By Gustavo Castilho
Ayacucho (PER) or Desportiva Lara (VEN) are the teams that await the Brazilians
Less than a week after the end of the Libertadores da América 2020, Conmebol held a draw to define the preliminary phase of the 2021 competition. With the calendar changed, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some continent championships are still being played, as in the case of Brazil. With that, the Brazilian teams were named “Brasil 7” and “Brasil 8” to continue the switching of the competition. If “Brasil 7” passes through Ayacucho (PER), they will face Del Valle or “Chile 4” in the third phase of the Pre-Libertadores. “Brasil 8”, on the other hand, if it exceeds Deportivo Lara (VEN), will face San Lorenzo or “Chile 3”.
The Brazilian teams classified for the previous phase through the Brazilian Championship will only be defined after the dispute of the Copa do Brasil, between Palmeiras and Grêmio, which will directly affect the classification zone for the competition. If Palmeiras, already classified as the champion of the last Libertadores, also wins the Copa do Brasil, the regulation determines that the vacancy be transferred to the Brazilian Championship, which now has five direct vacancies and two to the Pre-Libertadores.
Conmebol also announced a change to the tournament regulations. The novelty for the edition of Libertadores 2021 is that if a club is eliminated in the penultimate phase of the so-called Pre-Libertadores, in addition to not advancing to the group stage, it does not even win a place in the Copa Sudamericana. Only clubs eliminated in the third and final preliminary round would qualify for a place in the other continental tournament.
The draw for the first phase of the South American Games was also held. Brazil will have six representatives who will enter the group stage directly, another novelty from Conmebol for the 2021 edition of the tournament.
