Gremio qulaifies to Copa Libertadores final

CAIRO – 2 November 2017: Gremio qualified to the Copa Libertadores final despite their 0-1 loss at home to Ecuador’s Barcelona in the tournament’s semi-final on Wednesday night, as they won the first leg in Ecuador 3-0.

Gremio entered the game with their massive attacking line of Ramiro Benetti, Luiz Fernando, Cícero Santos and Luan Vieira, but all their chances to score were saved by Barcelona’s goalkeeper, Máximo Banguera.

Barcelona succeeded to score the first goal when Jonatan Alves shot the ball from inside the area to give Barcelona hope again of qualifying to the final.

In the second half, Gremio players succeeded to keep the ball away from their goal, allowing them to qualify to the final with a 3-1 aggregate result.

Gremio qualified to the final four times before. They won the title in 1983 and 1995, while they lost the final in 1984 and 2007.

Gremio will play against Argentinean team Lanus in the final. The first leg is scheduled to be played on November 22 in Brazil, while the second leg is scheduled a week later in Argentina.