On Wednesday in Buenos Aires, the Copa Libertadores final begins. It’s a competition that’s often described as South America’s UEFA Champions League. Usually a showcase for the region’s up-and-coming stars, this year’s final is punctuated by the appearance of a two key veterans on one of the competition’s most storied teams. Indeed, the final is all about Boca Juniors, the Real Madrid of this competition, and veterans Martin Palermo and Juan Roman Riquelme, a veritable Ruud van Nistelrooy-Zinedine Zidane one-two punch. To stay with the metaphor, Rodrigo Palacio would be more like a younger, faster Raul, who scores and creates more.
As a five-time winner of the competition, few would doubt Boca’s claim to being the favorite when it walks for the first leg of the final against Gremio. The performance of playmaker Riquelme will be key. Last year, the former Argentine international led unfancied Villarreal to the best Champions League finish in its history, bowing out in the semifinals thanks to a missed late penalty against Arsenal. Similarly, Riquelme has been the driving force behind Boca’s Libertadores push this year, putting in a pair of brilliant displays in quarterfinal and semifinal second-leg victories against Libertad of Paraguay and Cucuta of Colombia, respectively.
Gremio, meanwhile, is something of a dark horse, despite winning the competition twice before. The club has reached the final just 18 months after pulling itself up from the Brazilian second division. The Porto Alegre club will be anxious to upstage hometown rival Internacional, which won the competition last year.