Estudiantes and Flamengo drew 0-0, but the home side did more to win it

Estudiantes de La Plata and Flamengo drew 0-0 in the CONMEBOL Libertadores semifinals at Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi, in a match that left a clear mark: the Argentine side created more and better chances, but could not turn them into goals. The most striking figure is that Estudiantes generated chances worth 1.1 and Flamengo only 0.2, even though possession was 45% for the home side and 55% for the visitors.

Tactical reading

The gap between what was played and what the result showed comes down to attacking output. Estudiantes de La Plata took 21 shots and forced 6 saves, while Flamengo finished with 5 shots and 0 on target. With those numbers, the 0-0 does not reflect a parity in attacking volume, but rather one side’s lack of precision and the other’s resistance.

The home side, with a 4-4-2, managed to spend more of the match near the opposition box. It was not a possession-based dominance, because Flamengo had the ball a little more, but it was a better use of their attacks. The numbers for chances created show that Estudiantes was much closer to scoring than its rival: 1.1 against 0.2. In a semifinal, that gap is worth far more than the difference in possession.

Flamengo, from the 4-2-3-1, had more of the ball but failed to turn that advantage into shots or real presence in front of goal. Ending with 0 shots on target says it all: the possession was sterile and did not find continuity in the final third. Estudiantes, by contrast, did manage to get there more often, although it lacked the final touch to turn that superiority into an advantage.

The yellow cards also reflect a contested night, with 2 for Estudiantes and 3 for Flamengo. Even so, the match was defined more by the visitors’ inefficiency and the home side’s persistence than by physical clashes or stoppages.

The standout performers

The best ratings back up that reading of a match in which the visiting goalkeeper kept his team in it and some defenders responded well during the most demanding stretch.

• A. Rossi (Flamengo, 7.6): posted the highest rating of the match.
• S. Nunez (Estudiantes de La Plata, 7.3): stood out for the home side with a strong rating.
• Léo Pereira (Flamengo, 7.2): completed the podium for the best performances.

Turning point

There were no goals or red cards to change the course of the match, so the key moment was Estudiantes’ inability to convert its volume of attacks. The home side piled up 21 shots and 6 on target, but could not break the deadlock against a Flamengo team that, despite having 55% possession, did not register a single shot on target.

The contrast between the two teams was too large for the draw to be read as a fair split of merit. Estudiantes did more to win it; Flamengo, with the ball but without depth, ended up hanging on to the 0-0.

In short, the match left a fairly clear conclusion: Estudiantes was the side that produced the most, Flamengo the one that managed possession best, and the draw ended up favoring the visitors more than the home side in terms of what each showed on the pitch.