Skip to main content

2024 Copa Libertadores’ All Brazilian Final without Brazilian Managers

Image
By

 

Copa Libertadores 2024 final

2024 Copa Libertadores’ all-Brazilian final will be without any Brazilian bosses in the dugout.

This year’s Copa Libertadores finally reaches the last stage with once again all Brazilian finals in the summit. Botafogo progressed to their first ever final in the competition history to take on their local contender, Atlético Mineiro, also known as Atlético-MG, the champions in the 2013 edition. Both sides have eliminated Uruguay's Peñarol and Argentina’s River Plate, respectively, in the semifinal. The final will be staged in Estadio Mâs Monumental, Buenos Aires, on November 30.

Copa Libertadores is no longer stranger to all Brazilian finals. In fact, it has already been the sixth one in history. The last three ones even took place in the past five years, which demonstrates the dominance of Brazilian clubs in the tournament. What’s more, they have always been the champions since 2019 too.

However, there is an anomaly in this year’s all-Brazilian final. Unlike the previous editions, neither finalist is led by their native managers, which is the first time in history. Botafogo is under the tutelage of Portuguese boss Artur Jorge, whereas Atlético Mineiro has Argentina's gaffer, Gabriel Milito, in charge of the squad. The 2024 Copa Libertadores final is also their first chance to win major continental competition. Find out their managerial career and how they end up in their current position below.

Botafogo’s Artur Jorge

The 52-year-old gaffer began his coaching career at FC Famalicão back in 2009 but spent most of his career at Sporting Braga, where he also spent most of his playing career. He had been at the helm of their team at various levels, from the youth team, U23 side, to caretaker of the first team before being appointed as the senior side’s boss in 2022. In his first full season in charge, Jorge managed to guide them to finish third with the best points, wins, and goals in club history, plus qualified to the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in 11 years.

In his second season, the former centre back was able to lead his team to snatch their first ever win in the Champions League while crushing Union Berlin 3-2 on the road. Such a victory helped them secure one spot in the Europa League by finishing third in the final standings. Unfortunately, Braga’s continental campaign was cut short following their unexpected loss to Azerbaijan’s Qarabağ in the playoff round. During his tenure in Braga, Jorge only won one title, the Portuguese League Cup in January, before he moved to South America by signing for Botafogo last April.

Atlético Mineiro’s Gabriel Milito

Unlike Jorge, Gabriel Milito had been a famous player with fairly glittering career in Europe. He was part of the Barcelona squad under Pep Guardiola when they won a treble in 2008/09 and clinched double titles in 2010/11. Despite not being the first choice, mainly due to his physical fitness and injuries, he did also lift all the major trophies from La Liga, Copa Del Rey, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup to FIFA Club World Cup.

His managerial career began in his last club, which was also his first professional team as a player, Independiente. Milito was handed to lead the reserve team for one year before he stepped down in late 2014. He then received an offer to take charge of Estudiantes de La Plata in 2015.

Despite sealing one berth in the Copa Libertadores, the former centre back opted to resign. After returning back to Independiente and Estudiantes again, plus a one-year stint with Chile’s O’Higgins, the former Real Zaragoza man was named Argentinos Juniors’ boss in January 2021. He was able to secure one spot in CONMEBOL’s top flight club competition in 2022. Yet, the Bernal-born manager once again terminated his contract after extending it till 2027 after suffering a dismal defeat against San Martín in the early knockout stage of the domestic cup 2023.

In March 2024, Milito joined Atlético Mineiro and helped them win over their archrival, Cruzeiro, in the regional championship final. It is his only silverware to date. Should he beat Botafogo later in the summit, it would be a major boost for the gaffer, who earned 42 international caps with Albiceleste.

 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Top Three Best Goalkeepers in UCL 2025/26

By
  Three goalkeepers in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 have been statistically in the lead and deserve to be considered the UCL's best shot-stoppers this season. UCL 2025/26 have just completed their league phase, and the playoff round draw result has been revealed. A few unexpected results in the last games cost Napoli , Real Madrid and even the reigning champions, PSG , the chance to qualify directly for the knockout stage. Even Il Partenopei failed to secure one spot in the playoff round due to their loss to Chelsea at their home turf. In some of the last games in the league phase, some goalkeepers stole the spotlight to help their team’s campaign to stay alive in the competition this season. The likes of Newcastle’s Nick Pope and Bodoe/Glimt’s Nikita Haikin were some of them. Their heroic saves contributed to their team’s success in going through to the next stage. Here are the top three best goalkeepers in the UCL this season, who are leading on the competition’s st...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Last Domestic Cup's Non-Top-Flight Champions in the European Top League

By
  The non-top-flight domestic cup champions have been incredibly rare in the European top five, and there have been none since the late 2000s. It's been a while since non-top-tier clubs won the domestic cup. Interestingly, such events have occurred throughout Europe's top five leagues. No one from the lower division has ever won a title in one of them. In England, lower-tier teams used to surprise fans every now and then, whether in the FA Cup or the EFL Cup. Compared to the other top five major leagues, England had more non-top-flight champions. The fans saw them win eight times in the former and five times in the latter. Meanwhile, non-top-tier teams have only won the German Cup, also known as the DFB Pokal, Coupe de France, and Coppa Italia, twice in their history. The Spanish Copa del Rey is the worst, with none of them winning the title even once. Here are the last non-top-flight domestic cup winners in the European major leagues. EFL League Cup The tournament, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Father and Son Footballers who played for different nations

By
  A number of father-and-son footballers have surprisingly not played for different national teams due to a various number of reasons. Football often runs in the family. Ideally, they all shine and have a chance to play for the same national team. Unfortunately, in some families, it is not always the same. The father sometimes becomes the star while the son barely can match the father’s stardom, or the other way around. Having a father who was also a famous footballer does not always give you an advantage. On the contrary, it can put huge pressure on the son, which eventually has an impact on their form. Such could lead to their failure to earn a cap in his father’s national team. Let alone thrive with them. That is what Luca Zidane experiences. He is the son of Zinedine Zidane, Les Blues' hero in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and EURO 2000. His father was undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers of all time with three FIFA Best awards in hand. On the other hand, Luca has neve...
Post a Comment
Read more