- Both semifinalists lost the first leg of the Quarterfinals 2-0 away from home and turned the tie around at home, with the decisive goal coming in the second minute of stoppage time on both occasions.
- Atlético Mineiro needed a 4-2 win and three penalty saves from Gabriel Delfim; Torque needed a 3-0 that no opponent had ever managed against Cienciano after a Cienciano win in Cusco.
Some ties look alike before they even start. The Semifinal between Atlético Mineiro and Montevideo City Torque brings together two teams who got here by the same route, on consecutive nights. Both lost the first leg of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana Quarterfinals 2-0 away from home. Both turned it around in front of their own fans. And in both cases, the goal that changed everything came at the same moment: two minutes into second-half stoppage time.
The first night was Wednesday, September 16, at the Arena MRV. Atlético Mineiro had lost at the Vila Belmiro, without Tomás Cuello through suspension and without Everson because of a broken foot, to goals from Willian Arão and Christian Oliva, both set up by Gabigol. The second leg exploded after 19 seconds with Bernard's goal, the fastest of the edition according to Opta, and Reinier scored twice before halftime, with a Lyanco own goal in between, for the 3-1 that leveled the aggregate.
But 27 minutes into the second half, Gabigol made it 3-2, putting Santos back in control of the tie. Then came stoppage time. A cross from the right dropped into the box and Cuello, back in the side, beat the entire defense to it with a header two minutes into stoppage time: 4-2, 4-4 on aggregate and penalties. That is when Gabriel Delfim stepped up, the 24-year-old goalkeeper standing in for Everson in his first international knockout tie: he saved from Gabigol, João Schmidt and Arthur Melo, and the 'Galo' won the shootout 3-1.
The second came on Thursday, September 17, at the Estadio Centenario. Torque had lost in Cusco to goals from Cristian Souza and Maximiliano Amondarain, two Uruguayans playing for Cienciano. Salomón Rodríguez opened the scoring 38 minutes into the first half; at halftime Marcelo Méndez sent on Nahuel Da Silva for Luka Andrade, and Rodríguez leveled the tie with a header after the break, against his momentum, from a deep cross by Esteban Obregón. The third goal followed the Belo Horizonte script: Da Silva ran in behind after a Rodríguez header, finished one-on-one against Ítalo Espinoza two minutes into stoppage time and scored his first international goal, the one that sealed the 3-0 and a 3-2 aggregate win.
Both comebacks also carry historical weight that Opta has put into numbers. Before Santos, only three teams had been knocked out in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana Quarterfinals after winning the first leg by two or more goals: San Lorenzo against Toluca in 2006, Universitario against Vasco da Gama in 2011 and Once Caldas against Independiente del Valle in 2025. And Cienciano had gone through in all ten CONMEBOL ties in which they won their home match; Torque became the first team to knock them out after losing in Cusco. Delfim, for his part, is the second Atlético Mineiro goalkeeper to save three penalties in a single shootout in the competition, after Victor against Unión La Calera in 2019.
The protagonists have something else in common: they show up late. Cuello had already settled the Round of 16 tie against Red Bull Bragantino with the only goal of the first leg and the stoppage-time 2-2 in the second; all three of his goals in this edition have decided ties, and he adds four assists to them. Da Silva had played only a handful of minutes in ten matches before the second leg against Cienciano. 'We don't play only with the ball, but also with our hearts', he said after qualifying.
The two comebacks say something about how each side plays. They are two ways of turning a tie around, and they now meet in reverse order: the first leg, on Wednesday, is at the Arena MRV, where the 'Galo' came back; the second leg, a week later, is at the Centenario, where the 'Ciudadano' did. This time, whoever needs a comeback already knows the other side knows how to pull one off too.
