- The 'Galo' won 4-2 with a goal from Bernard, a brace from Reinier and a stoppage-time header from Tomás Cuello, then won the shootout 3-1.
- Gabriel Delfim, the goalkeeper standing in for Everson, saved the penalties of Gabigol, Schmidt and Arthur Melo; the runners-up are into the final four.
Gabriel Delfim came into this tie because of Everson's fractured foot and finished it as the key name. The Atlético Mineiro goalkeeper saved three penalties in the shootout against Santos and completed a comeback that looked impossible twice: when the 'Galo' arrived at the Arena MRV 0-2 down, and when, at the 90-minute mark, they still needed a goal to force the shootout. The reigning runners-up won 4-2, leveled the aggregate at 4-4, prevailed 3-1 from the spot and are in the semifinals of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana.
The match exploded before many had taken their seats. After 17 seconds, from a Fred assist, Bernard finished with his right foot for 1-0. In the 20th minute of the first half, Fred got down the right again, cut the ball back and Reinier, alone in front of goal, smashed it high and hard: 2-0 and the tie level. Santos responded eight minutes later with a set piece that backfired on the hosts: a Benjamín Rollheiser free kick from the right flank and a Lyanco own-goal header that put the 'Peixe' back in front. But in the 41st minute of the first half, another cross, this time from the left by Renan Lodi, found Reinier for 3-1 with his right foot. At halftime the aggregate stood at 3-3 and nobody had stopped running.
Reinier, scorer of both goals, did not return for the second half due to a knock: Eduardo Domínguez sent on Mateo Cassierra in his place. Cuca, on the other side, freshened up his midfield with Arthur Melo, and it was precisely he who changed the tie 27 minutes into the second half with a surgical pass to Gabigol, who ran at the goalkeeper and finished with his left foot. The 3-2 put Santos back ahead, 4-3 on aggregate, and left Mineiro needing to score once more.
They did so in the second minute of stoppage time. A cross from the right dropped into the box and Tomás Cuello, who had missed the first leg through suspension, got in ahead of the entire Santos defense with a header for 4-2. The player the preview had singled out as the one who had manufactured the most goals at the Arena MRV was the one who forced penalties, with the 'Peixe' seconds away from the semifinals.
The shootout belonged to Delfim. He saved the first from Gabigol and the second from Schmidt, while Gustavo Scarpa and Igor Gomes converted for the 'Galo'. Gabriel Bontempo pulled one back with a shot that came in off the crossbar, and Gabriel Brazão kept out Fred's effort, Mineiro's third, but Delfim came up big again against Arthur Melo and Thiago Borbas sealed the shootout 3-1.
For Atlético Mineiro, last edition's runners-up, the qualification carries historical weight: only three teams had ever been eliminated in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana quarterfinals after winning the first leg by two or more goals, and Santos, playing this round for the fourth time without ever having reached the semifinals, became the fourth. The 'Galo', on the other hand, held firm in home return legs, with just one defeat in their last 30 home second legs in CONMEBOL competitions, and reached the final four for the third time.
Their semifinal opponent will come from the tie between Montevideo City Torque and Cienciano, which will be decided this Thursday at the Estadio Centenario with the Peruvians holding a 2-0 lead.
The match in numbers:
- Gabriel Delfim is the second Atlético Mineiro goalkeeper to save three penalties in a single CONMEBOL Sudamericana shootout, after Victor against Unión La Calera in the second round of 2019.
- Atlético Mineiro have reached the semifinals of a CONMEBOL competition in each of the last three years. That makes six semifinal appearances in the 21st century (2013, 2019, 2021, 2024, 2025 and 2026).
- This was the second time in the 21st century that Atlético Mineiro have scored three or more goals against a Brazilian opponent in CONMEBOL competitions, a feat they had previously achieved in the Round of 16 of the 2013 CONMEBOL Libertadores against São Paulo (4-1), the year they went on to win the title.
- After 19 seconds, Bernard (Atlético Mineiro) scored the fastest goal of the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana, level with Samuel Sosa's (UCV) in the play-off round. Both goals came against Santos.
- Bernard (Atlético Mineiro) has seven goals in the last two editions of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana, a tally surpassed only by Dayro Moreno (Once Caldas), with 10, and Gabriel Barbosa (Santos and Cruzeiro), with 8. His last six goals have all come at the Arena MRV, and this is the first with his right foot at home in that span.
- Gabriel Barbosa is the top scorer of the 2026 CONMEBOL Sudamericana (6 goals) and second in assists (4). He is the first Santos player to reach 10 goal contributions in a single competition since records began (2013).
