Estudiantes draw with Flamengo, stay unbeaten in Libertadores Group A | OneFootball

El Pincha drew 1-1 against the Brazilian side on Matchday 3 of Group A.

Across from them stood the Libertadores champions. The bogeyman of South American football. At UNO, Alexander Medina was facing his first major test since arriving at El Pincha at the start of 2026. While the Uruguayan has shown promising signs since Eduardo Domínguez’s departure, the clash with Mengao meant the chance to show what his team was made of.

El León came into the third Libertadores matchday in a solid position. The point earned in Medellín meant that Medina’s men could be satisfied with a draw against Flamengo, which today is by far the best team in CONMEBOL.

And if a home draw looked appealing beforehand, it looked even better after Estudiantes went behind on their own ground. The home side struggled to adapt to Medina’s setup, as he chose to abandon the usual 4-2-3-1 he had used since taking over and instead lined up in a 4-3-3 that took away some of their attacking edge. The wingers were Palacios and Farías, two players who tend to drift inside.

Of course, while El Pincha did not suffer too much, Mengao’s stars only need a split second to make the difference. And that is exactly what happened: in the 32nd minute of the first half, Luiz Araújo finished unmarked after a brilliant move by Bruno Henrique, who beat Tomás Palacios with a perfectly directed first touch. Even in that context, Estudiantes did not lose their shape and stuck to their plan, which largely relied on stretching the play through Eric Meza’s runs forward. He delivered a couple of good crosses that just failed to find a target in the Flamengo box.

In the second half, El León looked much livelier. But not before needing a sensational intervention from Fernando Muslera, who made two one-on-one saves in the same play. Twenty seconds later, the home side found the equalizer through sheer determination. Meza, once again, got all the way to the byline and sent in a cross that found Farías, who headed it unmarked, and after a save by Rossi, Carrillo bundled everything in to make it 1-1 in La Plata.

Even so, Estudiantes could have taken even more from the match at UNO. Flamengo relaxed in the closing minutes and El Pincha might have grabbed the win if not for Agustín Rossi’s heroics. The former Boca keeper denied Cetré and then Amondarain, who found himself one-on-one in the 48th minute of the second half. In the end, Medina’s men—whose coach was sent off for stepping onto the pitch to stop Jardim, his Flamengo counterpart, in the middle of a heated scuffle—came away with a point that suits them just fine. Even though they still have to travel to the altitude of Cusco and then visit the Maracaná, El Pincha sit second behind Fla with five points.

As things stand today, El León seem to be neck and neck with Cusco and DIM, who will face each other this Thursday at 11 p.m.

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