Palmeiras held by Universitario, Abel Ferreira into Libertadores | OneFootball

Despite the draw, Palmeiras, led by Abel Ferreira, sealed their spot in the Libertadores quarterfinals against Universitario

After the favorable result in the first leg of the Libertadores round of 16, where Palmeiras won 4-0 on Universitario's home turf, all it took was a goalless home draw for Abel Ferreira's team to secure their passage to the quarterfinals of the South American competition.

Riding the momentum of the result achieved in Lima, Peru, Palmeiras was complacent in the second round of the tie, showing little attacking intensity in the first 45 minutes. In contrast, Universitario was determined, seeing a goal disallowed for offside just 8 minutes in. Still, in the first half, Palmeiras managed to hit the bar with a header from Allan.

In the second half, the Peruvian team continued to push to reduce the deficit from the first leg of the tie. Palmeiras' Weverton made crucial saves to deny Universitario's successive attempts on goal.

After the final whistle, Abel Ferreira - who recently addressed a potential departure from Palmeiras - highlighted his team's good campaign in the Libertadores: "We still haven't lost in the competition. The current champion was eliminated in the round of 16. I hold on to positive things, we can do things better, I was the one who changed the team, but also in the Libertadores, over the last four or five years, things have been done very well," said the Portuguese, who had stints at Sporting as both a player and coach.

After eliminating Universitario Palmeiras will face Argentine side River Plate in the Libertadores quarterfinals, who had to resort to penalty shootouts to defeat Paraguayan side Libertad. The teams drew in regular time in both legs.

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