Copa Sudamericana Final went to Argentina this year after a 3×2 aggregate win for Independiente over Brazilian Flamengo.
The first match was the key and despite Flamengo managed to score first, they weren’t able to cope with a very good positional play of the Argentinian team. How exactly they approached the match you can see in the analysis below.
To sum it up, Independiente used their wide players to stretch the defensive unit. The space that appeared between the defensive lines was then used by fullbacks on inverted runs through half spaces. Barco and Meza, two most creative players (plus Benitez) were looking for space in the central corridor.
Flamengo defended with two banks of four and had a difficult time to cover the width. This was also due to their two front players, Felipe Vizeu and Diego, who didn’t do a lot to help out the rest of the team.
That was it, in short, check out the longer version to get a better idea how Independiente confronted the first leg of Copa Sudamericana against Flamengo.
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