In a very contentious game where everything was at stake, Lima Alliance They lost 1-0 to Atlético Mineiro at the Alejandro Villanueva Stadium and bid farewell to a chance to advance to the next round of the 2023 Copa Libertadores.
With the sole aim of adding three more sides to stay alive in the continental tournament, Guillermo Salas’ side presented a more aggressive plan than in the first leg in Brazil. The Blue and Whites didn’t have an easy task as the Frenchman showed his fangs and created some dangerous situations in Ángelo Campos’ goal.
Likewise, the two-time Peruvian soccer champion featured a very committed Christian Cueva, who tried to team up with Bryan Reyna and Hernán Barcos to prevent Everson’s goal; However, the lack of calm in the last quarter of the court prevented this intimate Turn your chances into points.
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The second half was to determine the winner of the game, as after a counterattack by Atlético Mineiro, Hulk (62′) stopped in front of goal after a pass from Paulinho to easily decide and open the scoring for the visitors.
celebrates Hulk was the author of the game’s only goal. Photo: spread
Despite the goal, Alianza didn’t give up and went for the tie. Hope would knock on the hosts’ door after a penalty in the 75th minute for a handball from Nathan Silva; That illusion vanished, however, when the VAR intervened and nullified the maximum penalty for a previous offside by Hernán Barcos.
The Blue and Whites kept advancing towards the opponent’s zone and made several overtures to the Brazilian side’s goal in the final minutes of the game. But the cast of Young couldn’t escape defeat which sees them eliminated from the Copa Libertadores after being five points adrift of second place and with one game to play.
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After the game, the intimate players expressed their disagreement about not getting the three points against the Belo Horizonte team. “It hurts because we needed something more, we practiced the game a lot. “We didn’t create a lot of situations, they came from a lack of focus and we know they won in detail in games like this with rivals like this,” said Barcos, who also offered some criticism of the way they used VAR .
On the other hand, Atlético Mineiro secured their place in the Libertadores round of 16 and will try to finish the group stage on top of the away game against Libertad, who lost to Libertad Athletico Paranensein Paraguay.
With no chance of progressing further in international competition, Alianza Lima will try to qualify for the knockout stages of the Copa Sudamericana when they take on Paranaense on Tuesday 27 June at the Arena da Baixada.
Alliance extends drought against Brazilians
The defeat against Atlético Mineiro has not only thrown Alianza Lima out of the race Libertadores Cupbut also extended the Blue and Whites’ losing streak against Brazilian clubs.
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The last time the Intimate prevailed against a side from Samba land was in 1997. The rival was Cruzeiro and Alianza won the game by the slightest difference with a goal from Waldir Sáenz.
The side, led by Guillermo Salas, will be looking to end this dry spell of victories against Brazilian sides when they visit Athletico Paranaense.