In a result that was never in doubt, Grêmio thrashed Ayacucho from Peru on Wednesday night at the Arena in a game valid for the second phase of the Libertadores.
The 6-1 result for Grêmio was an historic one for the club as it saw them equal their biggest win in the competition.
The other time Tricolor had a similar result goes all the way back to 1984 when they beat Universidad Los Andes-VEN by the same score-line.
Four of the goals for Grêmio came in the first half and the result in general more or less sees them ‘advance’ to the next round. The standout name was Diego Souza who scored three goals while the remaining goals came from David Braz, Ferreira and Guilherme Azevedo. Quina grabbed the consolation goal for Ayacucho.
Souza started has started the 2021 season on a rather impressive note. After being Grêmio’s top scorer in 2020 with 28 goals, the veteran forward scored three of Grêmio’s six goals in the rout and showed again his red-hot form. It is his first hat-trick for Grêmio since he joined the club. His third goal in particular was ruthlessly cruel, with the Grêmio star breezing past players into the box before taking his shot.
Given the margin of their win, Grêmio now have the option to rest some of their top stars when they return for the second leg in Quito next week.
The second leg for this tie will be next Tuesday on the 16th, at the Olympic Stadium in Atahualpa. Grêmio can even afford to lose the game by four goals and would still advance to the third phase of the Libertadores.
