Muslera's Three Penalty Saves Send 10-Man Estudiantes Past Flamengo to Libertadores Final

A 40-year-old goalkeeper saved three penalties, a $61 million squad beat a $236 million one, and ten men held the Maracana for 40 minutes. Estudiantes de La Plata are in the Copa Libertadores final after beating Flamengo 3-2 in a penalty shootout on Wednesday night, ending seven consecutive years of Brazilian dominance in South America’s premier club competition.

How did Estudiantes beat Flamengo at the Maracana?

By refusing to concede, then refusing to miss the moment. Both legs finished 0-0, in La Plata on October 15 and at the Maracana on Wednesday, so the semifinal went to a shootout. Fernando Muslera denied Jorginho, Lucas Paqueta and Bruno Henrique in succession, the Associated Press reports, and Estudiantes converted three of their own to win it 3-2. FIFA’s own report calls the night a stunner: few gave Alexander Medina’s side a shot against a club that had reached four of the previous seven finals.

Why was Estudiantes playing with 10 men?

Baltasar Rodriguez was sent off for a second yellow card in the 50th minute, and the tie tilted hard toward Flamengo from there. Estudiantes defended the rest of the second half a man down at the Maracana and survived into the shootout, the AP reports, with FIFA noting that Guido Carrillo and Rodriguez had earlier forced Flamengo keeper Agustin Rossi into superb saves. A second yellow at 0-0 away to Flamengo is the kind of disciplinary flashpoint that usually ends a semifinal; here it was the start of the escape. It also continues a crowded few days for dismissals in the game, which included Luka Perisic’s sending-off against Croatia after Marc Cucurella handed the referee his dropped red card.

Who did Muslera save the penalties from?

Three players who were supposed to end this. Jorginho, Lucas Paqueta and Bruno Henrique all stepped up for Flamengo in the shootout, and Muslera stopped all three, FIFA confirms. The 40-year-old Uruguay veteran, a five-World Cup goalkeeper, turned the Maracana silent one kick at a time. A note on the record: the AP wire text rendered him as Jorge Muslera, which appears to be a naming error in the wire copy; FIFA and his known career name is Fernando.

Why is this result a major upset?

The numbers make the case before the narrative does. The AP’s reported squad valuations put Estudiantes at just over $61 million against Flamengo’s roughly $236 million, one of the most expensive rosters in the Americas. The result ends seven consecutive years of Brazilian clubs winning the Libertadores, with the last non-Brazilian winner Argentina’s River Plate in 2018. Estudiantes had not reached a final since 2009. It is the kind of mismatched-club economics story that usually ends with the money winning; Wednesday it did not.

Who do Estudiantes play in the final?

Palmeiras, on November 28 at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. The Brazilians reached the final their own hard way, beating Fluminense on penalties after Hercules’s 82nd-minute equaliser sent their semifinal to a shootout, with goalkeeper Carlos Miguel saving from Nonato to send them through, FIFA reports. Palmeiras have now won back-to-back ties via shootouts and will play their fourth Libertadores final in seven years, having lost 1-0 to Flamengo in last year’s final.

What does Estudiantes’ history say about this final?

That the club lives for them. FIFA notes Estudiantes will play their sixth Libertadores decider, inspired by the Juan Ramon Veron title era of the late 1960s, and that their 2009 triumph over Cruzeiro ended a 38-year wait. Later that year they were minutes from a seismic upset in the FIFA Club World Cup final before Lionel Messi snatched victory for Barcelona in extra time. A fifth continental title on November 28 would end Brazil’s seven-year hold and make the oldest goalkeeper in the story its hero.