Who will be crowned champion of the 2024 Copa Libertadores?

euronews (in English)

Atlético Mineiro meets Botafogo in the 2024 Copa Libertadores final. The best club side in South America will be decided at Argentina’s Estadio Mâs Monumental Stadium.

Transcript

00:00South America's premier domestic competition is set for a thrilling conclusion,

00:05with Atletico Mineiro taking on Botafogo in an all-Brazilian affair

00:09in the final of the 2024 Copa Libertadores.

00:13So, who will be crowned the continent's best club?

00:20Hello and welcome to Football Now from Albira Park in Doha.

00:24Anticipation is rising for the final of the 2024 Copa Libertadores.

00:29Between two Brazilian sides, Atletico Mineiro and Botafogo.

00:33Being crowned continental champions is on the line,

00:36as is qualification for both the 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup,

00:40which is being hosted here in Doha next month,

00:42and the brand new 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

00:45So, just how much does this tournament mean to both supporters of these teams,

00:49as well as South American football in general?

00:52Well, this is South America's Champions League,

00:56and South America is one of the two big continents of football.

01:01There's no World Cup in 1930 without the South American contribution.

01:05South America has the team that's won the World Cup most times,

01:08and it has the current champions of the World Cup.

01:10So, from a South American perspective, they bitterly resent the fact

01:13that they can't just go straight to a game against the European champions,

01:17that they've got to play teams from other confederations first.

01:19In Europe, winning the Champions League is an end in itself.

01:22In South America, winning the Libertadores is a very, very big deal,

01:26but it also opens the gates to paradise,

01:29the chance to fight for the title of being the best club side in the world.

01:33That plays very, very big over here.

01:35Let's take a look at both teams then,

01:37and just what it took for them to both reach the final.

01:40Atletico Mineiro are bidding to win just their second Copa Libertadores,

01:44after their maiden success back in 2013.

01:48Mineiro topped the strong group, featuring Uruguayan giants Penarol,

01:52and scored the most goals of any team in the early stages.

01:56After seeing off Argentina's San Lorenzo in the round of 16,

01:59they beat fellow Brazilian heavyweights Fluminense in the quarterfinals,

02:03before securing their place in the decider

02:05with a 3-0 win over Argentine champions River Plate.

02:09They've been incredibly impressive,

02:11and what people who don't watch South American football need to realise

02:15is there's games almost three or four days,

02:17whether it's the league, whether it's the Copa Libertadores,

02:20whether it's Copa do Brasil.

02:21So where Mineiro haven't performed particularly well in the league,

02:24they've made two finals, Copa do Brasil final,

02:27and also now Copa Libertadores finals.

02:29I think a lot of people will be looking at Hulk and be surprised

02:31that he's still going.

02:33He's been phenomenal in the league with Paulinho,

02:35and the addition of Davison has been unbelievable.

02:38He scored the brace against Fluminense in the quarterfinals,

02:42he scored a brace against River Plate.

02:44A lot of attention will be on Hulk because of his name and his career,

02:47but it really is going to be Davison who could be the difference

02:50for Mineiro in this final.

02:52After only winning promotion from Serie B back in the 2021-22 season,

02:56Botafogo have enjoyed a meteoric rise up the ranks

02:59to become one of Brazil's best teams.

03:02So could the fairy tale be complete here

03:04by them lifting their first ever Copa Libertadores?

03:08Entering in the early qualifying stages of the tournament,

03:11Botafogo have had a much tougher path to the final

03:13than their opponents.

03:15Seeded 14th out of the remaining teams in the round of 16,

03:19they then overcame two Brazilian heavyweights.

03:21First was Palmeiras, and then they squeezed past Sao Paulo on penalties.

03:26They secured their spot in the final with a comprehensive 6-3 semifinal win

03:30on aggregate over Uruguay's Peneral.

03:33Botafogo are currently leading this year's Serie A

03:36and should have won the league title last season

03:38if it wasn't for a remarkable collapse towards the end of the campaign.

03:42Leading the table by 14 points at the halfway mark,

03:45they failed to win any of their last 11 games

03:48and fell to 5th in the table.

03:50So could winning this year's Copa go some way

03:52to erasing the heartbreak of last season?

03:55It's been a rollercoaster.

03:57What happened last season happened last season,

03:59and whatever's going to happen this year is yet to be written.

04:02Coming from the stand and the fans,

04:04there is that kind of like, oh, man, is it going to happen again?

04:07But I don't think it's something on the players' mind.

04:10It just serves as a reminder of, this is what happened to that squad,

04:13but we're a different mindset.

04:14So much so that our performance this year

04:16is already better than the performance that it was last year.

04:19And by this time last year, the collapse had already,

04:22it was already underway.

04:23Botafogo started at the qualifying stages for the Libertadores,

04:26so we weren't even in the group stage.

04:28And then we just started winning.

04:29Botafogo played a total of 11 Libertadores titles.

04:33São Paulo has won some, Nacional has won some,

04:36Palmeiras has won some.

04:37We didn't even think we were going to make it to the group stage,

04:39and here we are in the final.

04:40So I rate our chances very good, but I think we can win it, yeah.

04:43Now, since 2019, the final of the Copa Libertadores

04:47has been played on neutral ground.

04:49And this year, the venue is the Estadio Mas Monumental in Argentina,

04:53the home of River Plate and some 2,000 kilometers away

04:56from both sets of fans.

04:58So how will this affect the atmosphere?

05:00And is there a growing concern that future tournaments

05:02could be played outside of South America?

05:05I think there is an entirely legitimate concern

05:09that this is going to happen with the Libertadores.

05:11You mentioned there the Copa America.

05:13We've now had two inside the last 10 years in the United States.

05:17It makes even more sense to do this with the club game

05:19than it does with national teams.

05:21So one possible solution is on a kind of tournament basis,

05:26almost certainly in the United States.

05:29There's a real problem now for the Libertadores,

05:32and that is that the Brazilians have become so much better than the rest

05:35that it would seem that the Pan-American solution

05:38is the only solution to keeping it interesting.

05:40It's set to be another thrilling final in South America.

05:43Let us know who you think will be crowned continental champions

05:46using the hashtag Football Now Copa Libertadores.

05:49That's all we've got time for here from Albedo Park in Doha.

05:53We'll see you next time. Bye for now.

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