Palmeiras was thrashed by LDU 3-0 this Thursday (23), in Quito, in the first leg of the 2025 Libertadores semifinals. Abel Ferreira’s team had a lackluster performance and made history in the competition in a negative way.
For the first time since the Portuguese coach arrived at the club in 2020, Verdão conceded three goals in the first half of a Libertadores match.
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With this result, the team from São Paulo joins Grêmio as teams with the “ugliest” defeats in Libertadores semifinals or finals.
The halftime score was already an unwanted milestone: never in the history of the Libertadores had a Brazilian team gone to the locker room trailing by three goals in a semifinal against a non-Brazilian opponent.
The defeat in Quito now joins the list of Palmeiras’ biggest defeats in the history of the competition, alongside thrashings suffered against Grêmio (5×0) and Guarani (4×1).
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Moreover, the deficit puts Verdão in an extremely rare and complicated situation.
In the history of the Libertadores, only five times has a team managed to overturn a deficit of three or more goals after the first leg. No Brazilian club has ever achieved this feat.
Palmeiras’ mission in the return leg at Allianz Parque is, therefore, unprecedented and Herculean. The team will have to win by a margin of four goals to guarantee qualification without needing penalties.
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The green-and-white hope now rests on their stadium’s history and the strength of their fans to attempt what seems to be a miracle.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
📸 Franklin Jacome – 2025 Getty Images
