Flamengo lift Copa Libertadores, but Brazil's players look exhausted

Brazil’s unprecedented domination of the Copa Libertadores — no country has ever come close to winning seven titles in a row — has come about despite the mammoth amount of minutes the nation’s top players have to play.

Flamengo and Palmeiras have broken away from the pack. The two giants have now claimed the last five continental titles between them, and, in the next few days, Flamengo look likely to wrap up the Brazilian Serie A title too — prolonging the celebrations after winning the Saturday’s Libertadores final 1-0. Palmeiras, for their part, will run a close second in a championship that has been won by either the Mengão or the Verdão in seven of the last 10 seasons.

The price the two clubs pay for such success is an accumulation of matches and a burden on the players that borders on inhumane.

Representing a number of different national teams, the majority of Flamengo and Palmeiras players were in action during the recent FIFA international window. On the Tuesday, then, many were playing in Europe, Mexico or the United States. The next day, they were back on the field in crunch domestic games. With Flamengo and Palmeiras going toe-to-toe for the domestic title, there was no chance for anyone to take their foot off the pedal.

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This clearly took some of the shine away from Saturday’s Copa Libertadores decider in Lima, when an eagerly awaited “final of the century” turned into an attritional battle. The Libertadores final was a very different match from the bright, open and attractive encounter they fought out in the league in the middle of last month.

Flamengo won that one 3-2 — and there were many more goals in the Maracana that day than efforts on target in Lima. It needs a somewhat charitable approach to statistics to find the two attempts on target that the official statistics awarded to Flamengo. Most will only recall one — the flying header from Danilo, meeting Giorgian de Arrascaeta‘s corner, that flew inside the far corner and won the game. And even Danilo was only playing because first choice fullback Leo Ortiz broke down under the sequence of matches and was not fit to start.

The news coming out of the Palmeiras camp going into the game was that the squad was close to physical and mental breakdown. This clearly had an effect on the thinking of Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira. Often tempted to take a cautious approach to big matches, this time he appeared to have settled for a “while it’s 0-0 we’re doing fine” strategy. He trusted in the capacity of his team to hold the Flamengo attack, and believed that as the game wore on, space would open up, and his team could snatch a goal.

But for one moment of slack marking at a corner — Allan lost Danilo, and Bruno Fuchs did not do enough to fill the space — it might have worked. Palmeiras might also point to the incident towards the end of the first half when Flamengo midfielder Erick Pulgar seemed very lucky to avoid a red card for a rash kick on Fuchs. Then again, all soccer games could have taken an alternative course. In the one that mattered, the one that was played in Lima, there can be little doubt that Flamengo were the better side and deserved their win.

The absence of centre forward Pedro, injured, and of his likely replacement Gonzalo Plata, suspended, clearly depleted Flamengo’s attacking resources — and presumably gave the Palmeiras coach more confidence in a defensive strategy. It was little wonder, then, that the only goal came from a defender. Danilo is a figure of great experience and intelligence; one of the main reasons Carlo Ancelotti retains him in the Brazil squad is because he says Danilo is capable of playing anywhere across the back four.

Flamengo coach Filipe Luis probably sees something of himself in Danilo. Two years ago, he stopped playing for Flamengo at left back and started coaching the youth team, stepping up to the seniors after elimination from the 2024 Libertadores. He has made an excellent start to a highly promising career. The manner of this Libertadores conquest was a little strange; his Flamengo are typically a free flowing, free scoring side. In the Brazilian league they have outscored Palmeiras 74 to 60.

But in the continental competition, however, it has been a different story. Palmeiras chalked up a grand total of 30 goals. Flamengo could only manage 13. They flirted with elimination in the group phase, needed a penalty shootout to get through the quarterfinals, and made it through to the big decider after a backs-to-the-wall operation in the second leg of the semis. There was perhaps only one truly outstanding display in the entire campaign — a majestic 2-0 triumph away to compatriots Internacional in the first knockout round. Even so, they fought their way through to a historic fourth Libertadores title — becoming the first Brazilian team to reach that mark.

And the season is still not done. On Wednesday Flamengo will hope to wrap up the Brazilian title in front of their own fans in Rio’s Maracana stadium. Failing that, there is another opportunity on Sunday — followed by a trip to Qatar for the Intercontinental Cup where Cruz Azul of Mexico are waiting. Get through that one and they face Pyramids of Egypt. Win that one and the year at last comes to a close with a game against Paris Saint-Germain — and a brief period of holidays before the next Brazilian league kicks off at the end of January.

It never stops. And it is hard not to think that the quality of the spectacle might be better with the occasional pause for a well-deserved rest.