which was equalized by Elías after 58 minutes. Cerro Porteño have a game in hand against the pointless Chileans from Cobresal and can move into a round of 16 spot in the upcoming week.

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Incredible games across South American leagues

When I looked through results of all the South American leagues to update the club ranking on Germancopa, I was amazed by what happened in multiple games. There were absolute goalfests in several leagues, so I had to write a little post about it.

Gol, gol, gol, gol: Roberto Gamarra. (Photo: abc.com.py)

Two of those games were played over in Paraguay. Olimpia seemed to slowly but surely regain their form that makes them one of the top teams of the country. After slaughtering General Caballero 7-1 last week, they followed it up with a 6-0 victory over league leading Sol de América. Take a look yourself:

General Caballero seems to suffer from a general result crisis. After getting thrashed by Olimpia, they suffered a spectacular 3-7 loss to Deportivo Capiatá. In the process of that game, Capiatá's Roberto Gamarra scored four goals, including a natural hattrick to end the game after it was 3-4 for a short while. The 34-year old striker played for nine Paraguayan clubs already, but had a career game now.

Over in Colombia, in-form Atlético Nacional scored 7 as well. Against newly promoted Atlético Bucaramanga, that did not turn out to be particularly problematic. Andrés Ibarguen started the game off with a hattrick, while Guerra, Ruiz, Bocanegra and Quiñónes added another four in the second half. Since the defense was up to par as well, it ended 7-0. Surprisingly, it was Bucaramanga's first loss of the season, as they drew eight times previously. More of this type of action, please!

Santiago Wanderers relied on the goals from Carlos Muñoz on the weekend. (Photo: elepicentro.cl)

Let us take a look towards Chile's league together, where Santiago Wanderers and Universidad de Chile pulled off a fantastic show for the fans and viewers around the globe. Roberto Saldías had given Wanderers a 2-0 lead inside four minutes, but it was equalized through Leonardo Valencia and Sebastián Ubilla by halftime. The second 45 were striker territory. Carlos Muñoz struck three times inside 13 minutes to give the home team a 5-2 lead. They nearly lost it again towards the end, as Leonardo Valencia's second and Patricio Rubio's first goal set up an exciting last few minutes. 5-4 was the final score and most of all a big reason to watch Chilean football, if you do not already.

Finally, our #5 pick of the week goes to Bolivia. Jorge Wilstermann played Club Ciclón and it was a fun day up in the mountains. League leaders Wilstermann celebrated their sixth win of the season by beating their opponents 4-3 in a back and forth affair. Marcelo Bergese gave the hosts the lead after 11 minutes, but three more goals before the break saw the game tied 2-2 at halftime. Juan Vogliotto (68') thought his goal had given Ciclón all three points, but two late strikes from Óscar Diaz (86') and Marcelo Bergese's penalty (90') sealed the game for the favourites. Here are all the goals in video form:

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