Atlético Nacional disappointed. A bigger disappointment than Atanasio Girardot. He was not able to overcome the series against Olimpia from Paraguay. She tried, but couldn’t. The defeat in the first leg, 3-1, ended up being very wide. This Thursday, in Medellin, the team tied 1-1: they had no caste, they did not find the hierarchy, their glory was recast, and they were eliminated in phase 2 of the Copa Libertadores.
Nacional faced enormous pressure, with the 3-1 against, with its expectant public, with the crisis exacerbated with the departure of DT Alejandro Restrepo, with an interim DT, Hernán Darío Herrera, sent to do a feat, and against a rival who was not going to give anything away.
Weak start of National
Already the start of the game was disappointing. There was not a National that reacted, that got up. On the contrary, it was an erratic team, lacking in clarity, and to make matters worse, they faced a Paraguayan rival full of courage, who did not stop running, enduring furiously and from time to time intimidating with quick plays.
Every attempt at creativity by Jarlan or Pabón was shattered. Mantilla had to come to try with a shot from medium distance, without risk and without power, and then Gómez, with more power but still without risk. Those desperate attempts were a sample of the nebula that the green team had, which they could not elaborate, or filter, or anything.
And meanwhile, Olympia launched some very dangerous attacks. In one of those the goalkeeper Mier saved the fall of his goal by cutting a creeping center that carried poison. It was a warning, a demonstration that this Paraguayan team could still cause more problems.
Nacional went into the break with more doubts than certainties, with more fears than clarity. The nerves began to haunt the Atanasio Girardot.
National reaction
Some solution had to have the team. He looked for her at the bank. Andrés Andrade entered and needed a minute to fill Nacional with life with a tremendous kick that touched a rival, after a wall with Jarlan, to send the ball into the net and make it 1-0.
The team was immediately emboldened. His reaction was fierce. He charged forward with all his weapons. Determined to find the goal that would level the series.
Nacional missed that long-awaited goal when Banguero was unable to connect a great opportunity. A defender anticipated him and sent the ball to the corner kick. But the team was on top, it grew.
Andrade wanted to be the hero, not a half hero but a total one. And so he unleashed another powerful shot that he bounced off the crossbar. The fans became agitated, raised their choirs, Atanasio moved, he was going to fall.
But Nacional still had a lot of drama to live through. In a corner kick, Mier released the ball, another goalkeeper error, the nightmare of the season, and Saúl Salcedo appeared on the rebound, at 57 minutes, and scored the goal of the 1-1 tie, and Atanasio remained silent.
The battle took overtones of feat. Nacional no longer needed one more goal, not two, but three to avoid penalties. And the waste began, Jarlan sent a good chance over the top.
Nacional never lowered his arms. He tried by all means to shorten the distance, but as was normal, desperation and anguish did his homework: in a clash, defender Aguilar received a red card, as did Paraguayan Paiva. Nacional fell into the trap. And time was running.
National was unable. The second goal did not come. Time ran out and the team said goodbye to the international tournament. The squad of figures, Jarlan’s, Pabón’s, Gio’s (who did not play), Mantilla’s, Duke’s… could not beat Olimpia. Another hard blow for Colombian soccer.
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