Deyverson, 30, spent more than a year in Spain, where he played for Getafe and Alavés. Little played. But when he posted any photo to his Instagram account, most of the comments basically had the same message:
“Back to Palmeiras!”
On November 27, 2021, early in the night in Montevideo, the striker scored one of the most important goals in the history of the club alviverde. At 4 minutes of the 1st time of overtime, he gave Palmeiras the title of Libertadores. He took advantage of Anderas Pereira’s misguided failure and, with a touch on Diego Alves’ exit, decided the final.
It was enough for the team from São Paulo to defeat Flamengo by 2-1, this Saturday (27), at the Centenário stadium.
It is the third title of Palmeiras in the tournament – before it had already conquered it in 1999 and 2020. The consecutive two-time mark marks the first time that a Brazilian team has won the Libertadores in two consecutive years since São Paulo, in 1992 and 1993. Last season , the Palmeirenses had already appealed to an attacker who left the bank to win. Breno Lopes decided with a header against Santos.
With the three-time championship, the alviverde team is equal to São Paulo, Santos and Grêmio as the biggest winner in the country in the most important South American competition.
The concern is now to seek the Club World Cup, an unprecedented title for the association. The competition should take place in February, in the United Arab Emirates. The biggest opponents should be Chelsea (ING), current Champions League champions.
Last season, Palmeiras participated in the Worlds, but ended up in fourth place.
Deyverson’s return wasn’t even the priority. The desire of fans and directors was to repatriate Dudu, on loan to Al Duhail, from Qatar. The bet was on the idol. Who decided, however, was the attacker much criticized at times, but who had already scored the title goal of the 2018 Brazilian Nationals. He sealed a victory this Saturday with the face of Abel Ferreira. Palmeiras was tactically disciplined, believed in the coach’s plan and surrendered on the field.
That would change after the break, but the first half was a tactical shower by the Portuguese on Renato Gaúcho. Tactically well posted, Palmeiras knew what they wanted to do on the field. He scored strong, committed fouls when necessary and played on the right side of his attack, in throws for Mayke and Ron in speed.
David Luiz had 45 minutes of greater prominence going on the attack than defending. Filipe Luís failed repeatedly in coverage until he was injured and replaced by Renê at 31. When that happened, Palmeiras was already ahead in a play just behind the defender. Mayke crossed for Raphael Veiga to finish for the goal at 5.
It was the attacking midfielder’s 5th goal in the Libertadores and the 18th of the season. In both cases, he is the team’s top scorer.
With the advantage, Palmeiras shrank in the field and started calling Flamengo. The idea was to steal the ball and release it to Ron’s speed, who could try to score or retain it until Veiga, Dudu or Zé Rafael arrived. That didn’t happen, but the red-black didn’t threaten either.
Slow, with excessive passing errors and no imagination, the cariocas could not threaten until the end of the initial stage. The only danger was Arrascaeta’s shot from inside the area at 43.
The Flamengo fans, the majority at the Estádio Centenário, began asking for the entry of Michael, runner-up in the Brazilian Championship, with 13 goals, and the best player on the team in recent months.
The change did not happen at half-time, but Flamengo went up in the first minutes of the second half and could have tied with Gabigol, David Luiz and Bruno Henrique, but the three failed in the submission.
Palmeiras played a line of five players in defense began to give space. Renato Gaúcho decided to put Michael, a forward who, as far as the Flamengo fan at Centenário was concerned, would have started as a starter. The first time he started with the ball, he was fouled and Piquerez received a yellow card.
The goal seemed closer and closer for Flamengo and it was not difficult to bet on who would be responsible for the equality. In the 26th minute, Gabigol kicked into the only possible space between the crossbar and Weverton to score. At 11, he is the top scorer in the competition.
The draw made the game nervous for the certainty that the next mistake would define the champion. Palmeiras hasn’t changed their style of play. Remained cautious at first, tagging first. But Flamengo did not maintain the same offensive momentum, despite continuing with more possession and more dangerous. Michael had a big chance at 41 but kicked it out.
An alternative for Abel Ferreira, under normal circumstances, would be to put Felipe Melo on the field. But with knee problems, the 38-year-old captain came on with eight minutes to go.
Who appeared before the start of overtime was Deyverson. He ran from one side to the other while other offensive options, like Raphael Veiga and Rony, were exhausted. Luiz Adriano, more skillful and with a keen eye for goals, would not believe Andreas Pereira’s mistake as the number 9 did. That’s what Libertadores decided and justified all requests from fans to return to the club.
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