Copa Libertadores Latest

Written by Joe Kent , 14.06 16h04

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Grêmio's bid to lift the Copa Libertadores suffered a severe set-back last night when they fell 3-0 to Boca Juniors in the first leg of the final. Without an away goal the gaúcho side must keep a clean sheet on Wednesday when the Argentineans arrive in Brazil for the second leg, and score at least four times.

Palacio opened the scoring in the 19th minute in the bonboneira; a curling Riquelme free kick found striker Martin Palermo who bounced the ball on and set up Palacio for a simple tap in. Arguments surrounding the goal's legitimacy continue, some replays appear to show Palermo offside, but it was allowed to stand.

Despite the score line the first half was evenly balanced and each side had their scoring opportunities. The balanced tipped however when Goiano was expelled shortly after the break for kicking and Banega and Bocca upped their offensive efforts.

Riquelme stepped up for another set piece in the 73rd minute and, rather than pass, this time he shot leaving Gremio's Argentine goalkeeper Sebastian Saja searching in the back of the net for the ball.

The final nail in the coffin came just two minutes from time as Ledesma made it three.

The Argentines seemed confident that they will be lifting the trophy in a weeks time but as Riqelme pointed out, "there are still 90 minutes left to play."

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