A week after Abel Ferreira’s moves went well in Colombia and Palmeiras beat Deportivo Pereira 4-0 to get a foot in the Libertadores semi-final, the Portuguese coach went to the drawing board again in the second leg this Wednesday ( 30), at Allianz Parque.
This time, it is not possible to say that the changes made by the coach made 100% of the Palmeiras fans happy: a good part was highlighted by the fact that the place in the semifinal was already guaranteed, but some fans criticized the Portuguese a lot.
Without Dudu, due to a serious injury, Abel chose to play for Palmeiras with three defenders, with Gustavo Gómez, Luan and Murilo. Marcos Rocha and Piquerez were the wingers, with Zé Rafael, Richard Ríos and Raphael Veiga playing in the middle. Rony and Flaco López were the two strikers chosen by the coach.
Palmeiras created little and ended up drawing 0-0 with Deportivo Pereira, who even made goalkeeper Weverton work.
Some of the crowd hated it…
Abel was heavily criticized by some fans who did not like the choice of three defenders against the Colombian team. There were even those who called the two-time Libertadores champion coach a “coward” for the lineup, another found the coach’s posture “shameful” and would protest if he were at Allianz Parque.
Shameful and disrespectful posture by Abel Ferreira in the Palmeiras lineup. If I had torn up R$300 to watch the game, I would have thrown a chair at the bench as a protest for the laziness and cowardice with which he treated this game.
Wasted 2 hours watching this shit.
—Jimmy (@the_TruthRemain) August 31, 2023
Shameful to play with 3 defenders!!!!!!! Abel was terrible today and a coward!!!
— PauloSiano (@siano_paulo) August 31, 2023
I hope the sparrow trains this time and doesn’t kill the team again with his failed scheme, no more pleasing the catfish clique
— iFerreira (@Copeiiro17) August 31, 2023
3 defenders never again, learned nothing against São Paulo??
— Betrayal ⓟ (@betrayalsep) August 31, 2023
NEVER PUT 3 DEFENDERS AGAIN FOR GOD’S SAKE
—arthur ⓟ (@arthursss7) August 31, 2023
… another party didn’t care much
While many fans were seen on social media criticizing Abel Ferreira for his choices, there was also a portion of the crowd that didn’t care much, not least because the club won a good advantage in Colombia and could afford to act more calmly in House.
Verdão in the semi final, towards the tetra! 1 game is very good, 2 game is a training game!!
— DIOGO- Hendeca. ⓟ (@DiogoVerdaoBR) August 31, 2023
Meanwhile, I read around here about people who got angry with this game. LOL the palmeirense is a unique being
— Ruoco (@AndreRuoco) August 31, 2023
Guaranteed classification, from now on it will only be war, only heavy play. We are 3 games away from the tetra, and we will need to be inspired. We will all be together until the end.
THE LIBERTATORS CUP IS OBSESSION
AVANTI LECTURE— Anderson Silva (@sepanderson97) August 31, 2023
what matters is the qualification for semi
I think Abel thought Perreira would go for it
— Gian Costa (@giancostax) August 31, 2023
The semi-final opponent
After passing through Deportivo Pereira, Palmeiras already knows its opponent in the semifinals of the Libertadores: the well-known Boca Juniors. The team got the better of Racing on penalties after two matches ended 0-0. Sergio Romero, a Racing fan, saved two kicks and Boca converted them all to win 4-1.
The semifinals are scheduled for the windows of September 26th to 28th for the first leg and October 3rd to 5th for the second leg.
Palmeiras next games
Now, Palmeiras turns its attention to the Brazilian Championship, where it has a big game over the weekend: the derby against Corinthians at Neo Química Arena.
- Corinthians x Palmeiras, for the Brasileirão – September 3 (Sunday), at 4 pm (Brasília time) – Neo Química Arena, in São Paulo;
- Palmeiras x Goiás, for the Brasileirão – September 15 (Friday), at 21:30 (Brasília time) – Allianz Parque, in São Paulo;
- Grêmio x Palmeiras, for the Brasileirão – September 21 (Thursday), at 21:30 (Brasília time) – Arena do Grêmio, in Porto Alegre.