They'd topped their group with ease, and in the quarterfinals they'd comfortably seen off Atletico Nacional of Colombia with a very impressive 3-0 aggregate victory. While Nacional are one of Paraguay's grandes ('big clubs'), they're some way behind the giants of Olimpia, Cerro Porteno and Libertad, both in terms of titles won and Libertadores experience.ĭefensor, meanwhile, like almost every other club in Uruguay, live in the shadow of the Uruguayan Nacional and their great rivals Penarol those two giants have eight Copas between them, but Defensor this year are the only the second Uruguayan club from outside that duopoly to reach the Libertadores semifinals (Danubio did it previously, in 1989).Ĭoming into the first leg, Defensor certainly seemed the more likely winners. It took place in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, and saw Nacional de Paraguay hosting Defensor Sporting of Uruguay. Indeed, Tuesday's match pitted two sides who are far from being the normal competitors from their countries at continental level. It's felt like a wide-open Copa all year, and that's reflected in the spread of semifinalists four teams from four different nations, with none of the clubs left in it ever having lifted the trophy before. The leagues in Brazil, Colombia and Chile have already started up again, and on Tuesday it was time to settle down and enjoy something fans across the continent (especially the south of the continent) had been waiting a couple of months for the Copa Libertadores semifinals are finally upon us. It hasn't taken long for South America to get back into the swing of footballing things after the World Cup. Brian Montenegro opened the scoring for Nacional against Defensor Sporting.
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