Libertadores may feature all four Rio giants together for first time | OneFootball

The major triumph of Vasco by 2-0 over Fluminense this Monday at Maracanã has shed light on a unique opportunity in the history of Rio de Janeiro football. For the first time ever, all four major clubs from Rio de Janeiro could qualify together for the Copa Libertadores.

With Vasco’s victory, the four big clubs from Rio are now within the top eight positions of the Brazilian Championship. Depending on results throughout the season, such as the winners of the Libertadores and the Copa do Brasil, the continental competition’s qualification zone could extend to a G-8, which currently includes the Rio teams in the Brasileirão.

Unprecedented Achievement

Although it was created in 1960, the Libertadores for many years “accepted” only three Brazilian clubs per edition. Only in 2000, with the current format, did the competition begin to expand its qualification criteria, allowing more Brazilian clubs to participate together in the same edition.

Since then, never in history have Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Vasco all been together in a single edition of the Libertadores. One of the seasons when this almost happened was just last year, when Glorioso, Rubro-Negro, and Tricolor were all in the same edition at the same time, with all three reaching at least the quarterfinals.

Flamengo in action in the Libertadores – Photos: Gilvan de Souza / Flamengo

There are only nine rounds left until the end of the Brazilian Championship, but Flamengo and Fluminense have postponed matches, against Sport and Ceará, respectively.

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