⚠️ Grêmio suffer humiliation, dumped out at home by Bolívar

⚠️ Grêmio suffer humiliation, dumped out at home by Bolívar

After Bahia were eliminated as early as the second qualifying round of the Copa Libertadores, Brazilian football ended up with a total of 13 teams in the group stages of this year’s Libertadores and Sudamericana.

And only Grêmio failed to reach the round of 16.

Flamengo, Fluminense, Cruzeiro, Corinthians, Palmeiras, Mirassol, Atlético, São Paulo and Botafogo were already through to the round of 16 in their respective tournaments.

Vasco, Santos and Red Bull Bragantino came through the Sudamericana round-of-16 playoffs. But the Tricolor fell short.

After the 3-2 setback in La Paz, the Immortal needed to win by at least two goals in regular time.

And they were beaten again, this time 1-0, right at the Arena.

Bolívar, who advanced, will face São Paulo in the next round.

Bolívar make history! 😱

Known for making life difficult for many rivals in La Paz, the Bolivian side usually struggle when playing in Brazil.

They had only one win (against Athletico in the 2002 Libertadores), one draw and TWENTY defeats.

And they ended a 24-year winless run in Brazil tonight.

It was only the second time they had eliminated a Brazilian team in Conmebol competitions.

The first was in 2023, when they knocked out Athletico in the Libertadores round of 16. They won 3-1 at home, lost 2-0 in Curitiba, and went through on penalties.

It was never going to be that simple...

The task of securing a win by at least a two-goal margin in regular time became more complicated after just 16 minutes.

Asprilla was played through, got past Kannemann, and beat Gabriel Grando.

Grêmio had a great chance through Gustavo Martins before halftime, but Lampe made the save.

They had more possession and attacking momentum. But they just couldn’t make it count.

Changes in search of salvation

Luís Castro made three substitutions all at once for the second half.

And Matheus Nascimento, one of those brought on, had chances.

The two remaining changes came in the 58th minute.

Special mention goes to Gabriel Mec, who made Tricolor more unpredictable on the ball.

Grêmio were creating chances. But without showing the ability to beat Lampe.

Bolívar had chances to "kill off" the tie. But they didn’t take them.

All that was left for Tricolor was to keep pushing until the end. Mec, for example, kept fighting.

UGLY scenes and 🟥

The exit of the Bolívar player who was about to be substituted (Melgar) ended with plenty of shoving.

Noriega and Justiniano nearly gave us UFC scenes and were sent off (92').

And Marlon left Grêmio down to nine men after scissoring Saavedra.

Tricolor’s focus now shifts to the Copa do Brasil round of 16 (against Mirassol) and the mission of climbing out of the Brasileirão relegation zone.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Yahoo Sports. Open at source →