“O Verdao” add the domestic cup to their Copa Libertadores and Paulistao triumphs for this bizzare 2020 season and the treble they accomplished amid the circumstances!!
When Palmeiras appointed Portuguese manager Abel Ferreira in November to replace the legendary Vanderlei Luxemburgo many said they were trying to repeat the magic that Flamengo created a year ago in following their rivals from Rio’s example of bringing a Portuguese manager in halfway or so through a campaign and being lead on a historic crusade to the top of Brazil and South America. Some 5 months later and it’s fair to say they didn’t do so bad if that was the intention. Abel’s predecesor had won the Paulistao (Sao Paulo State Championship) back before the start of the Brasileirao but Palmeiras fell too far behind the various leaders of the league to be able to really compete for the title this year but, they conquered everything else in their path especially after the holiday season and the change of the calendar from 2020 into 2021. While these titles were won in the calendar year 2021 they are ofcourse attributed to the 2020 season that was stopped for months due to the outbreak of Covid 19 making the 2020 season one of a historic treble for green portion of the Sao Paulo region.
Last month Palmeiras won the Copa Libertadores final over fellow Brazilian and Sao Paulo side Santos 1-0 at the Maracana Stadium. This past Sunday that same Palmeiras side closed out the 2020 season finally and in the best fashion possible. Winning on their home synthetic pitch at the Allianz Parque 2-0 over Gremio Porto Alegre to cliched their 4th Brazilian Cup known as the Copa do Brasil adding to their lead 1-0 lead from the first leg to make it a convincing 3-0 aggregate victory over Renato Gaucho’s Gremio side that began the season by winning their own state championship in the sate of Rio Grande do Sul. Wesley’s 53rd minute goal and Gabriel Menino’s nail in the coffin at the 84th minute were the difference on the night and there was no mistake which side was better over the 180 minutes. Below are the highlights of the 2nd Leg. There will be more on this in an upcoming podcast episode of Parking the Bus when we get back to a South American edition of our trip around the football world. Stay tuned!
PTB Media Network 