09/19/2024 20:18hs. Updated on 09/19/2024 23:53hs.
If there is something positive that Racing could take away from the rainy night in Curitiba, it is the feeling that it returned to Avellaneda alive. That it was one of those games where nothing works and that the 0-1 against ends up being a result that is not so bad. Because Athletico Paranaense showed that it is a highly permeable team and that if it won the first game it was more due to Racing’s mistakes than its own merits. The dream of reaching an international semi-final after 27 years continues to beat.
(AP Photo/Heuler Andrey)
Costas’ team will have to stick to what it is and what it does at the Cilindro. In this competition, it won all four games it played (one of them was in Lanús against Sportivo Luqueño) and the support of its fans has boosted it to the point of having finished the group stage as the best team.
The first thing Racing will have to solve is its aim. To advance to the next round, it will have to score goals, something it has not done in Brazil after 11 consecutive visits to those lands with at least one goal. It had plenty of chances, but it was not sharp. Task for the week for Maravilla Martínez, who just after the match recognized that he has wet gunpowder and must turn it around as soon as possible. To him must be added a noisy Salas who ran more than the little he played and a lagunero Juanfer Quintero, who at no time managed to take control of the team.
(AP Photo/Heuler Andrey)
However, the Academy had a better first 30 minutes than the home team, which was unable to find its footing and angered its fans. The visitor’s sin was not having that killer’s nose to smell blood and control it. When its rival was knocked out, it did not find the way and only stepped hard into the rival area. And it paid a high price for it. In the first shot on goal, when Joao Cruz entered (Zapelli injured an ankle), the kid fired a strong right-footed shot that beat Arias. It was the only shot that the goalkeeper could not catch, who in the second half had some fantastic saves to leave the series wide open.
After the goal against, Costas’ team was no longer as secure as ever. The midfield was already dividing up more balls and the match became more balanced. Costas’ lucidity was lacking here. The coach did not understand where the key to the match seemed to be. Kaique Rocha and Thiago Heleno, two enormous and heavy centre-backs, never got ahead of Maravilla’s retreats. The number 9 had a hard time leaving his natural habitat, the area, and suffered for it. And Roger, who moves like a fish in the area, only entered at 19′ of the second half. The Colombian should have entered earlier. In fact, he had a precise shot at the goal that the goalkeeper blocked, while Salas never did.
The minimal defeat ended up being a bargain because in the final minutes the Academy did not know whether to settle for 0-1 or go for the draw. It seemed that the players’ feelings were going one way and the coach’s were going another. They slowed down the pace and the coach brought Carbonero in for Martirena, breaking up the game even more and leaving the defence exposed. The Academy was saved at the end, and will have to be more refined and much more intelligent in a week to advance. They can. That’s clear.
(AP Photo/Heuler Andrey)
Match summary
Racing –
The archers showed off in less than a minute
Athletico Paranaense –
Joao Cruz’s goal gave Paranaense the victory over Racing
Gabriel Arias –
