La Furia
Legion of Doooom
Everyone's favourite competition is back in action!
Here's how the first set of matches went:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Copa_Libertadores_Second_Stage
Group 1:
The Strongest
worthy upset Santos at home. Granted playing in La Paz is never easy, so all save the schadenfreude for the next time Santos screws up. But yes, Neymar was a non-factor. The Bolivians with the coolest name in football are joint leaders with perennial Libertadores powerhouse Internacional, who easily beat Peruvian side Juan Aurich in Porto Alegre.
Group 2:
Emelic beat Olimpia 1-0 in Ecuador, Flamengo and Lanús played out a 1-1 draw in Argentina. Nothing much to say about this as I didn't pay attention to either. Emelic leads the group but this one can go to anyone.
Group 3:
A weak group, Chilean side Unión Española have the advantage leading after the first games by easily beating Colombian side Junior de Barranquilla at home, while fellow Chileans Universidad Católica hurt their chances with a poor draw against Bolívar at home.
Group 4:
Fluminense took a very important lead by narrowly beating everyone's favourite Argentinian club with no fans, Arsenal de Sarandí, in Brazil. Boca Juniors played to a 0-0 draw against Zamora in Venezuela.
Group 5:
One of two groups where 2 teams have played 2 matches already, also one of the best groups on paper. Vasco da Gama and Nacional are two of the most exciting teams in South America right now, and in their first matchup the Uruguayans upset Vasco in Brazil. But the group is currently being lead by Paraguayan side Libertad, who easily killed group whipping boy Alianza Lima last week, and then last night upset Nacional in Paraguay. It was a deserved win too, the Paraguayans outplayed Gallardo's team. Vasco now have a must win game against Alianza Lima in Brazil on March 6th.
Group 6:
Cruz Azul, my favourite Mexican team, leads after beating Nacional (the Paraguayan edition) in Asunción, while Corinthians and Deportivo Táchira both have 1 point after drawing in Venezuela.
Group 7:
Vélez Sársfield are a class apart here, and showed it by killing joint leaders (though Vélez have a game in hand) Defensor Sporting in Montevideo. Defensor have 3 points in 2 games after beating Deportivo Quito at home, while Deportivo are in poor shape with 1 point in as many games. Chivas de Guadalajara drew with Deportivo in Mexico in their one game played.
Group 8:
"Barcelona of the Americas" Universidad de Chile are showing the effects of losing breakout star Eduardo Vargas as they were slaughtered in Colombia against Atlético Nacional on tuesday. Yesterday Godoy Cruz won a close, exciting game against Peñarol in Mendoza that could have gone either way, settled by an excellent strike by Diego Villar.
I will be back for an update in March.
Here's how the first set of matches went:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Copa_Libertadores_Second_Stage
Group 1:
The Strongest
worthy upset Santos at home. Granted playing in La Paz is never easy, so all save the schadenfreude for the next time Santos screws up. But yes, Neymar was a non-factor. The Bolivians with the coolest name in football are joint leaders with perennial Libertadores powerhouse Internacional, who easily beat Peruvian side Juan Aurich in Porto Alegre. Group 2:
Emelic beat Olimpia 1-0 in Ecuador, Flamengo and Lanús played out a 1-1 draw in Argentina. Nothing much to say about this as I didn't pay attention to either. Emelic leads the group but this one can go to anyone.
Group 3:
A weak group, Chilean side Unión Española have the advantage leading after the first games by easily beating Colombian side Junior de Barranquilla at home, while fellow Chileans Universidad Católica hurt their chances with a poor draw against Bolívar at home.
Group 4:
Fluminense took a very important lead by narrowly beating everyone's favourite Argentinian club with no fans, Arsenal de Sarandí, in Brazil. Boca Juniors played to a 0-0 draw against Zamora in Venezuela.
Group 5:
One of two groups where 2 teams have played 2 matches already, also one of the best groups on paper. Vasco da Gama and Nacional are two of the most exciting teams in South America right now, and in their first matchup the Uruguayans upset Vasco in Brazil. But the group is currently being lead by Paraguayan side Libertad, who easily killed group whipping boy Alianza Lima last week, and then last night upset Nacional in Paraguay. It was a deserved win too, the Paraguayans outplayed Gallardo's team. Vasco now have a must win game against Alianza Lima in Brazil on March 6th.
Group 6:
Cruz Azul, my favourite Mexican team, leads after beating Nacional (the Paraguayan edition) in Asunción, while Corinthians and Deportivo Táchira both have 1 point after drawing in Venezuela.
Group 7:
Vélez Sársfield are a class apart here, and showed it by killing joint leaders (though Vélez have a game in hand) Defensor Sporting in Montevideo. Defensor have 3 points in 2 games after beating Deportivo Quito at home, while Deportivo are in poor shape with 1 point in as many games. Chivas de Guadalajara drew with Deportivo in Mexico in their one game played.
Group 8:
"Barcelona of the Americas" Universidad de Chile are showing the effects of losing breakout star Eduardo Vargas as they were slaughtered in Colombia against Atlético Nacional on tuesday. Yesterday Godoy Cruz won a close, exciting game against Peñarol in Mendoza that could have gone either way, settled by an excellent strike by Diego Villar.
I will be back for an update in March.
Last edited:
Hat trick for Junior Fernandes. 
A Cobreloa product like Asexis.
