Chilean Domestic Season Edges Closer Amid Strike Concerns
Libertadores Femenina, Supercopa de Chile, Men's Sudamericana and Libertadores 2021 all feature in this week's update on Chilean Football.
Libertadores Femenina 2020
After a very solid and impressive group stage performance, Santiago Morning unravelled against tournament favourites Corinthians in the quarter-finals. After a bright start, Morning made a couple of errors in defence to allow Corinthians striker Gabi Nunes an easy finish on 16 minutes. That opened the floodgates and the Chilean champions proceeded to concede 4 goals in the space of a nightmarish eight minutes. It finished 7-0 despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Ryann Torrero.
Santiago Morning can take heart from their competitive draws against Boca Juniors and Avaí Kindermann in the group stage while their 9-0 thrashing of Bolivian side Deportivo Trópico was one for the record books in their final group game.
On Monday afternoon Universidad de Chile claimed a 3-1 win over Colombian side Independiente de Santa Fe to secure a place in the semi-finals. Despite being outplayed for periods of the first half, an early Ana Gutierrez penalty had put them ahead.
That goal was deservedly cancelled out before half-time, but La U improved in the transitions in the second half and goals from Chilean internationals Yessenia Lopez and Fernanda Pinilla sealed an impressive victory. They had a penalty save from Natalia Campos to thank at 2-1 for helping them through a tricky spell in the second half though.
La U had finished top of their group having beaten Peñarol 1-0 and Paraguayan side Libertad-Limpeño 5-0. However, they made a number of changes to their starting XI for the last group game against Brazilian side Ferroviária who then beat them 4-1, a margin of victory good enough to qualify Ferrovíaria for the knockout stage.
La U now face Ferroviária for a place in the final, and the Chileans will be hoping they don’t regret throwing a lifeline to the Brazilian side.
Men’s Libertadores 2021
The men’s edition got started for Chilean sides last week, with Unión Española battling to a 1-0 victory over Independiente del Valle — a game I was lucky enough to attend in the press section. Unión play the 2nd leg tonight in the altitude of Quito knowing if they score an away goal then the Ecuadorians will need three to knock them out.
The match also marks the last game of star player Carlos Palacios in a Unión Española shirt. La Joya has agreed a move to Internacional of Brazil and will move there later in the week. Let’s hope he signs off with a memorable tie-winning performance.
Universidad de Chile meanwhile face a huge task in Buenos Aires against San Lorenzo due to a Covid-19 outbreak that has decimated their squad. La U are therefore set to play with a number of youngsters in a tie that is currently level at 1-1 after the first leg. 13 players are out for La U so 12 youngsters have travelled across the Andes with just a handful of senior players available.
The match in Santiago was a rather dull affair, which La U will surely feel they should have won given they led 1-0 against 10 men with just under 20 minutes to play. Angelo Henriquez’s header was cancelled out by ex-Blackburn Rovers striker Franco Di Santo — both goals coming as a result of a failure to defend a set-piece.
Men’s Sudamericana 2021
Somewhat under the radar, the Sudamericana kicks off this week with two pairs of Chilean sides facing each other. The equivalent of the UEFA Europa League, the Sudamericana had maintained the pure knockout style for many years but has now regressed to a format including a group stage.
The first round of the competition sees all the non-Brazilian and non-Argentine sides compete for places in the group stage by facing a team from their same league. Thus making it impossible for more than two Chilean sides to make it further than this stage of the competition unless any of the sides drop down from the Libertadores.
Antofagasta vs. Huachipato
Antofagasta head into their second-ever Sudamericana campaign under the guidance of manager Jose Luis Ribero who reached the semi-final stage of the competition last season with Coquimbo Unido.
Los Pumas have kept hold of most of their key players from last season and have added a couple of numbers to the squad as well. They’ll be confident of winning the first-leg and looking to take a decent lead to defend down south for the second-leg at the start of April.
Huachipato meanwhile are playing in the competition for the second consecutive year. The side from the south of Chile put together an impressive series of home wins to qualify for this competition at the end of last season under Bielsa disciple and caretaker manager Juan José Luvera. Those performances and results meant Luvera was given the job full-time for the 2021 season.
However, their away form remained patchy so it will be interesting how they fare in this first leg especially given they sold their top scorer Juan Sanchez Sotelo to Palestino. His replacement comes in the shape of youngster Cesar Huanca, top scorer for relegated Iquique last season — he joins what is a fairly youthful squad.
Cobresal vs. Palestino
Palestino were seconds away from a place in the Libertadores for the third consecutive year so participation in this competition this year may feel a bit of disappointment.
Los Arabes have put together a strong squad that looks capable of fighting on more than one front this season They will start this tie favourites, especially given their form since Jose Luis Sierra took over just over 6 months ago. The defence was the one area that needed improving in terms of depth and quality and the signings of Pablo Alvarado, Bruno Romo and Cristian Suarez should achieve this.
Cobresal meanwhile have lost a number of key players including influential playmaker Marcelo Cañete and flying winger Juan Carlos Gaete. They will probably continue with their possession-based style, but it is difficult to see how it functions successfully without Cañete pulling the strings unless the new signings really hit the ground running.
Supercopa de Chile - Universidad Católica vs. Colo-Colo
This Sunday marks the start of the Chilean domestic season with league champions Universidad Católica facing off against current Copa Chile holders Colo-Colo in the Chilean Supercopa (the Chilean version of the Community Shield).
The match is set to take place whatever happens despite a strike hanging over Chilean football. The ANFP are set to order the match to happen even if the clubs have to use youth players.
The strike concerns the fact the ANFP have decided there will be no automatic promotion from the third tier to the second tier, making a mockery of that league somewhat for the 2021 campaign. A number of clubs and players are fiercely against it and it is topic splitting Chilean football at the moment with those striking stating that the integrity of the competition is at stake.
If the problem is resolved then Colo-Colo will be looking to put last season’s near-relegation behind them. A win here would really signal a fresh start. However, things are far from rosy behind the scenes despite survival and there is a feeling that lessons haven’t been learnt.
Nevertheless, the signings Colo-Colo have made so far this window should improve them. Chilean internationals Martin Rodriguez and Miiko Albornoz should improve the left side of the team, an area they even have great depth in with the addition of Juan Carlos Gaete too. They still look light in the centre-back and centre-forward positions though.
This match marks the first match in charge for new Universidad Católica boss Gus Poyet who will be looking to send a message to their rivals with a dominant performance. You can read more about his hopes for his side in last week’s newsletter.
Podcast Appearance
This week I appeared on the excellent Outside Write podcast giving a general overview of Chilean Football. Check it out here:
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