Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã was silent on the scoreboard but unforgiving in the shootout as Estudiantes de La Plata eliminated Flamengo from the Copa Libertadores semi-finals, winning 3-2 on penalties after a second 0-0 draw. The Argentine club will now meet Palmeiras in the continental final, breaking up the prospect of Flamengo and Palmeiras contesting the same Libertadores decider for a second consecutive year.
Estudiantes arrived in Brazil with the same disciplined resolve they had shown in the first leg. Cacique Medina’s side conceded territory and possession yet denied Flamengo the openings their volume of passing was meant to create. The home side completed more than 600 passes, roughly three times Estudiantes’ total, but each team produced only two attempts on target and neither found a way through in normal time.
Even after Flamengo gained a numerical advantage, Leonardo Jardim’s team could not turn control of the ball into a decisive moment. Estudiantes held their defensive shape, protected the centre of the pitch and remained faithful to a club identity built around resistance, duels and direct service towards the forward line.
That identity runs deep in La Plata. Estudiantes have long carried the influence of Carlos Bilardo, whose demanding, structured approach became woven into the club’s football culture. There have also been moments of greater artistry, most notably under Juan Sebastián Verón during the 2009 Libertadores-winning run. In that campaign, Estudiantes drew with Cruzeiro in La Plata before Verón led a defining away performance at Mineirão to secure the club’s fourth continental crown.
Muslera decides the night
There was no need for a Verón-like conductor at the Maracanã. Estudiantes instead found their match-winner in Fernando Muslera. The Uruguayan goalkeeper saved three penalties in the shootout, carrying the visitors past one of South America’s wealthiest squads and into the final.
For Flamengo, Pedro and his team-mates were left with another evening in which territorial dominance brought little reward. Estudiantes, technically less lavish but clear in their purpose, made the tie a contest on their own terms across both legs.
The result gives the Libertadores final a different route through the continent. Palmeiras remain in the decider, but Estudiantes have pushed through from La Plata with the sort of hard-edged conviction that has long made them difficult opponents, whether in their own city or under the lights of the Maracanã.
