Palmeiras will be its rival in Quarter Finals.
Danilo Gomez Herrera
After the accumulation of emotions that the match against Independiente del Valle gave us at the Atahualpa stadium in Quito with a 1-1 result and that qualified Pereira due to their home win, we now try to digest this feat of August 9, 2023 .
Then one begins to look for the reasons for success. The payroll? A great sports project? A very qualified technician?
Step by step in the Copa Conmebol Libertadores 2023 group stage those led by the Antioquia coach Alejandro Restrepo showed character to look each of the rivals in the face.
The classification to the Round of 16 was built with its excellent performance at home. Triumphs against multi-champion Boca Juniors 1 x 0 and Monagas 2 x 1. Against Colo Colo it was equal to one goal.
In the games away from home he had a performance that managed to excite against Boca Juniors in the mythical Bombonera. But he couldn’t certify it on the scoreboard. He lost 2-1. His weakest game was against Monagas as a visitor and he lost it. Then the calendar led him to define the classification in Chilean territory. There he knew how to hold on with the tie and got the ticket to the second phase against all odds.
round of 16
As a debuting team in the Continental tournament, it was not the candidate against the Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle, an institution that is a model in organization. And he is the current champion of the South American Cup.
With a goal from Paraguayan Danilo Santacruz, Deportivo Pereira won 1-0 at home. Therefore, in a match fought and suffered, they managed to equalize one goal in Quito to seal their passage to the quarterfinals.
Quarter finals
Deportivo Pereira continues to advance and in each phase of the Copa Libertadores and each of the matches becomes the most important in its history.
As Professor Alejandro Restrepo says: we are in these phases because we earned it. And that is why you have to play three championships at the same time:
The Copa Libertadores for being 2022 champions, which also gave the ticket to the round of 16 of the Betplay Cup. And of course the commitment to the Betplay League.
The key with Palmeiras
(Source Conmebol) First leg on August 23 at the Hernán Ramírez Villegas stadium. Deportivo Pereira vs Palmeiras. (Time to be confirmed)
And the return to Sao Paulo on August 30, visiting Palmeiras, in the middle of the Pereira festivities. Not even in the best dreams did this wonderful panorama appear.
Coach Alejandro Restrepo
Lines above, I was wondering if the Matecaña team is in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores due to its good payroll? For the institutional sports project? Or by your technician?
I can point out without a doubt that the great leader of all this success is the Antioquia coach Alejandro Restrepo Mazo. And the bases of it had another great protagonist: Héctor Fabio Ospina, the sports director until March of this year.
The construction of this building called Deportivo Pereira in the Alejandro Restrepo project laid its foundations in the preseason of June 2022 in Rionegro.
So many things happened there that allow us to give dimension to the monumental work of the professor. He committed himself to the cause of moving the team forward. Transmit to their FOOTBALL PLAYERS a new game idea that at the beginning was not easy to assimilate. But to achieve it he had some allies. The most experienced on the team. He changed many habits to live, train and compete.
In a week of concentration Restrepo Mazo managed to identify those profiles and it was there when elements such as Jhony Vásquez, Carlos Ramírez and Andrés “Pecoso” Correa entered the scene, who were multipliers of the message in the 2nd. Semester of 2022.
Another man who played a key role was the physical trainer Walter Rivera who showed them a new path in the way of preparing for each of the training sessions.
The campaign on the way to the title on December 7 yielded some amazing results from a team that played soccer well and set new records by winning in stadiums and against unbeatable rivals for the Matecañas until then. Other than that there were very few players injured. The coaching staff worked on their physical and mental strength with experts.
Another feat in 2023
The coach and his staff adapted to the abrupt changes that the team had. Elements that were key to obtaining the title left. The variants in the payroll lowered the performance in the League while they knew the idea of the game but the team focused on the Copa Libertadores. He gave priority to the international event and the results are in sight.
In many Copa Libertadores matches, Professor Restrepo has had to use Jhony Vásquez as a central defender. The captain has been left out in several games due to injury, just like Carlos Ramírez. He doesn’t have a goalscorer, but Ángelo Rodríguez’s collective role in attack has been key.
How far will Pereira go in the Libertadores? We don’t know because this team has soccer experts on the continent baffled. Deportivo Pereira with the Restrepo method.