- A Fluminense academy graduate, Marlon Freitas scored Palmeiras’ second goal at the Maracanã.
- He now has as many direct goal involvements in these knockout rounds as in his other 30 CONMEBOL Libertadores matches combined: three.
Marlon Freitas learned his football at Xerém, Fluminense’s academy, and took his first steps as a professional in the Tricolor shirt. That is why the goal he scored 40 minutes into the second half of the CONMEBOL Libertadores semifinal first leg carried particular weight. After a series of rebounds in the box, Felipe Anderson headed the ball back and the midfielder, unmarked around the penalty spot, finished with his right foot inside Fábio’s right-hand post. It made it 2-0 to Palmeiras in a 2-1 win that left the São Paulo side a draw away from the final.
It was no one-off. According to Opta, Marlon has three direct goal involvements in the knockout stages of this edition, two goals and one assist, exactly as many as he had managed in all of his other 30 CONMEBOL Libertadores matches. And those three had all been assists, all in a Botafogo shirt. The midfielder who spent years dictating play from deep, more focused on balance than on the opposition goal, began turning up in the box just as the tournament entered its decisive stretch, with late runs from midfield as a new weapon.
The first of those goals came on the most demanding night of the campaign. In the quarterfinal second leg against Liga de Quito, in Quito, Marlon scored nine minutes into the first half to extend the first-leg advantage, in a match Palmeiras eventually settled on penalties after Michael Estrada’s stoppage-time comeback.
The city holds a special place in his story. It was there, on July 26, 2017, that he scored his first goal for Fluminense, against Universidad Católica, in the second stage of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana. “It was a special match for me; I had the chance to score my first goal in the Fluminense shirt”, he recalled a few weeks later, before returning to Quito to face Liga in the round of 16 of that tournament. Nine years on, the city and the opponent were the same, and this time the goal against Liga was his, in a Palmeiras shirt and in the CONMEBOL Libertadores.
Back then, Marlon was still looking for his place. After loan spells at Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the United States and Šamorín in Slovakia, he played for Criciúma in 2018 and Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto in 2019. Stability came at Atlético Goianiense, where he made more than 100 appearances between 2020 and 2022, was an undisputed starter and won two state championships. From there he made the move to Botafogo, the club where he became a leading figure: he was captain and a key player in the side that won the Brasileirão and the CONMEBOL Libertadores in 2024, beating Atlético Mineiro 3-1 in the final in Buenos Aires.
In January 2026 he arrived at Palmeiras with words that now sound like a preview. “It was a good decision. Palmeiras chose me and I chose Palmeiras”, he said at his unveiling on January 8. He also spoke about his versatility, “I can play as a holding midfielder or as a box-to-box midfielder”, and about a personal goal: having “the desire to be a protagonist”. “My aim is to help my teammates and win titles”, he added.
In Abel Ferreira’s side, that leading role is measured first with the ball. According to Opta, Marlon reached the semifinals as the player with the most passes breaking the opposition’s defensive line since the start of the group stage, with 18, ahead of teammate José Manuel López with 14. He is one of the keys to a Palmeiras side that tends to reach goal in few passes and that, at the Maracanã, chose to sit back and strike on the counter.
Opponents are well aware of it. In August, after Fluminense beat Palmeiras 3-2 in the Brasileirão, Marcão explained that his substitutions were meant to cut off that influence. “We were letting the ball get to Marlon”, the ‘Flu’ coach admitted. Two months later, in the match that mattered most, the midfielder was decisive again, this time from the place where he is least often found: the opposition box.
He was not the only one returning to familiar surroundings. Jhon Arias, a CONMEBOL Libertadores champion with Fluminense in 2023, started and led one of Palmeiras’ most dangerous counterattacks in the second half. But the night belonged to Marlon, who left the ‘Verdão’ 90 minutes away from the final in Montevideo.
The tie will be decided on Wednesday, October 21 at the NuBank Parque, where a draw will be enough for Palmeiras. If they get it, Marlon will have the chance to play his second CONMEBOL Libertadores final in three years, this time in the shirt of the club that chose him and that he chose.
