Fluminense targets Palmeiras’ record in debuts and defends unbeaten record in the Libertadores | fluminense

Fluminense plays its first match in the Conmebol Libertadores this Wednesday, against Alianza Lima, at 9:30 pm (Brasília time), at the Alejandro Villanueva Stadium. In addition to starting the journey to defend its title, as it is the current champion, Tricolor is also playing to maintain a writing: in the nine previous editions of the competition that he played in, he was never defeated in his debut.

Marcello Neves brings information about Fluminense straight from Lima

Fluminense has five wins and four draws in the first nine editions they played. The utilization rate is 70.37%.

The numbers give Fluminense the condition of being the second Brazilian with the best performance in Libertadores debuts. Tricolor only loses to Palmeiras in this regard, with Alviverdes scoring 88.89% — 15 wins and three draws.

Interestingly, against Alianza Lima, Fluminense will repeat an event that started the title campaign: in 2023, they also made their debut in Lima, Peru. On that occasion, they beat Sporting Cristal by a score of 3 to 1. The match takes place at the Monumental Stadium. O ge remembers the debuts in the competition:

Buoyed by the 1970 Brazilian title, Fluminense played its first game in the competition against Palmeiras. In São Paulo, Mário Jorge Zagallo’s team won two to zero, with two goals from striker Flávio Minuano.

Even with the victory in their debut, the team failed to qualify for the second phase. In the last two games of the group stage, Flu lost to the modest Deportivo Itália, from Venezuela, and suffered a revenge against Palmeiras, which was the only team that advanced in the group – Deportivo Galicia, also from Venezuela, was the bottom of the group. key.

The script for the 1985 Libertadores was similar to that of 1971. Brazilian champions in 1984, Flu debuted in the following year’s continental tournament against Vasco. The classic at that time brought together great players. On the tricolor side, the “Casal 20” formed by Washington and Assis was at its peak. Already at Vasco, Roberto Dinamite helped Romário in the first steps of his career.

The match was the height of the stars who were on the field. Romerito (twice) and Leomir scored for Tricolor, while Roberto Dinamite and Nenê (also twice) found the net for Vasco in the 3-3 draw at Maracanã.

The group of death, however, complicated life for coach Nelsinho’s team. The team lost twice to future champion Argentinos Juniors, drew again with Vasco and had a draw and a defeat against Ferro Carril Oeste, from Argentina. With just four points, Flu finished the group stage without qualifying, in third place.

After 23 years without playing in a single edition, Fluminense returned to the Libertadores in 2008 to have their best campaign. In their debut, the team played out a goalless draw against LDU in the altitude of Quito, Ecuador.

The rest of the campaign, however, was almost perfect. Undefeated, the team advanced first in the group that still included Arsenal de Sarandí and Libertad. Ranked second in the group, LDU became Flu’s tormentors throughout the competition, beating Tricolor on penalties in the final and winning the cup in the middle of Maracanã.

Best moments: Fluminense 2 x 2 Argentinos Juniors in group 3 of the 2011 Libertadores

In 2011, Fluminense again qualified for the Libertadores after being Brazilian champions the previous year. This time, the debut was at the Nilton Santos Stadium against Argentinos Juniors. On the rise at the time, Rafael Moura found the back of the net twice to help Tricolor come away with a 2-2 draw.

With one of the best squads in Brazil at the time, Fluminense defeated Arsenal de Sarandí in their debut, 1-0, with a goal from Fred. The team advanced first in the group that still included Boca Juniors and Zamora, from Venezuela.

After eliminating Internacional in the round of 16, Tricolor ended up falling to finalist Boca Juniors in the quarterfinals. With several absences, the team lost the first duel in a controversial game 1-0, at La Bombonera, and drew 1-1 in the return match.

The year 2013 marked the first time that the team managed to reach three consecutive Libertadores in its history. The first game was competitive. In a difficult clash against Caracas, in the Venezuelan capital, Flu emerged victorious thanks to a great goal from Fred.

Best moments: Fluminense 1 x 1 River Plate, in the 1st round of the Libertadores

The team came first, followed by River Plate, in second. Colombians Junior Barranquilla and Santa Fé came in third and fourth place, respectively. After passing Cerro Porteño, from Paraguay, in the round of 16, the team fell to Barcelona de Guayaquil, in the quarterfinals.

Millonarios’ goals 1 x 2 Fluminense, in the Libertadores

The year before last, Fluminense competed in the preliminary phase of the Libertadores for the first time and ended up being eliminated before reaching the group stage. But he debuted with victory in the first knockout stage in Bogotá, Colombia, against Millonarios at an altitude of 2,552 meters above sea level. In a packed stadium, Tricolor made use of its technical quality to score 2-1 and take the advantage to Rio.

The Colombians even took the lead with a goal from Sosa just six minutes into the game, but Fluminense reacted at the end of the first half and tied with David Braz. In the final stage, top scorer Germán Cano (always him!) appeared to turn the match around. The tricolor classification was confirmed with a 2-0 in the return game in São Januário (Maracanã was closed to change the pitch).

Sporting Cristal 1 x 3 Fluminense | Best moments | CONMEBOL Libertadores 2023

Fluminense debuted on the right foot in the Libertadores. In Marcelo’s first game, Tricolor beat Sporting Cristal 3-1 at the Estadio Nacional de Lima, in Peru. The team started losing the match after a mistake by Felipe Melo that led to Grimaldo’s goal. Still in the first half, however, Cano managed to equalize after a corner kick. In the final stage, the Argentine scored another after a beautiful pass from Marcelo for Arias to provide the assist. At the end, defender Vitor Mendes gave final results to the match with a beautiful header.

On November 4, 2023, Fluminense would win the Conmebol Libertadores.

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