Last night is being seen as Brazilian football's worst night of all time in the Libertadores. All 4 Brazilian clubs who played were knocked out.
Out of the 4, only Gremio was expected to get out of the competition - but there was still a bit of hope for them
Inter, on the other hand, despite not impressing in their last games, were widely expected to confirm their favoritism, especially after their 1st leg result. The same can be said about Fluminense: they've not been in great form of late, and only secured qualification from the group stage in the last game, but after a 3-1 home win against what seemed to be a weak Libertad side, their fans were nearly sure they were going to quarter finals. Two goals late in the game proved them wrong though - that's particularly pleasing for me as Fluminense are one of our main rivals and I hate them with all my heart
Cruzeiro was definitely the most shocking one. They are the team in best form in Brazil at the moment, by far, playing great attacking football, scoring loads of goals. They also had the best campaign of the group stage in the Libertadores. Seen by many as the favorites for the title. Then they won the 1st leg by 2-1, away from home. It looked like a won tie already.
When they conceded 2 goals at home in the 2nd half, I was truly shocked. Could never expect that. Anyway, I was quite happy because their manager, Cuca, is a scumbag of epic proportions. To his credit, he's a decent manager who usually get his teams to play good passing football; but he's an idiot, and has no self control. Last night he was sent off for attacking an Once Caldas player, when Cruzeiro were already losing - that's the kind of example and leadership he offers to his players.
He does not have the mentality to lead big teams, even though he might possess the quality. It's not even the 1st time he's knocked out of the Libertadores by Once Caldas with a great team, it happened to him in 2004 when he was the São Paulo manager.
He's managed quite a few big teams and so far only has one title in his career - a Rio de Janeiro state championship with Flamengo. I usually joke saying Flamengo are such a big club that we're capable of winning trophies even with a born-loser like Cuca.
Once in a while, Brazilian football gets a lesson of why you should not underestimate your opponents, and it was a huge one last night. Unbelievable.
Now Santos are the only Brazilian team left in the competition - perhaps they were lucky to have played on Tuesday, not last night
