The Copa Libertadores Final: Boca Juniors Vs. Fluminense

Gonzalo Angella is a massive Boca Juniors fan, he lifts up his shirt to reveal a Boca tattoo that takes up his whole back. It depicts the La Boca neighbourhood, its dock workers, the team colours and of course the famous Bombonera stadium. This final means the world to him.

Tonight, Boca Juniors of Buenos Aires travel north to take on Fluminense in their home city of Rio de Janeiro. Boca are looking for a famous seventh Copa Libertadores crown and Fluminense are seeking their first title.

For Fluminense it's a home game of course, but Boca have brought almost 150,000 fans to Rio to cheer their team on. They have quite literally taken over Copacabana. It's red and green against yellow and blue. This is South American club football's greatest spectacle and the Maracaña stadium will turn into a cauldron of noise and colour tonight.

I spoke to fans of both Fluminense and Boca before the final. Both have got their hands on tickets for the game and both are hoping for the night of their lives.

‘Gonza’ is one of many Boca Juniors fans making the trip to Rio. Supporters have traveled 2000km by any means necessary, many by car or bus over the course of a few days because they cannot afford flights. Fans have sold belongings to be able to make the journey, from kids games consoles to their parents cars. Football comes before things like that in South America.

“I have the privilege to be able to go, first and foremost.” Gonza told me. “There might be 30,000 of us with a ticket and 100,000 in the city without one. This is my third final with Boca, I watched us lose in 2011 and 2018, this one has to be different. It’s a party for us though, since we won the semi-final it’s been a party and we are going to take over Rio de Janerio.”

Pedro Gomes is a Rio de Janeiro local who is a Fluminense season ticket holder with a similar story to Gonza. “I was at the only Libertadores final we ever played back in 2008 when we lost. We haven’t won one yet so if the title comes it will be a great relief. To host the final is amazing, we deserve it and it feels like the pieces of the puzzle are coming together.”

Both sides come into this fixture in less than ideal form, however it's only natural that they would lose a bit of concentration in the league with one eye on the big cup final! Fluminense have just one win in six games. Before that they won their Copa Libertadores semi-final against Internacional. It took two late goals to earn a famous comeback victory in the second leg of that tie.

Boca have only won three times (in 90 minutes) in their last ten outings. In truth they have been off the pace all season and have failed to challenge in the league that they won last year. Two of those last ten games were draws with Palmeiras in their Copa Libertadores semi-finals. A tie that they won on penalties to make the final, it sums up their year; underwhelming, but here they are.

In fact, Boca have managed to progress through the knock-out rounds of this year's Copa Libertadores without winning a single game in 90 minutes. They have drawn six of six and passed three rounds via penalty shoot-outs. No they are not the most exciting team to watch but perhaps such luck suggests it’s their year.

“We are obsessed with winning the seventh Libertadores, once we win that nobody has anything over us in Argentina” says Gonza. “We would equal the seven titles of Independiente and also have more Intercontinental titles than them. Meanwhile at home all of our rivals have been relegated to the second division, but not us. That’s why we are obsessed. If we win this we are the biggest club in Argentina by a long way!”

Pedro and Fluminese have their own lust for the title. “We have been waiting a long long time for a moment like this. The atmosphere in the city is amazing. The club needs it, we have been struggling financially in recent years, but it's hard to think about that side of it at the moment, we just want to win this game and celebrate a special moment.”

Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz has been hailed as the ‘Brazilian Guardiola.’ As well as leading his club to a Copa Libertadores Final he is currently the interim manager of the Brazilian national team. Boca had a horrid start to the season and needed a change of coaching staff. Jorge Almirón has come in and successfully executed this run to the final, albeit with inconsistent and unconvincing performances.

Fluminense have firepower in abundance and are definitely favourites to lift the trophy this evening. Perhaps excluding Boca goalkeeper Sergio Romero and his penalty heroics Fluminese’s very own Argentine has been the star of this tournament so far. 35 year old Germán Cano has scored 12 goals to lead Fluminense to the final, double the tally of any other player in the tournament. In the box he has been simply electric, always in the right place at the right time.

Another of the Rio de Janeiro club’s key players is midfielder André; who has been heavily linked with Liverpool and Arsenal in recent months and is open to a January move to the Premier League. Tonight is a chance for him to shine, and to win the biggest trophy on the continent before jetting off. “I’ll play my game” he commented in a relaxed fashion “just like always.”

Big name Boca signing Edinson Cavani has underwhelmed since his arrival earlier this year, but you wouldn’t put it past him to strike in the final. A lot has also been said about young Boca Juniors left-back Valentin Barco; who has been linked with the likes of Brighton and Man City. The full-back is great on the ball and is constantly darting up the line looking to put in crosses and connect play. Even from defence he might actually be Boca’s most creative asset.

“We are proud to have a team with academy players, like Barco, Medina and Valentini.” Gonza beams “we know players go abroad to Brazil, Europe or the USA to play for economic reasons, but we are World Champions, Argentina always produces talent.”

Pedro adds; “I am nervous, but very confident at the same time. I think we will win it 3-1, and Germán Cano will score a couple. We have a great team and we are playing at home.”

Come the final whistle tonight I have no doubt that Pedro and Gonza will both be in tears, sadly for one; they will be devastated. The other will be overwhelmed with joy. Despite some fan trouble in Rio over the last few days Pedro and Gonza show that there is always a lot more that unites opposing football fans than divides them. Let’s hope tonight's explosion of passion is accompanied by a fantastic game on the pitch in what is the biggest game in the South American calendar. Don’t miss it.