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With four points from the opening four matches of their debut Copa Libertadores campaign, Chapecoense traveled to Argentina to face Lanus, the 2016 Primera Division champions, needing perhaps the most famous result in the club’s history to continue their improbable quest for the competition’s round of 16.
After Wellington Paulista, on loan from Fluminense, gave Chapecoense an unexpected early lead, Lanus equalized from the spot with only 10 minutes remaining. But the moment of magic arrived for Chape through Luiz Otavio, a defender who’s on loan from Luverdense.
LUIZ OTÁVIO! A Chapecoense vai conseguindo um resultado fantástico!
Lanús 1-2 Chapecoensepic.twitter.com/xqKmEmJXun— Guia do Futebol (@OGuiadoFutebol) May 18, 2017
The 2-1 victory sent Chape into Tuesday night's final group match knowing that a victory would secure their place in the knockout rounds. However, prior to the match, that possibility was taken away by CONMEBOL’s ruling officials.
Otavio, the match-winner against Lanus, had been given a red card in Chape’s previous Copa Libertadores match — Nacional’s 3-0 thumping of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana champions.
Between that match and the game against Lanus, Chape contested the second leg of the 2017 Recopa Sudamericana, the contest pitting the winners of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana (Chape) and the 2016 Copa Libertadores (Atletico Nacional).
Since this was an international match, Chapecoense assumed that Otavio could serve his suspension in this game and return for the Copa Libertadores match against Lanus. This is where things get a little strange: CONMEBOL sent out an email declaring that Otavio had to serve a three-match ban, rather than just one, for his expulsion against Nacional, but CONMEBOL didn’t send the email to the correct address.
When Chape submitted their team sheet for the match against Lanus with Otavio at the heart of defense, officials informed the team that he was ineligible. But Chapecoense president Plinio David de Nes alleged that the whole process had been a shambles and that his club hadn’t been informed properly through the correct channels — he refused to withdraw Otavio with the game plan already in place.
So Otavio scored the winner, putting Chape on the brink of the Copa Libertadores round of 16 with a squad made up predominately of loan players, free signings, youth team members and, of course, two survivors of the LaMia Flight 2933 disaster — Neto and Alan Ruschel.
But just prior to Tuesday night’s clash at the Arena Conda in Chapeco against Ecuadorian club Zulia, CONMEBOL ruled against Chapecoense’s victory, instead awarding a 3-0 win to Lanus.
Chapecoesne were eliminated from round of 16 contention right before kickoff, dropping to four points with only one match remaining while Nacional had eight and Lanus now had 10.
The best Chapecoense could hope for would be to finish third and drop into the Copa Sudamericana, the competition they were awarded last year after tragedy struck just before the final.
Trailing 1-0 in the 90th minute to Zulia, it looked as though Chape would exit international competition entirely by finishing fourth in the four-team group. But then Arthur, on loan from Londrina, scored in the 90th minute before Andrei Girotto scored the winner only seconds later.
THE TEAM OF MIRACLES!#Chapecoense defy corrupted CONMEBOL and beat Zulia. If it wasn't for injustice, Chape would qualify from the group. pic.twitter.com/hmU636w3Ov
— Seleção Brasileira (@BrazilStat) May 24, 2017
It was an incredible turnaround on the night, and Chapecoense deserve massive plaudits for how well they’ve performed in South America’s premier club competition. It would’ve been remarkable to have seen them competing in the Copa Libertadores round of 16, but they still managed to defy all expectations in this tournament.
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