Fluminense used their home advantage in a wild final to win the Copa Libertadores for the first time. There were two dismissals in extra time.
The Brazilians from Rio de Janeiro beat Boca Juniors 2-1 (1-1, 1-0) after extra time in the legendary Maracana Stadium on Saturday. The opponents from Argentina missed out on the record title: they have already won the most important trophy in South American club football six times, while CA Independiente still holds the record with seven triumphs.
Fluminense, however, used its second Copa final after 2008 to win big – and also has an Argentine to thank for it: German Cano (36th) took the lead; the striker was already in the semi-final games against Internacional Porto Alegre (2:2 /2:1) was successful three times. In total, Cano scored 13 times in the current competition.
Expulsion for taking off the jersey
As Fluminense became more and more passive after the break, Luis Advincula (72′) equalized for Boca Juniors and ensured extra time.
In this, John Kennedy put Fluminense (99th) back in front, tore off his jersey in the general ecstasy, saw yellow-red for it – and the Brazilians were suddenly outnumbered. A little later, on the other hand, Frank Fabra was also sent off with a red card (105th + 7) because of an assault.
Marcelo against Cavani
A prominent face of the title win was left-back Marcelo, who won the European Champions League five times with Real Madrid and is now playing for his youth club again.
On the Boca Juniors side, Edinson Cavani is particularly well-known in Europe. The veteran from Uruguay, once successful at SSC Napoli and Paris St. Germain, moved back to South America in the summer after 16 years in Italy, France, England and Spain. On Saturday he was substituted after 78 minutes, and Marcelo also left the field two minutes later.