Athlético Paranaense had well and truly put the pain of their Copa Libertadores defeat behind them, only losing four times in 42 matches seven months into 2039. But the hard work began now as they looked to go again in the Libertadores knockouts and aim for the club’s second Série A title and first in 38 years.
Robaato Rasamu was well aware that succeeding on both fronts was unlikely and his focus was firmly on the continental games. His evolution of the squad continued as captain Fábio was sold to Saudi for £15m then disaster struck on deadline day as Porto activated Rodrigo Bracamonte’s £20.5m release fee. That forced Rasamu into the market for two more Argentinian wonderkids Juan Ignachio Marchese for £8.5m from Boca and Joaquín Valeri for £11m from Lanús.
Copa Libertadores Knockouts
Paranaense got a tough second round draw against Internacional, who sit 2nd in Série A. The away leg was up first and started well as Paulo Roberto Aal took a short corner, ran across the box and laid it off for his opposite winger. They dominated by 20 shots to three and should have won comfortably, especially when Internacional got a red card on 67 minutes, but somehow only won 1-0. Iternacional obviously scored their first shot of the return leg as Paranaense were again wasteful. But a quintuple sub made the difference as Anderson created the traitor Bracamonte’s winner.
It didn’t get much easier in the quarter final against River Plate. The away leg was first again and Paranaense played terribly, giving up 10 shots and having none in the first half. The second half was a similar story and River went ahead through a fluky own goal. But Rasamu rang the changes and that at least woke the team up before Roameth Merino hit a stunning volley to get an undeserved draw.
They looked at home only to concede to River’s first shot and Rasamu laid into the lads at half time. That immediately got the desired result as Aguilar turned home only for the ref to give River a very dubious penalty to go back in front. Rasamu turned to his bench and they swiftly levelled again as holding midfielder Lucas Pena Barcelos scored from 25 yards. It looked destined for extra time until two subs combined, with Carlos Eduardo’s cross rebounding for Merino to smash home a dramatic winner.
The semi finals were all-Brazilian as Paranaense took on Palmeiras while Atlético Mineiro, who defeated Flamengo, faced Santos, who knocked out holders Corinthians. Paranaense had the home leg up first and started really well through Merino’s fine finish then a brilliant Castro header teed up an Abel Aguilar tap in. But Palmeiras scored their first shot, had the better of the second half and very nearly got level in the final minute bar a superb Guilherme de Moraes save from a free kick.
They started the away leg poorly as Palmeiras again scored their first shot inside four minutes and Paranaense struggled to get going. But a stern teamtalk at least saw them have a few shots. They eventually made one count as Pena Barcelos broke out of midfield and laid the ball off to Merino, who unleashed a delicious strike from 25 yards that bulleted into the top corner. Palmeiras pushed for a goal but Rasamu’s boys just about held them off to reach consecutive Libertadores Finals.
Série A Title Challenge Falls Away
Paranaense maintained their good form by going to Cruzeiro and thumping them 7-1. However, given that was already their 43rd game of the season, Rasamu had to rotate to prioritise Libertadores – which Palmeiras hadn’t ahead of the second leg above. As a result, they lost at Palmeiras, Internacional and Santos, 1-0 at home to Corinthians and dropped points at Fluminense. But a 2-0 win at home to Mineiro secured Libertadores qualification and kept them in the title race.
Aal and Aguilar goals earned wins over América and Goianiense before they came up big as young winger Esdras, Marchese’s first goal for the club and midfielder Juan David Castro earned a 3-1 win over holders Flamengo. The good form continued at bottom side Santo André as an Esdras brace and Valeri’s first goal led a convincing 5-0 win. Those two wins secured at least 2nd place but were strangely played before Internacional had played their 36th game, which took Paranaense four points clear.
