Cinco times estrangeiros para evitar na Libertadores
The South American football finally knows the 32 teams of the 2024 Libertadores – Uruguayan team Nacional was the last one to secure a spot in the group stage, by eliminating Always Ready from Bolivia.
With the participants defined, SDA delved deep into the teams involved to point out the five foreign teams that should be avoided at all costs for your team to go far in the continental competition.
River Plate
The team from Buenos Aires is known for being the Brazilian teams’ favorite opponent in the Libertadores, with 22 losses in 50 games, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is the strongest foreign force in the competition today. They are the last non-Brazilian team to win in 2018. They were finalists in 2019, when they lost to Flamengo. They are the current Argentine champions and recently defeated Estudiantes in the final of the Argentine Super Cup. They play at the new Monumental de Nuñez, the largest stadium in South America with a capacity for over 84 thousand fans.
Independiente del Valle
The recent giant slayer of Brazilian teams in international competitions. They won the South American Super Cup over Flamengo and previously the South American Cup over São Paulo. They have an impressive record against Brazilian teams, with 12 wins, four draws, and nine losses, despite only having a professional team since 1996.
Talleres
The team from Córdoba has little tradition inside and outside Argentina, but has emerged both nationally and internationally. They were the third highest spender on reinforcements in 2023 among all 32 group stage teams in the 2024 Libertadores, behind only Flamengo and River Plate, according to FIFA’s report. They entered the 2024 Libertadores as the Argentine team with the best overall performance in the previous season.
LDU
The reigning champion of the South American Cup over Fortaleza, the Ecuadorian team is very experienced in international competitions, taking advantage of playing at altitude – 2,850m in Quito – to their favor. Unlike Bolivian teams who only rely on the thin air, LDU also knows how to play football. Their record against Brazilian teams in Ecuador speaks for itself: 17 wins, four draws, and seven losses.
Peñarol
The last team on the list may seem to be there out of respect for Uruguayan football, but it’s not just that. The most successful team in the neighboring country has a strong presence, a stadium that commands respect – the Campeón Del Siglo with its 40,000 seats, is in good form at the start of the season, and has a coach who knows Brazilian football inside out, Diego Aguirre, with recent stints at Santos, Internacional, Atlético Mineiro, and São Paulo.
The draw for the Libertadores groups will take place next Monday, the 18th, at 8:00 PM (Brasília time). Five out of the seven Brazilian teams are in pot 1, thus avoiding the risk of facing River Plate, Peñarol and LDU, all in pot 1 as well.
The most likely scenario is that a Brazilian team will face Independiente del Valle (pot 2) or Talleres (pot 3) in the group stage. It may also happen that a Brazilian team will have the “luck” to face both teams in this phase of the Libertadores.
