The celebration of Luiz Felipe Scolari. Photo: Pablo REUTERS / Rodolfo Buhrer
Atletico Paranaense showed this Tuesday that the Copa Libertadores has no cuckoos. Because in the first leg of the semifinals they defeated the unbeatable Palmeiras until now and with the 1-0 they took a first advantage that jeopardizes Verdao’s intention to win the three-time Scudetto in the maximum South American tournament for clubs.
At the Arena da Baixada stadium, in the city of Curitiba, the local team won with the solitary conquest of Alex Santana, in the 23rd minute of the first half.
Chilean referee Roberto Tobar expelled midfielder Hugo Moura, from the winning cast, at 24m. of the second period, for having committed an intentional hand ball while he was already booked.
Quick and decisive those led by Luiz Felipe Scolari (who is also the emblem of Palmeiras) in the first 45 minutes, where they hit in one of the first offensive forays in the “Verdao” area, which drags an unbeaten of 18 games in this competition.
About 23 minutes there was a Khelven center, which was lowered with solvency by the little boy Vitor Roque and allowed Alex Santana to define with mastery.
In the second half the San Paolo team did not have the fluidity and circulation of the other matches and complained of not being able to equalize the score, despite enjoying numerical superiority for just over 20 minutes.
Tucuman winger Tomás Cuello (formerly Atlético Tucumán) joined the local team in the second half, while striker José López (formerly Lanús) started in Palmeiras, although he was replaced in closing by Wesley Ribeiro.
The rematch will be played next week, Tuesday 6 September, at the Allianz Parque in San Paolo.
Source: Clarin
