- José Manuel López and Marlon Freitas gave Palmeiras the first win by a visiting side against Fluminense in a CONMEBOL Libertadores knockout stage.
- Wesley Natã pulled one back for Fluminense in stoppage time to keep the tie open. The second leg will be played on Wednesday, October 21 at the NuBank Parque.
Palmeiras took an important step towards the final at the Maracanã. In the first leg of the CONMEBOL Libertadores semifinals, the São Paulo side beat Fluminense 2-1 with goals from José Manuel López, 45 minutes into the first half, and Marlon Freitas, 40 minutes into the second half, to become the first visiting team to beat the ‘Flu’ in a knockout stage of the tournament: until tonight, the 2023 champions had recorded 15 wins and five draws in 20 home matches at those stages. The tie will be decided on Wednesday, October 21 at the NuBank Parque in São Paulo.
Fluminense took the initiative from the start. Marcão’s side, with Paulo Henrique Ganso as the link behind Hulk, pushed Palmeiras back into their own half, but struggled to break down the back three of Alexander Barboza, Gustavo Gómez and Murilo. The clearest chance came 41 minutes into the first half: Hulk was through one-on-one with Carlos Miguel, but the ‘Verdão’ goalkeeper, the same man who kept them alive in Quito with two penalty saves, blocked the shot with his chest.
The first blow, however, was struck by Palmeiras. Right on half-time, 45 minutes into the first half, the visitors broke quickly on the counter: Joaquín Piquerez sent in a low cross and the ‘Flaco’ finished at the far post to make it 1-0. The Argentine forward came into the match as the team’s top assist provider in this edition and level with Jhon Arias at the top of their scoring charts.
Hércules replaced Matheus Martinelli at half-time. Palmeiras dropped deep and ceded possession to Fluminense, who had the ball but lacked penetration. Far from the high press that has defined them in this edition, the most aggressive among the semifinalists according to Opta, the ‘Verdão’ chose to sit back and protect their lead.
Fluminense kept trying in the air. After a corner 15 minutes into the second half, Agustín Canobbio headed at goal and Carlos Miguel responded with another good save. Three minutes later, Marcão looked for width with Kevin Serna, who had scored off the bench in Mendoza against Independiente Rivadavia, in place of the Uruguayan. Palmeiras, meanwhile, found their best weapon on the counter: 22 minutes into the second half, Jhon Arias led another quick transition and Agustín Giay’s shot from outside the box went just past Fábio’s left-hand post.
Palmeiras refreshed their attack 29 minutes into the second half, bringing on Ramón Sosa, Felipe Anderson and Maurício for López, Arias and Andreas Pereira, and 33 minutes into the second half Marcão went all out: Lucho Acosta and Rodrigo Castillo came on for Hulk and Ganso. Acosta, the player with the most line-breaking passes in the final third in the tournament according to Opta, came on to add penetration to a team camped in the opposition half. Even without the ball, Palmeiras were rarely troubled and kept threatening on the counter.
And 40 minutes into the second half came the blow that seemed to tip the tie. After a series of rebounds in the box and a great save from Fábio, Felipe Anderson nodded the ball back to leave Marlon Freitas unmarked, and he finished with his right foot from around the penalty spot, inside Fábio’s right-hand post, to make it 2-0. He had also scored in Quito, in the quarterfinal second leg against Liga de Quito.
But Fluminense’s persistence was rewarded in stoppage time. Three minutes into second-half stoppage time, Guga crossed, Carlos Miguel could not reach it and Wesley, who had come on for Jefferson Savarino 39 minutes into the second half, won the header between the Palmeiras centre-backs to make it 2-1. A late goal that leaves the tie open for the second leg.
It is Palmeiras’ second win over Fluminense in the CONMEBOL Libertadores, and both came at the same venue: the first was a 3-1 win at the Maracanã in the 1971 group stage. Fifty-five years later, the ‘Verdão’ repeated the feat with a place in the Montevideo final at stake. Fluminense, who had never lost a semifinal match, need to win in São Paulo.
The match in numbers:
- Palmeiras scored with their first shot of the match for the second time in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: José ‘Flaco’ López today against Fluminense and Jhon Arias in May against Junior. The only other teams to have done so in this edition are Fluminense (2) and Nacional (2).
- Palmeiras’ José ‘Flaco’ López became the first player to reach four goals and four assists in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores, thanks to his goal against Fluminense today.
- Fluminense outshot Palmeiras today (11 to 7), but the Verdão had the three best chances of the match according to Opta’s expected goals model: José ‘Flaco’ López’s goal (0.55 xG) and the efforts from Felipe Anderson (0.20 xG) and Ramón Sosa (0.14 xG).
- Palmeiras won this match after conceding the game’s first five shots to Fluminense. Since opening the scoring with their first effort, with just 27% possession, the Verdão and the Flu have had six shots each.
- Fluminense’s Ganso led the Flu in chances created (2, level with Guilherme Arana) and duels won (7) at the time of his substitution in the 78th minute. He was also the Tricolor player with the most final-third passes (38), almost as many as Palmeiras as a whole (41) when he was taken off.
- Palmeiras’ Marlon Freitas has as many direct goal involvements in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores knockout stages (three: two goals and one assist) as in all of his other 30 matches in the tournament combined (3 assists, all with Botafogo).
- Palmeiras bounced back from their 3-2 defeat to LDU in Quito with a 2-1 win over Fluminense in Rio de Janeiro. The Verdão have not lost consecutive away matches in the CONMEBOL Libertadores since 2022-2023 (21 matches since then: 14W 4D 3L).
- Fluminense’s Wesley Natã became the youngest player in the Tricolor’s history to score in the CONMEBOL Libertadores knockout stages (18y 179d), surpassing Biel in the 2021 quarterfinals (20y 134d).
- Guga was the Fluminense player with the most chances created today against Palmeiras (3). He also assisted Wesley Natã’s goal with a cross and completed both of the crosses he attempted in the match.
