- Atlético Mineiro lost 2-0 to Montevideo City Torque in Montevideo but held on to their first-leg advantage to reach the CONMEBOL Sudamericana Final for the second year running.
- They will face Boca Juniors, who knocked out Vasco da Gama, in the final in Barranquilla on 21 November.
The Brazilian side booked their place in the ‘Great Conquest’ final after an emotional encounter. Despite losing 2-0 to City Torque, Atlético Mineiro prevailed 3-2 on aggregate. Brazilian goalkeeper Gabriel Delfim once again proved to be a standout performer and a decisive figure in the Belo Horizonte side’s qualification.
On a rainy night in Montevideo, Marcelo Méndez’s team took to the pitch at the Estadio Centenario determined to control the game through possession and attacking efficiency. However, City Torque came up against an inspired Gabriel Delfim in the Mineiro goal.
A key figure in helping Galo reach the semi-finals, the goalkeeper produced a superb save in the 11th minute of the first half to deny Argentine forward Esteban Obregón. With outstanding reflexes, he kept the ball out with a spectacular dive towards his left-hand post. Shortly afterwards, he also saved a powerful long-range effort from Facundo Silvera.
The visitors threatened Franco Torgnascioli only once in the first half. In the 16th minute, Maycon fired over after a lay-off from captain Bernard. Long-range efforts became a recurring feature of the Uruguayan side’s attack, with Franco Pizzichillo trying twice and Gonzalo Montes also going close. On each occasion, the Belo Horizonte side’s goalkeeper came up with an effective response.
Towards the end of the first half, Delfim made a mistake when playing out from the back, but Uruguayan top scorer Salomón Rodríguez was unable to capitalise. The Brazilian goalkeeper recovered quickly from the rebound to make another save, this time denying Pizzichillo.
Atlético Mineiro showed their attacking quality at the start of the second half. Reinier struck the crossbar after a well-worked team move in the attacking third.
City Torque introduced fresh legs in attack, bringing on Luka Andrade and Nahuel Da Silva in an attempt to add more firepower. Their renewed impetus, however, did not translate into clear-cut chances. Before the drinks break, Kevin Silva won a header inside the Galo penalty area but sent his effort narrowly wide.
In the 75th minute, experienced Ecuadorian midfielder Alan Franco was sent off for the visitors and will miss the Final against Boca Juniors in Barranquilla.
The Uruguayan side continued to push for the goals they needed and were rewarded in the 89th minute, when Silva turned Juan Quintana’s pass in from close range on the goal line to score City Torque’s opener. Hope grew further in Montevideo when Torque captain Gary Kagelmacher rose to meet Montes’s cross and headed home to make it 2-0 for Méndez’s side.
The Brazilian defence dug in, and there was no time for any further goals. The final two minutes passed amid enormous tension, but Galo secured their place in the ‘Great Conquest’ final for the second consecutive year.
The side managed by Argentine coach Eduardo Domínguez will face Boca Juniors, champions in 2004 and 2005, at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla on Saturday 21 November.
The match in numbers:
- Atlético Mineiro will compete in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana Final for the second consecutive season, becoming the first Brazilian side to reach the final of the competition in successive years.
- Gary Kagelmacher’s goal for City Torque, scored at 92:56, was the latest goal by the Uruguayan side in CONMEBOL competitions. The City Torque player had not scored in these competitions since May 2021, when he found the net for Peñarol against River Plate, also in the Sudamericana.
- Atlético Mineiro have reached a CONMEBOL competition final for the third consecutive year, following their appearances in the 2024 CONMEBOL Libertadores and the 2025 CONMEBOL Sudamericana finals. It is the second time in the club’s history that they have reached finals in CONMEBOL competitions in three successive seasons. The first came in the 1990s: the 1995 Copa CONMEBOL, the 1996 Copa Máster de CONMEBOL and the 1997 Copa CONMEBOL.
- City Torque have never lost at home in CONMEBOL competitions, with 12 matches played, eight wins and four draws. Eleven of those games have been in the Sudamericana. They have equalled Atlético Goianiense as the side with the most home matches in the history of the competition without suffering a defeat.
- The match featured the two teams with the best difference between goals scored and expected goals (xG) in this season’s CONMEBOL Sudamericana: City Torque (6.7) and Atlético Mineiro (4.2). However, the Uruguayan side recorded a -1.5 difference in that metric in this match, their worst figure of the year.
- City Torque attempted 15 shots in the first half, four of them on target. This was the Uruguayan side’s record for first-half shots in CONMEBOL competitions. Their previous highest total in an opening half was eight, against Independiente in 2021 and Deportivo Riestra in 2026.
- City Torque have scored 20 goals in this year’s CONMEBOL Sudamericana, their highest total in a single edition of any CONMEBOL competition.
- Atlético Mineiro’s Bernard recovered the ball seven times in this match, his highest total in a single game across his 38 appearances in CONMEBOL competitions.
- City Torque’s Esteban Obregón has won 87 of the 174 duels he has contested in this season’s CONMEBOL Sudamericana, more than any other player. It is the highest number of duels won by a player in a single edition of the competition since 2024, when San Lorenzo’s Nahuel Barrios and Malcom Braida won 92 and 87 respectively.
- Gonzalo Montes of Montevideo City Torque completed 92% of his passes against Atlético Mineiro (82 out of 89), the highest rate by a City Torque player in a match in the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana, among players who attempted at least 50 passes.
