As soon as the judge was last blowing the whistle in the game against Santos who was worth the Corinthians to return to a Paulista Championship final after a five -year hiatus, players and fans already aimed at the next commitment in another competition.
On Wednesday (12), the alvinegro will have the difficult mission to reverse the unfavorable score of 3 to 0 against the Ecuadorians of Barcelona de Guayaquil, in a duel in Itaquera valid for the third phase of pre-liberators. The game is worth the coveted place in the group stage of the continental competition.
“Today was a very important step for what will happen on Wednesday. Working, humility, foot on the floor, Corinthians is that. We know that they have hope and quality to reverse the situation,” said Argentine midfielder Rodrigo Garro, author of Belo Gol that sacracted the victory against the beach team.
“From tomorrow [segunda-feira]let’s prepare for the grand final of Wednesday. We have to prepare very well to reverse this result, “said Yuri Alberto, the club’s top scorer of the season, with six goals.
Alvinegro reported that shirt 9, which opened the scoring against Santos, suffered a trauma in the left ankle after the hard entrance of defender Zé Ivaldo, but had no injury found in assessment of the medical department.
In the stands of Neo Chemistry Arena, the fans endorsed the attitude of athletes with shouts of “It’s Wednesday!”.
Ramón Díaz’s men go to the decisive game packed by the screams of the aficionados to try to avoid an early elimination.
The first and most traumatic was in 2011, when the team, with Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos and under the command of Tite, fell to Tolima, from Colombia, after a 0-0 draw at Pacaembu and a 2-0 victory of the home owners in Ibagué.
On the way back to Sao Paulo, the players were received with protests from the fans. With the failure in the project to return to the competition and the pressure of the fans, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos left the club-the striker retired, while the left back went to Anzhi, from Russia.
It was the first time that a Brazilian team fell into pre-liberators, which began in 2005. In 2017, with the increase in the number of participants, the model with three phases was instituted, with Brazilians entering the second.
Corinthians would get the classification in 2015, when it hit the Once Caldas, also from Colombia. In 2020, he would be eliminated again in the second phase of the preliminary, this time by Guarani, from Paraguay, in a game marked by early expulsion of midfielder Pedrinho.
In this year’s edition, the Parque São Jorge club found difficulties in its debut. Favorite against Universidad Central, from Venezuela, Corinthians was only in the draw in Caracas and got a sweaty 3-2 win in São Paulo.
Following the defeat by three goals against Barcelona, there were heated charges between the players in the locker room and Argentine coach Ramón Díaz-that guided the team in the final stretch of the Brazilian Championship and secured the pre-libertadores place-was in a delicate situation.
“The fans cried asking me please to save them [do rebaixamento no Brasileiro]. We classify for Libertadores, we are in the semifinal [do Paulista]we are working, growing up. But there are times when a team surpasses you and you need to face this situation, which happens in football, “said Ramón after the defeat in Ecuador.
Assistant and son of the coach, Emiliano Díaz sought to put hot cloths in his father’s statements, which caused irritation in sectors of the stands.
“Everything is clarified, we talked to who we had to talk to. They promised that fourth will be extraordinary, and I have no doubt that it will be like this,” Emiliano said after the state classification.
“We are confident of what will happen on Wednesday and we hope it will be a party. We hope to be up, especially in the psychological aspect, to be calm to control the game at certain times and be able to attack when we have the chance,” said the assistant.
A new early drop in Libertadores can disrupt Corinthians’ plans in Paulista himself, which has the dates of the finals scheduled for March 16 and 27.
Only five teams managed to reverse such an unfavorable score in Libertadores. The last one was in 2017, when River Plate lost 3-0 from Jorge Wilstermann, from Bolivia, in Cochabamba, and made 8-0 in Buenos Aires, for the quarterfinals.
While Corinthians arrives packed, Barcelona embittered in their last appointment, on Saturday (8), a 4-0 defeat by Independiente del Valle in Guayaquil.
Botafogo – current champion in crisis -, Flamengo, Palmeiras, Fortaleza, Internacional and São Paulo are the Brazilians already classified for the group stage of Libertadores.
After eliminating Bolivia’s The Strongest, Bahia was in a goalless draw in the Uruguayan Boston River match and decides the place next Thursday (13) at 9:30 pm at the Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador.
Corinthians participation in Libertadores since 2011
- 2011-Eliminated in the second phase of pre-liberators by Tolima
- 2012 – Champion, beating Boca Juniors in the decision
- 2013 – Eliminated in the round of 16 by Boca Juniors
- 2015 – Eliminated in the round of 16 by Guarani
- 2016 – Eliminated in the round of 16 by the National
- 2018-Eliminated in the round of 16 by Colo-Colo
- 2020-Eliminated in the second phase of pre-liberators by Guarani
- 2022 – Eliminated in the quarterfinals by Flamengo
- 2023 – Eliminated in the group stage
