Andreas Pereira, hero and villain in the Copa Libertadores final | OneFootball

By Esteban ROJAS

The memory of the mistake that cost Flamengo the 2021 Copa Libertadores final against Palmeiras haunted Andreas Pereira relentlessly: poor control and loss of the ball on the exit, Deyverson's goal, and Verdão's 2-1 victory in extra time.

Pereira, 29, will play in the final of the continental tournament again this Saturday. Palmeiras and Flamengo are once again the protagonists, but this time he wears the jersey of the São Paulo team.

“It's over”

“He's the only player who is an idol of Palmeiras without having played a match!”: the cruel joke became popular in Brazilian football when Pereira joined the team coached by Abel Ferreira at the end of August, coming from English club Fulham for 10.2 million euros.

Like many fans of the São Paulo giant, a taxi driver in São Paulo made the joke near Allianz Parque, in conversation with AFP before a Brasileirão match.

The ball stolen by Deyverson in that final, played on November 27, 2021, at the historic Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, came after a dangerous back pass from David Luiz.

Pereira, however, shouldered all the blame alone.

Targeted by Flamengo's organized fans, he had to start traveling in a bulletproof car, as he recounted in a podcast in England.

“It's over, these things are normal in football. I'm a professional and I don't give it much importance,” commented the midfielder, despite everything, when he was presented as the owner of Palmeiras' number 8 jersey.

“I want to show my football to Palmeiras fans, score goals, and provide assists (…), that's what's important”, he promised at the time.

After his mistake, Pereira returned to Manchester United, which had loaned him to Flamengo.

Mengão won the 2022 Copa Libertadores by defeating Athletico Paranaense in the final. As a United player, the midfielder received a champion's medal for having started the year with the red-black squad.

Key player

Born in Duffel, Belgium, but a player for the Brazilian national team, Pereira has been a valuable asset for Palmeiras.

He played in 13 of the 16 matches the team has had since his signing, scoring two goals.

He was on the field in all four of Ferreira's team's games in the Libertadores quarter-finals against River Plate—providing an assist in that duel—and in the semi-finals against LDU Quito.

Trained in the youth academies of PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United, the player arrived with the mission to fill the gap left by Colombian Richard Ríos, sold to Benfica after the Club World Cup.

New image?

Although Andreas Pereira's words indicated that he had already turned the page on the painful mistake, his reunion with Deyverson made headlines.

It happened last September, in Palmeiras' 4-1 victory over Fortaleza, Deyverson's current team. Pereira scored two goals.

“It was a meeting between professionals (…). What happens on the field is one thing, what happens off it is another. From now on, I want to write my story with Palmeiras,” he said when questioned by the press.

Even so, he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the moment.

The proof? A photo Pereira shared on social media celebrating one of his goals with Deyverson blurred in the background.

Perhaps it's time to blur that Copa Libertadores final with Flamengo's jersey and bring to the forefront another image, this time victorious, with Palmeiras'.

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