Gallardo: Palmeiras dominant, but River still in the tie | OneFootball

With a devastating first half, Palmeiras defeated River Plate 2-1 this Wednesday at the Monumental de Núñez, in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. Coach Marcelo Gallardo admitted Palmeiras’ superiority, especially after Gustavo Gómez’s goal five minutes into the match.

“They were much more clear-headed and efficient at the start of the game, and we lost control. The set-piece goal at five minutes had a huge impact on us, because Palmeiras is a very technical team and imposed themselves from that moment on with the goal in their favor,” said Gallardo.

River Plate still alive

Despite the poor match, Gallardo stated that River Plate remains alive in the tie. According to the coach, the goal scored by Martínez Quarta near the end gives the Argentinians a chance to advance at Allianz Parque.

“I leave with the expectation that came in the final stretch. The goal keeps us alive. It would have been difficult with a two-goal difference. What we showed in the second half made me happy,” Gallardo pointed out.

“In the first half, Palmeiras played the way they wanted, and in the second half, we played the way we wanted. We’re alive, we need to correct the mistakes we made. Let’s see how we fix what went wrong,” observed the coach.

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