Atletico Mineiro eye clean sheet in Libertadores final

Asuncion (Paraguay), July 17 (IANS)

File Photo: Diego Tardelli

Atletico Mineiro striker Diego Tardelli says a clean sheet will be the team’s priority in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final against Olimpia here Wednesday night.

The Brazilian outfit recovered from a 0-2 away defeat in the semifinal first leg to overcome Newell’s Old Boys in a dramatic penalty shootout last week, reports Xinhua.

Tardelli said his team had learnt they can ill afford such a poor start against the Paraguayan club.

“After everything that we have gone through in the last few weeks, with so much tension and emotion, the most important thing was to qualify for the final. But we still aren’t satisfied,” Tardelli said Tuesday.

“We want to suffer less. We are going to try to get a result in the first match without conceding goals. Against Newell’s we learnt that it’s difficult to turn around a 0-2 deficit.”

Tardelli, who joined the Belo Horizonte club from Al-Gharafa in January, is the tournament’s joint top scorer with six goals.

He said the tension of the past two weeks had left the team better prepared to vie for its first Copa Libertadores trophy.

“Now we know what it takes to win the final. There is no margin for error,” Tardelli said. “The first goal will be crucial and so will the result of the first leg.”