- The Portuguese coach has 49 wins in the CONMEBOL Libertadores and could become the third to reach 50, after Renato Gaúcho (54) and Marcelo Gallardo (51).
- He shares third place with Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, the Colombian who led América de Cali to three consecutive Finals.
Palmeiras need only a draw on Wednesday to return to the CONMEBOL Libertadores Final. For Abel Ferreira, however, only a win will do if he is to join a very exclusive club. The Portuguese coach has 49 wins in the history of the competition and, if his team beat Fluminense at the Nubank Parque, he will become the third coach to reach 50. It will also mark his return to the bench: he served a one-match suspension in the first leg for his sending-off in Quito, in the Quarterfinals, and the 2-1 win at the Maracanã was overseen from the touchline by his assistant, João Martins. Here is how the top of the table stands today, with names such as Luiz Felipe Scolari, Luis Cubilla and Carlos Bianchi further down.
Renato Gaúcho, 54 wins
The first name on the list is one of the few to have won the trophy both on the pitch and on the bench with the same club. He started both legs of the 1983 Final, which Grêmio won against Peñarol, and, 34 years later, coached the Porto Alegre side that beat Lanús in the 2017 Final. He collected his wins with three clubs, Fluminense, Grêmio and Flamengo, and reached two more Finals as a coach: in 2008, when Fluminense lost to Liga de Quito on penalties, and in 2021, at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, with Flamengo. That night, the man who lifted the trophy was Abel.
Marcelo Gallardo, 51 wins
Like Renato, Gallardo won the trophy as a player and as a coach with the same club. In 1996 he came off the bench in both legs of the Final, which River won against América de Cali, and, as a coach, he lifted the trophy in 2015, against Tigres, and in 2018, in the Madrid Final against Boca. In 2019 he reached the decider again and lost to Flamengo in Lima. He left the 'Millonario' in February this year and took charge of Ecuador's national team in September, so his tally will stay where it is for now.
Abel Ferreira, 49 wins
He made his debut in the competition on November 25, 2020, with a 3-1 win over Delfín in Manta in the Round of 16, and two months later he was already a champion, after a 1-0 win over Santos at the Maracanã. In 2021 he did it again in Montevideo, with a 2-1 extra-time win over Renato's Flamengo, and since then he has rarely been absent from the decisive stages: he was a semifinalist in 2022 and 2023 and a finalist in 2025, when he lost 1-0 to Flamengo in Lima.
He is the most successful coach in the club's history, with a contract until December 2027, and across seven editions he has reached 49 wins in the competition, six of them in this one, in which Palmeiras have won six of their 11 matches. On Saturday, after a Brasileirão match in which his team beat Athletico Paranaense 2-0, he called for support for the second leg: "I ask the fans to support this team. Make demands of me, and I'll make demands of them. Let's get behind the team. That's what it means to be Palmeirense: getting behind them in good times and bad, for the P on the chest".
Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, 49 wins
The Colombian currently shares third place with Abel. In the competition, he coached Millonarios, Independiente Santa Fe and América de Cali, whom he led to three consecutive Finals: in 1985 against Argentinos Juniors, decided on penalties in a playoff in Asunción; in 1986 against River; and in 1987 against Peñarol, settled in Santiago, Chile, by a Diego Aguirre goal in the last minute of extra time. Opta credits him with 49 wins because it leaves out five from 1988, when América's bench was in the hands of his assistant, Tucho Ortiz, while the coach was on leave.
On Wednesday, Palmeiras will have the 2-1 advantage and the chance to return to a Final that will be played at the Estadio Centenario, the stadium where Abel won the second of his titles. It will not be the only milestone at stake: if he plays, Gustavo Gómez will reach 91 matches for Palmeiras in the competition and equal Libertad's Sergio Aquino as the player with the third-most appearances for a single club in the tournament's history. For the team, a draw is enough. For their coach to reach 50, they need to win.
