América-MG makes history, bags group spot in Libertadores

América-MG made history Tuesday night (Mar. 15) as it overcame the pressure from the crowd at the Monumental stadium, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and beat Barcelona, of the same city, by 5-4 in the penalties, after a 0-0 draw at 90 minutes, thus qualifying for the group stage of the CONMEBOL Libertadores Cup for the first time in history.

The Brazilian team came under great pressure, as it was forced to bag the spot away from home after a scoreless draw in the deciding match, played back in Minas Gerais, Brazil, last week.

In the penalty shootout, América-MG missed not miss a single shot (with Wellington Paulista, Maidana, Felipe Azevedo, Índio Ramírez, and Juninho Valoura), while Barcelona saw goalkeeper Jailson of América-MG shine and save Leonel Quiñónez’s shot.

As classification has been guaranteed, it is now up to América-MG to wait for the lots to be drawn ahead of the group stage of the Libertadores Cup, to be held on March 25.