Copa Libertadores final – Atletico Mineiro v Botafogo
Venue: River Plate Stadium, Argentina Date: Saturday, 30 November Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Coverage: Watch live on iPlayer, BBC Three, BBC Sport app and website
Less than two weeks ago Brazil were booed off the field in a half empty stadium as another disappointing result left them down in fifth place in South America’s World Cup qualifiers.
But at club level it is a very different story.
Saturday’s final of the Copa Libertadores, which you can watch live on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer, pits Botafogo of Rio against Atletico Mineiro of Belo Horizonte.
It is the fourth all-Brazilian final in the past five years and it will be the sixth consecutive time a Brazilian club has won the trophy. This domination is unprecedented in the competition’s 64-year history.
The match takes place in Argentina, in the stadium of Buenos Aires giants River Plate. But it is a Brazilian party.
How to explain the difference? The easy answer is money. The financial gap with the rest of the continent has widened.
Brazil’s big clubs can afford to bring players back from Europe – either ones who have not quite met expectations, or veterans looking to wind down their careers.
And like some South American version of the Premier League, Brazil is also sucking in talent from neighbouring nations.
Botafogo’s first team includes a World Cup winner from Argentina, internationals from Venezuela and Angola and Paraguayans on the bench. Atletico have players from six South American countries.
Perhaps even more important has been the presence of foreigners on the touchline.
Brazil’s dominance of the Libertadores began with a revolutionary Flamengo side of 2019 under Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus. Since then there has been a consistent flow of foreign coaches into the Brazilian game, especially from Portugal and Argentina.
These countries supply the coaches for Saturday’s duel: Botafogo boss Artur Jorge is Portuguese, while Atletico are coached by ex-Argentina international defender Gabriel Milito.
Who are the clubs?
Atletico are one of the big two (along with Cruzeiro) from the city of Belo Horizonte.
They were the first winners of a genuinely national Brazilian championship in 1971, and in a late flowering of the career of Ronaldinho, won the Libertadores in 2013.
They have a large and fanatical fanbase. As the saying goes, if you hang a black and white striped shirt out on the line during a storm, the Atletico fan will cheer against the wind.
They have enjoyed an excellent few years, completing a league and cup double in 2021 and moving into a new stadium last year.
Botafogo – who also play in black and white stripes – have a famous name because they supplied so many great players to Brazil’s three World Cup wins between 1958 and 70. Subsequently, though, they fell hard.
Widely seen as Rio’s fourth force, they were playing in front of small crowds and were relegated three times to the second division.
Fortunes changed with a new law allowing Brazilian clubs to open up their capital and have owners.
Enter US businessman John Textor, who also owns Lyon and has a stake in Crystal Palace. He has bankrolled an extraordinary transformation.
The team that spent 2021 in the second division are now in contention to win the league as well as the Libertadores.
Who are the players to look out for?
The recent rise of Botafogo is not just about money.
The scouting department has been doing some exceptional work, finding players where others are not looking.
The obvious example is Igor Jesus.
A few months ago he was a virtual unknown playing in the United Arab Emirates. He debuted for Botafogo in July and by October he was Brazil’s first-choice centre forward, attracting interest from Premier League clubs.
Powerful left-footed right winger Luiz Henrique has enjoyed a wonderful few months since joining from Betis, also forcing his way into the Brazil team.
Thiago Almada, from Argentina’s World Cup-winning squad, is a delightful little playmaker who seems to relish the big occasion – he was excellent in Tuesday’s 3-0 win away to domestic rivals Palmeiras, a result that leaves Botafogo in the driving seat for the league title with two rounds to go.
Premier League fans will also remember the full-backs: Vitinho, signed from Burnley, on the right and Alex Telles, once of Manchester United on the left. Former Everton midfielder Allan will probably be on the bench.
The name most associated with Atletico’s recent run of success is veteran striker Hulk.
Because his triumphs had come abroad, he was often disrespected by Brazilian supporters – until he came home to give weekly exhibitions of his attacking threat.
He has an excellent strike partnership with the lively Paulinho, and whether from the start or off the bench, Milito is sure to unleash big left-footed centre-forward Deyverson, who scored the winner for Palmeiras in this competition three years ago.
A natural showman, Deyverson is full of antics, but has undoubted class.
One-time QPR striker Eduardo Vargas will be on the bench.
Former Southampton defender Lyanco might start, while Gustavo Scarpa, who had an unhappy spell last year with Nottingham Forest, has a key role as a supply line for the strikers, finding space wide on the right to use his dangerous left-foot.
A possible second-half replacement for him is hugely promising Alisson Santana – the sole teenage wonderkid on show.
How will the game pan out?
This has become a game with a clear favourite.
Especially after Tuesday’s massive win away to Palmeiras, Botafogo are the side that most people will expect to win.
Their morale is high, while Atletico have gone 10 games without a win – the last victory was in the first leg of the semi-final back on 22 October.
Since then they lost both legs of the prestigious domestic cup final and have slumped in the league.
The key question, then, is how will Atletico approach the game?
Botafogo will look to impose themselves, attacking at pace, through the charges of Luiz Henrique and the clever, quick, angled passes of Almada and Jefferson Savarino, their Venezuelan attacking midfielder.
In full flow they are a thrilling sight, and possibly the best team to come out of South America since that 2019 Flamengo side.
Atletico coach Milito normally wants to attack.
In the middle of his back three, Rodrigo Battaglia is a converted midfielder, there to help the side play out of defence.
Does the coach opt to sit back and cover up, strengthening midfield? Or will he stick with an attacking trident, with Deyverson pushing the Botafogo defence back to create room for the surges of Hulk?
There are two arguments in favour of a more cautious gameplan.
One is that, towards the end of a gruelling season, Botafogo may be tiring. They might pay a price for that vital win over Palmeiras on Tuesday.
With the possibility of extra time, Milito could decide to play a waiting game.
Also, the longer the scores are level, the more nervous Botafogo are likely to become.
This new Botafogo are still waiting for the first title – and the first is the hardest.
Last year, they let a massive lead slip in the league – and what seemed like certain victory ended in a disappointing fifth place.
This is a different and far better team.
But the collective trauma remains – and there have been some late wobbles in the course of this Libertadores campaign.
The way to heal the trauma, of course, is to win the trophy – and it promises to be fun seeing if Botafogo can rise to the occasion, play to potential and become the last of Brazil’s traditional big 12 clubs to crown themselves as champions of South America.