A final between two Brazilian teams on the Libertadores of America has become more common than you think. Recently, Flamengo beat Athletico Paranaense and Botafogo defeated Atletico Mineiro. Everybody ‘s wondering: can someone stop them?
Money and obsession
In South America, Brazil differs in some things, there´s more money and obsession. Especially Palmeiras, Flamengo, Botafogo, Bahia and Internacional have a good advantage.
Out of Brazil, few clubs stand out in the top 10. River Plate and Boca Juniors, of Argentina, are two of them. But don´t get even close to the money raised for brazilians.
In the last Libertadores, for example, the Brazilian squads had a value far above the others. This is the reflection of how Brazil won Libertadores for six years in a row.
Brazilian domination
Football clubs are like companies. If you improve your recipe, results become more possible. In 2023, the Brazilian league raised a recipe of US$ 1,8 billion. A high number, a lot for South America. What happens in the field represents this well.
The Flamengo team, in 2022, to beat Athletico in the final of Libertadores, didn´t face many difficulties. In the semifinal, there were three brazilians and only one Argentinean. Flamengo defeated Velez Sarsfield by 6-1. Pedro scored four goals and the journey to the final was without trouble.
In 2024, the Brazilian teams once again achieved a good position in the competition. There were five clubs in the quarter finals and four faced each other: Fluminense x Atletico Mineiro and Botafogo x São Paulo. Atlético and Botafogo qualified.
The Atletico team faced River Plate and won by 3-0. Botafogo crushed Penarol, of Uruguay, winning by 6-3. With that, two brazilians made the final one more time.
Botafogo´s superiority spoke louder and the title of Libertadores stayed with the carioca team.
The domain of Brazilians is unquestionable. Even european newspapers are talking about it. Nowadays, the football played in Brazil is one of the most competitive in the world, this makes the difference in getting far in tournaments like Libertadores.
