Atlético-MG lose to Puerto Cabello, stumble on Sul-Americana bow | OneFootball

Atlético-MG stumbled in its Copa Sudamericana opener, losing 2-1 to Puerto Cabello in the early hours of Thursday at Misael Delgado Stadium in Valencia, Venezuela. The scoreline was settled in the first half. Castillo opened the scoring, and Dudu leveled for Galo. Then, near the end of the opening half, Jiovany Ramos scored the second and secured the home side’s victory.

Standings situation

With the result, Atlético-MG got off to a bad start in the Copa Sudamericana. Galo sits at the bottom of Group B with no points. On the other side, Puerto Cabello picked up its first three points and temporarily took the lead, since the other group match will be played later this Thursday.

MATCH DETAILS?🔵🟠 PUERTO CABELLO-VEN 2 x 1 ATLÉTICO-MG ⚫⚪

🏆 Competition: Copa Sudamericana (first round) 🏟️ Venue: Misael Delgado Stadium, Valencia (Venezuela) 📅 Date: April 8, 2026 (Wednesday) ⏰ Kickoff: 11 p.m. (Brasília time) 🟨 Yellow cards: Junior Alonso (Atlético-MG) 🟥 Red cards: None

Officiating

Referee: Yael Falcón (ARG) Assistant referees: Maximiliano Del Yesso (ARG) and Facundo Rodriguez (ARG) VAR: Silvio Trucco (ARG)

GOALS

Lineups

PUERTO CABELLO: Graterol; Vargas, Obradovic, Jiovany Ramos and Rosales (Bortagaray); Gustavo González, Bamba, Júnior Moreno (Pablo Lima); Castillo, Flores (João Barros) and Ponce. Head coach: Eduardo Sarago

ATLÉTICO-MG: Everson; Preciado, Lyanco, Vitor Hugo and Junior Alonso (Kauã Pascini); Cissé (Alexsander), Igor Gomes (Maycon), Bernard (Reinier) and Gustavo Scarpa; Dudu and Cassierra (Cauã Soares). Head coach: Eduardo Domínguez

How the match unfolded

Just two minutes in, Puerto Cabello nearly opened the scoring. Flores appeared on the right and sent in a cross to the far post. Ponce rose unmarked and headed it against the post. On the rebound, Lyanco cleared.

Puerto Cabello did find the net in the 15th minute. Ramos lofted the ball into the box, Ponce got a slight flick with his head, and the ball fell to the far post. Castillo struck it first time and blasted it into the net, giving Everson no chance.

In the 27th minute, Atlético-MG drew level. Goalkeeper Graterol made a poor pass out from the back, Bernard pressed and won the ball. After a scramble inside the box, the ball fell to Dudu, who simply tapped it into the net.

In the 38th minute, Puerto Cabello went back in front. Rosales appeared on the right side of the box and Jiovany Ramos rose all alone to head home the hosts’ second.

Second half

The second half was very evenly matched, with dangerous chances created by both sides. Puerto Cabello, however, produced the clearer opportunities and came closer to extending its lead than Atlético-MG did to finding an equalizer.

In the 39th minute, though, Galo had the chance of the match to equalize. After a free-kick was sent into the box, Vitor Hugo beat his marker and rose to head it, but the ball went just wide of the post and out.

Upcoming matches

🔵🟠 PUERTO CABELLO

⚫⚪ ATLÉTICO-MG

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.