The home game against Independiente Petrolero was the scenario for multiple records being broken and yesterday’s game in Bolivia again gave us a multitude of smashed records, fueling discussions whether or not we are living another “Academy” era. Legend Ademir “Divine” da Guia says we are.
As soon as the line-up was made public, a record was broken: Marcos Rocha would participate of his first game in the 2022 Libertadores, completing a sequence of ten consecutive seasons playing in the tournament, the longest of any Brazilian player.
The first three goals, all of them signed Raphael Veiga, besides being the first hat-trick of his career, were also enough to make him the all-time top scorer for Palmeiras in the Libertadores, now with 14 goals.
The count didn’t stop there. Rafael Navarro made it 4-0 to remain among the top scorers in the current edition and Murilo scored the fifth and last goal with a header, guaranteeing Palmeiras our best away win in the history of the Libertadores.
With a grand total of 412 goals in the Libertadores, Palmeiras surpassed Cerro Porteño (409) as the sixth team with most goals in the tournament’s history. The 20 goals scored in the current edition are only one short of what River Plate scored in the 2020 group stage, which is the current record.
Palmeiras maintain a perfect record in the 2022 Libertadores. And although the opponents have not been overly impressive, Palmeiras’ dominance must still be aknowledged. Independiente Petrolero are the current Bolivian champions and the runners-up Always Ready defeated Corinthians 2-0, while third-placeed The Strongest had a 5-0 in their favor against Athletico Paranaense in the current edition.
Palmeiras now have two games at home against Emelec and Deportivo Táchira. Any outcome other than two victories will be a huge surprise, but as always, that’s the beauty of football. With the progress to the knockout stage already guaranteed, Abel Ferreira may want to make some tests. We’ll be watching and enjoying while history is being made in front of us.
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
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by Augusto Anteghini Oazi
ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 