Club Athletico Paranaense won the Copa Sudamericana bi-championship by defeating Bragantino 1-0 in the grand final of the competition, held in a single match at the Estádio Centenário, in Montevideo, Uruguay, on November 20th.
🌎🔴⚫️ 20 DE NOVEMBRO DE 2021: A AMÉRICA DO SUL É NOVAMENTE ATHLETICANA!!!
🏆 BICAMPEÃO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #AméricaAthleticana #FuracãoBicampeão #Athletico pic.twitter.com/2DuXF18J6m
— Athletico Paranaense (@AthleticoPR) November 20, 2021
The cup had been won by Athletico-PR for the first time in 2018. The club has been having an excellent season in 2021, as it is also qualifying for the final of the Copa do Brasil, to be played on December 12th and 15th against Atlético -MG
The Copa Sudamericana took place between March 16 and November 20 of that year and had 56 participants from the 10 member countries of Conmebol, the organizer of the tournament and the largest entity in South American football. The dispute between the clubs took place in three distinct phases: the first phase, the group phase – when the Brazilians enter the dispute – and the grand final.
See the entire campaign of the Paraná club towards the 2021 Copa Sudamericana title in the table below:
Match no. |
Result |
Phase |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aucas (EQU) 0x1 Athletico | Group stage |
| 2 | Athletico 1×0 Metropolitanos (VEN) | Group stage |
| 3 | Melgar (PER) 1×0 Athletico | Group stage |
| 4 | Metropolitanos (VEN) 0x1 Athletico | Group stage |
| 5 | Athletico 1×0 Melgar (PER) | Group stage |
| 6 | Athletico 4×0 Aucas (EQU) | Group stage |
| 7 | América Cali (COL) 0x1 Athletico | Round of 16 |
| 8 | Athletico 4×1 América Cali (COL) | Round of 16 |
| 9 | LDU (EQU) 1×0 Athletico | Quarter final |
| 10 | Athletico 4×2 LDU (EQU) | Quarter final |
| 11 | Peñarol (URU) 1×2 Athletico | Semifinal |
| 12 | Athletico 2×0 Peñarol (URU) | Semifinal |
| 13 | Athletico 1×0 Bragantino | Final |
The grand final
The grand final of the Copa Sudamericana was played in the legendary Centenario de Montevideo, the place that hosted the first final in the history of the World Cup, between Uruguay and Argentina, in 1930, when the Uruguayans won.
Despite all the commotion, the financial and health crisis in Brazil made this the final with the smallest audience of all times in the competition: only 6,137 spectators showed up to see the match live. The extremely high ticket price can also be pointed out as one of the factors behind what happened: US$ 100, equivalent to around R$ 560.
Despite everything, the celebration in Curitiba had no restrictions: thousands of fans of Hurricane received the players at the city’s airport and celebrated in front of Arena da Baixada – the club’s stadium. Midfielder Nikão was the most acclaimed athlete. It couldn’t be different, as he was the scorer of the only goal of the match, in the 29th minute of the first half, guaranteeing the trophy to the people from Paraná.
Curitiba parou de novo pra ver o campeão! 🌪 #AméricaAthleticana #FuracãoBicampeão #Athletico pic.twitter.com/m1g0TYDAzB
— Athletico Paranaense (@AthleticoPR) November 21, 2021
With the conquest of the title, Athletico-PR stamped a spot in the Copa Libertadores and in the Recopa Sudamericana of 2022.
About the Copa Sudamericana
The Copa Sudamericana is a tournament created and organized by Conmebol since 2002. It is the second most prestigious competition among clubs in the South American continent, second only to the Copa Libertadores da América. The champion wins the right to dispute the Libertadores in the Recopa of the following year. “Sula”, as it is nicknamed in Brazil, was created having as precursors the Copa Conmebol and Copa Mercosul, which are now extinct.
Athletico-PR, Independiente and Boca Juniors are the greatest champions in the history of the competition, with two achievements each. Hurricane, Internacional, São Paulo and Chapecoense were the only Brazilian clubs to win the tournament. Check out all the champions in the history of the Copa Sudamericana in the table below:
Year |
Champion |
|---|---|
| 2002 | San Lorenzo (ARG) |
| 2003 | Cienciano (PER) |
| 2004 | Boca Juniors (ARG) |
| 2005 | Boca Juniors (ARG) |
| 2006 | Pachuca (MEX) |
| 2007 | Arsenal de Sarandí (ARG) |
| 2008 | América Cali (COL) 0x1 Athletico |
| 2009 | Internacional |
| 2010 | LDU (EQU) |
| 2011 | Independiente (ARG) |
| 2012 | Universidad de Chile (CHI) |
| 2013 | São Paulo |
| 2014 | Lanús (ARG) |
| 2015 | River Plate (ARG) |
| 2016 | Santa Fe (COL) |
| 2017 | Chapecoense |
| 2018 | Independiente (ARG) |
| 2019 | Athletico-PR |
| 2020 | Defensa y Justicia (ARG) |
| 2021 | Athletico-PR |
The Brazilian clubs that guarantee a spot for the Copa Sudamericana are the six (6) best placed in the Brasileirão that failed to qualify for the Libertadores. If the Brazilian Championship ended now, with only the results of 34 of the 38 rounds, the clubs classified for “Sula” would be: Internacional, Ceará, América-MG, Cuiabá, Santos and São Paulo. Will we have a Brazilian continental champion again next year?–
