The great debt of millionaires is to win an international title. Although he has a Merconorte Cup, which he won in 2001, he has not been able to win the Libertadores or the Sudamericana.
This Thursday, the Blues, who are going to play with a curious uniform (orange shirt, shorts and black socks) will begin their journey in the second preliminary phase of the Copa Libertadores, against the Catholic University of Ecuador, in Quito (7 pm, with signal from ESPN and Star+).
The voices of the blue referents on the Libertadores
Millonarios does not have a great past in the Libertadores. He reached the semifinals twice, in 1973 and 1974, and the quarterfinals twice, in 1989 and 1995, in which he was eliminated by the same team, Atlético Nacional, which reached the final on both occasions. Last year, in this same instance, he was eliminated by Fluminense.
“The Libertadores is another matter, for me it is like the Champions League. You have to have category players, have a poster. There are teams that are preparing to win it or fight it, and Millonarios has not been able to ”, he assured Mario Vanemerak, member of the team that reached the quarterfinals in 1989 and, as coach, led the club to the semifinal of the 2007 Copa Sudamericana.
“It is an obligation for Millionaires to overcome this phase. It will be hard there, but Millonarios has a better history, La Católica is not the League, Barcelona or Emelec”, added the Argentine, who has lived in Bogotá for many years.
Millionaires has not exceeded the group stage since 1997. Raul Ramirez Gacha, A member of that squad, he believes that this championship system complicates the options, but he is confident that this year he can advance.
“At that time, the champion and the runner-up went directly to the group stage, there was no previous phase. Today, the two champions enter groups and the other two have to play two series to advance”, explained Ramírez.
“Millionaires has improved, it is looking for variants so as not to always play the same game. This is a good opportunity: you have to add outside and then, in Bogotá, make the house respected ”, he assured.
The closest Millonarios came to a Conmebol title in the last 20 years were the two South American semifinals, in 2007 and 2012. Rafael Robayo He was on both campuses. He believes that there is something to reach the group stage with.
“I see a team with the idea of the game that they have already brought from so many tournaments, they are clear about what it is to jump onto the pitch and what they should do. One always hopes that there will be a competitive and experienced team, and hopefully they can not only overcome this phase, but gain confidence”, Robayo stated.
Universidad Católica is unknown, even for Ecuadorians themselves. The League of that country has not yet started.
“The team changed technicians. Miguel Rondelli went to Emelec and Católica hired the Spanish Igor Oca, of whom there are few references. He maintained a good base and strengthened some positions. He is armed to repeat the previous year, try to reach a final, ”said Andrés Muñoz, a journalist for Radioactiva.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
sports deputy editor
@josasc
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