- Delfim saved three penalties against Santos in the Quarterfinals, and Montero stopped Luis Pavez's in the shoot-out against O'Higgins, Boca's first step in this edition.
- Atlético Mineiro lost the 2025 Final to Lanús on penalties; Boca won the 2005 Final against Pumas that way, along with three of their six CONMEBOL Libertadores titles.
Almost a year ago, Atlético Mineiro were one penalty away from the 'Great Conquest'. On November 22, 2025, at the Defensores del Chaco in Asunción, they drew 0-0 with Lanús after 120 minutes and lost the shoot-out 5-4, with Nahuel Losada saving three kicks: from Hulk, from Gabriel Teixeira and, the decisive one, from Vitor Hugo. On Saturday, November 21, at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, the 'Galo' will play another single-match Final, this time against Boca Juniors, and they will do so with a goalkeeper who has already won a shoot-out in this edition. Opposite them will be another goalkeeper who has done the same.
Gabriel Delfim got his chance out of necessity. At the end of August, Everson fractured his foot, and the 24-year-old goalkeeper, who has come through the club's ranks since joining in 2018, became the starter. Up to early September, he had played just eight matches. His first international knockout tie was against Santos in the Quarterfinals, and he finished it as the hero. Atlético Mineiro had lost 2-0 at the Vila Belmiro and overturned the deficit with a 4-2 win at the Arena MRV. In the shoot-out, Delfim saved the kicks from Gabigol and João Schmidt, Santos' first two takers, and later the one from Arthur Melo. Thiago Borbas wrapped it up at 3-1.
Delfim is the second Atlético Mineiro goalkeeper to save three penalties in a single CONMEBOL Sudamericana shoot-out, after Victor against Unión La Calera in the second round of 2019. Everson, the goalkeeper he is replacing, had done it in the 2022 Supercopa do Brasil against Flamengo. Asked whether he had studied how Santos' players took their penalties, the 1.92-meter goalkeeper kept it simple: "We study, but we also rely on the work. The two together get results". In the Semifinals there was no need for a shoot-out, but his influence remained. In the first leg, with the score at 0-0, he made a point-blank save from a Salomón Rodríguez header 34' into the first half, before the 3-0 win.
In the other goal will be a Colombian who will play the Final in his own country. Álvaro Montero had been recommended to the 'Xeneize' in 2020 by Óscar Córdoba, a fellow Colombian and a Boca goalkeeping legend, but the move only went through in mid-2026, after Agustín Marchesín's injury. Standing 2.01 meters tall and with spells at Deportes Tolima, Millonarios, the Colombia national team and Vélez Sarsfield, he made his debut in the 1-0 win over O'Higgins in the first leg of the Round of 16 Playoffs. In the return leg in Chile, O'Higgins won by the same score and the tie went to penalties: Montero saved Luis Pavez's attempt and Lautaro Blanco converted to make it 4-3 and seal qualification. In the Copa Argentina, against his former club Vélez, he also saved two penalties in a shoot-out.
Since then, he has played every minute for Boca in this CONMEBOL Sudamericana. Córdoba praised him after the first leg of the Quarterfinals against São Paulo, which the 'Xeneize' won 1-0 with the Colombian as the standout: "For me, he is the goalkeeper who is going to make a very important mark at Boca. He is almost two meters tall; he is a wall".
Boca also have history in these deciders. Their second CONMEBOL Sudamericana title, in 2005, came from the penalty spot: the second leg of the Final against Pumas ended 1-1 at La Bombonera, with a goal from Martín Palermo, and the 'Xeneize' won the shoot-out 4-3. In the CONMEBOL Libertadores, three of their six titles were decided the same way: the first, in 1977, in the playoff against Cruzeiro at the Centenario in Montevideo, with Hugo Gatti's save from Vanderlei; the 2000 title, against Palmeiras in São Paulo, and the 2001 title. In that competition, they are the club with the most shoot-out wins, 11 out of 17.
For Atlético Mineiro, penalties have two sides. The 2013 CONMEBOL Libertadores, the only one they have won, was decided at the Mineirão, with Victor saving an Olimpia penalty. In 1995, on the other hand, they lost the Copa CONMEBOL Final to Rosario Central on penalties, despite Cláudio Taffarel saving one kick and scoring his own, and in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana they went out on penalties in the 2019 Semifinals, against Colón, and in the 2025 Final. They also won the shoot-out against Bucaramanga in the 2025 Playoffs, and the one against Santos in this edition.
There has already been a shoot-out between the two finalists: in the Round of 16 of the 2021 CONMEBOL Libertadores, after two goalless draws, Atlético Mineiro won 3-1 on penalties in Brazil. Barranquilla, meanwhile, hosted the first leg of the 2018 Final of this competition, in a tie that Athletico Paranaense eventually won on penalties against Junior. If the Final is still level at the end of extra time, Delfim and Montero will have the final say. The 'Galo' goalkeeper has already explained how he approaches those moments: "When the opportunity comes, you have to be ready. Whether I play or not, I work the same way every day, the best way I can".