Internacional caught up with a 2-0 win over Vasco and a 2-2 draw at Sao Paulo. So the two sides were tied on both points and goal difference going into the final match. But Paranaense’s game was moved forward to the Monday due to the scheduling of the Libertadores Final. So no matter what happened, Internacional would know what result they needed to win the league. Paranaense did their bit with a solid 2-0 win over Cuiabá with goals by Merino and Esdras. Six days later, Internacional entertained Palmeiras and… drew 1-1! So Paranaense were Champions of Brazil for the first time since 2001 and only the second time ever. They finished with 26 wins, six draws and six defeats to claim 84 points and win the league by two points from Internacional – who truly bottled the title.
Consecutive Libertadores Finals
Paranaense’s second Libertadores Final in 12 months saw them take on Atlético Mineiro, who beat Santos 5-4 on aggregate. 47,017 Brazilians descended on the Chilean capital Santiago as the two sides went head-to-head at Monumental David Arellano. Paranaense were again seeking their first Libertadoes while Mineiro were chasing their second having won the tournament back in 2013.
Rasamu had a few selection headaches as Aal and Pipoca suffered sprained knee ligaments but the latter was just about fit to be on the bench. So he lined up:
de Moraes; Brunet, Soncini, Henrique, Carlos; Esdras, Barcelos, Castro, Eduardo; Merino, Aguilar
Subs: Pipoca, Santos, Evaldo, Valeri, Zacaro, Váldson, Felipe, Barros, Yago, Aldo, Anderson, Laraque
Most finals tend to start a little tentatively but this one certainly didn’t. Paranaense got an absolute flyer as, 65 seconds in, Mineiro tried to play out from the back and the goalkeeper passed the ball straight to Aguilar, who calmly tucked it into the bottom corner. They immediately conceded from a corner but, straight from the kick, they attacked down the right and Esdras squared the ball for Eduardo to restore the lead. Esdras stepped up again 12 minutes later, collecting the ball from Pena Barcelos, diving inside his full back and smashing it into the top corner. And they were in dreamland on the verge of half time as Mineiro didn’t learn their lesson. A short goal kick went straight to Merino, who passed inside for Aguilar to score an open goal to send his side into the break 4-1 up.
de Moraes made a wonderful save just after half time, diving at full stretch to push a free kick wide. The game calmed down and Pipoca came close to a fifth late on. But they claimed an easy 4-1 victory.
Athlético Paranaense were Champions of South America for the first time!!
Analysing Paranaense’s Greatest Season
Rasamu knew his young squad had talent but certainly wasn’t expecting to wrap up a treble of the Paranaense state title, Série A and Copa Libertadores. Their success was probably thanks to the summer defensive signings as they recorded the league’s 2nd best average possession (58%) and goals conceded (28) and Geovane Henrique won defender of the season.
The star man this season had been Aguilar, who spored 32 in 50 and is attracting the attention of Man UFC. Pushing him close was the exciting Esdras, who scored 17 and topped the assists chart with 13 in 44 games. Pipoca scored 20 goals, but only 1 since July, followed by Merino (14), Aal (10) and Castro and Barros (7) while Merino got 12 assists followed by Pena Barcelos (11) and Aguilar and Váldson (10).
Rasamu didn’t mind admitting that he’d fallen in love with Athlético Paranaense during his four years in Brazil. But, with a very heavy heart, he knew that this was the time to depart. The Copa Libertadores success saw Rasamu lift four out of the five top-tier continental titles he needed to complete his Pentagon Pursuit – all of which had been with first-time winners. Only one eluded him, with the Japanese manager needing to add a European Champions League winning medal to his collection.
So on 30 November 2039, after 1,611 days at Paranaense and despite the protests of his adoring board of directors, Rasamu resigned. In his 298 games at the club, he won 193, drew 51 and lost 54, scoring 715 and conceding 334, which is fairly skewed by the state league domination. However, he’d have a long wait as the European leagues wouldn’t be available for seven months!
Where would Rasamu end up on his quest to complete the Pentagon Pursuit in Europe? Join us on Monday to find out!
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