Santos return to Sudamericana knockouts aiming to avoid fresh embarrassment against Venezuelan opposition | OneFootball

Globo.com reports that Santos begin the Copa Sudamericana play-off for the last 16 on Tuesday against Venezuela’s Universidad Central, aiming to avoid a repeat of the embarrassment suffered against Venezuelan opposition four years ago.

Their last Sudamericana knockout came in 2022, when only group winners advanced. Topping Group C, Santos met Deportivo Táchira, who had finished third in the Libertadores group stage.

The first leg in Venezuela finished 1-1, Zanocelo’s own goal putting Táchira ahead before Angulo equalised late. The return at Vila Belmiro saw Uribe score first, then Marcos Leonardo level.

Penalties decided it. Ricardo Goulart and Lucas Barbosa missed and Santos lost 4-2, the club’s first elimination by a Venezuelan side in continental competition.

Goulart had been introduced in the 46th minute of the second half as Fabián Bustos prepared for a shootout. He took Santos’s first kick, saved by Varela.

It proved Goulart’s final game, his contract was ended about a week later. The loss to Deportivo Táchira culminated in Bustos’s dismissal after pressure from a heavy Copa do Brasil defeat to Corinthians.

Anger spilled over at Vila Belmiro, with fans knocking down the dressing-room entrance sign before the Military Police intervened. There were reports of pepper spray and bombs used by police, and the team bus left after about two hours.

Santos have returned to the Sudamericana only once since, in 2023, exiting in the group stage in third place behind Newell’s Old Boys, Audax Italiano and Blooming.

Source: Globo.com