Copa Libertadores, 8 games and zero goals: Why do Peruvian clubs find it difficult to score in the tournament?

The peruvian football It is going through one of the worst crises in its history at the international level. In the Libertadores Cup, the premier club competition in this part of the world, the national teams have long failed to measure up. Stagnation is inevitable. In fact, in this 2022 edition the reality remains the same as in recent years: completely adverse. And little is being done to counter it.

Not only incessant negative results are recorded. The crisis becomes much more noticeable when taking into account that it is costing Peruvian clubs, more than they should, to score goals in the competition.

It all started on the last date of the 2021 group stage, when Universitario and Sporting Cristal -our only two representatives- fell by a landslide, without raising their own goals on their scoreboards. Since then, the goalscoring drought, instead of ending, has continued this year.

Peruvian participation in the current edition of the tournament began in Phase 1 with the César Vallejo University as the protagonist. The cast from Trujillo fell 0-1 in the first leg and 2-0 in the second leg against Olimpia.

The losing streak extended with Universitario in Phase 2. The merengue team lost 2-0 in their visit to Barcelona SC and repeated the home plate in Lima with a 1-0 loss.

Already in the group stage, neither Sporting Cristal nor Alianza Lima could put an end to that story, despite being local.

Now, this scoring crisis is not at all strange. If we take into account the last participations in Copa Libertadores, Peruvian teams almost always suffer enough goals from their rivals, but they usually score very few.

In the previous rounds of that edition, the story was the same. César Vallejo did not celebrate goals in Phase 1: he tied 0-0 in the first leg and lost 2-0 in the second leg against Caracas FC. For its part, Ayacucho FC was the team with the most goals in Phase 2 of the tournament (global 8-2): they lost the first leg 6-1 and 2-1 in the second leg against Gremio.

The reasons for the goalscoring drought

It is not only a simple goalscoring drought, but, in general terms, Peruvian clubs have a hard time being at the level of the Copa Libertadores. It has become an almost impossible mission and, for now, there is no better future in sight.

Peruvian football has many structural problems. Background problems. One of the most criticized is the work with minor divisions. Although some are focusing on improving in that aspect, the vast majority of local clubs tend to neglect their lower categories a lot. That is why very few homegrown players emerge optimally in our tournament to join the first team. And very few young forwards have opportunities to show themselves.

It should also be borne in mind that, after a good campaign at the local level, the national teams are usually disarmed for the Copa Libertadores. The figures of the season usually look for a better destination for their career and, in the transfer market, the clubs do not manage to strengthen themselves enough to face the international competition.

He emphasizes the latter Waldir SaenzAlianza Lima’s all-time top scorer and one of the best strikers in recent times in Peruvian football.

“Peruvian soccer is missing players from the Copa Libertadores, who make a difference both locally and internationally. The teams are not arming themselves well to compete in the international tournament. We don’t have enough efficient strikers”Waldir thinks.

“Yesterday (Wednesday) it was seen that more offensive force was lacking. The coaches have to know that everything is not a local championship. They have to put together a group for what is international. They must know the idiosyncrasies of Peruvian soccer, that we haven’t made a difference for a long time and we haven’t moved on to the next phase”he adds.

It’s important pointing that for the strikers to be able to function up front, it is necessary that the other areas of the field also function optimally. In other words, the lack of efficiency in attack is not only a problem for the strikers, but for everyone as a whole.

In fact, in the four Peruvian teams that participate in the current edition of the Copa Libertadores there are forwards with a good name. At César Vallejo, for example, they have Santiago Silvaexperienced Uruguayan striker, but

In Universitario, the attack reference is alex valera, who in recent years has been a revelation in Peruvian soccer and has already had friction with the Peruvian team. Of course, he has been erratic on some occasions. What’s more,

In Alianza Lima, Hernan Barcos He has already demonstrated on many occasions all his experience and great international tour. But it’s not enough. More company is needed. In fact, l In addition, the presence of Cristian Benavente (reinforcement) It is not a guarantee of goals, nor is it a guarantee of Aldair Rodríguez, Edgar Benítez and Darlin Leiton (reinforcement).

As for Sporting Cristal, . There is a significant decline in the Rimense attack, so much so that Christofer González is the team’s top scorer with four goals in the current campaign. Yes indeed, Irven Avila assists more than he scores (four assists and one goal), while Leandro Sosa (reinforcement) is not having the expected numbers.

In summary, the problem of the few goals of the forwards has intensified this seasonto. The vast majority contribute little in terms of numbers to their respective teams. If at the local level it has been difficult to have a good record, at the international level it is much more complex. And so it has been reflected.

Without a doubt, there are many problems to be corrected, but at least Alianza Lima and Sporting Cristal still have time to end the goalscoring drought. And the most important thing: to break the losing streak of the Peruvian clubs without passing the group stage.