El Peor América de la historia ● Las Águilas de Romano ● Todos los partidos ● Clausura 2008

Club América in the 2008 Copa Libertadores:    • Club América en la Copa Libertadores 2008 ...   Hello friends of Gli Ottanta, I hope you're all doing well. Today we'll be talking about the worst América team in history, the Azulcrema team that competed in the 2008 Clausura tournament and, due to poor roster planning and terrible signings, ended up at the bottom of the table. We'll recap the matches, decisions, tournaments, and even coaching changes that this team would endure in said tournament. Without further ado, let's begin... The format of the Mexican tournament in the first half of 2008 consisted of 18 teams divided into three groups of six each, reflecting the accumulated points from 17 rounds played in a round-robin format. Based on this, the top two finishers from each team qualified directly for a playoff, and the third-place finishers, along with the best fourth-place finisher, qualified for a playoff. In other words, there were too many easy places to reach the big party. From here, we move on to Matchday 1, where Braylovski's Eagles hosted Puebla in the fight to avoid relegation. The match ended 0-0 with a home team playing horribly and miraculously avoiding defeat against a team that played much better for most of the 90 minutes. On Matchday 2, the Azulcrema team fell at Víctor Manuel Reyna Stadium to the Jaguares de Chiapas. The score was 2-1, and with El Ruso already in the eye of the storm, practically with the minutes counted in Coapa. América opened the scoring in the 17th minute, but the Chiapas side turned things around with goals in the 41st and 56th minutes, respectively. For the next match, América would host Pumas in the capital's derby on the pitch of the Santa Úrsula giants. Here, El Ruso's team would bring out their best side, and with goals in the 34th minute from Núñez and the 41st from Cabañas, the Azulcrema side secured their first possible three points and, above all, gave the coach and former local star a bit of a break. With the momentum of winning their first important match of the tournament, América would repeat their victory on their visit to Guadalajara. Honestly, here, they would look far superior to the local team. On Matchday 5, and again at home, the former Unión center would fall by the narrowest of margins to Monarcas Morelia. By this point, not only were the fans calling for El Ruso's head, but the media was also savaging the miserable play the Azulcrema team displayed under the Argentine. With this defeat, Russian Braylovski would be dismissed from his position, and Rubén Omar Romano would be his replacement. With this name at the helm, the team would lose again at the Estadio Jalisco, visiting the Rojinegros. The result would be the same: 1-0, nothing outrageous if it weren't for the fact that América is forced to fight for position in the table, not for a place in the last place, both in the group and overall. Before the next league match, the Eagles would participate in their first group match in the Copa Libertadores, surprisingly defeating the Católica at the Estadio Azteca. In the Mexican league, the Azulcremas would show the same level of performance as under their compatriot Braylovski and would lose 1-0 at the Torreón Stadium, showing practically the same ineffectiveness in team play as under the previous two coaches. Added to this, three days later, on their visit to Buenos Aires, América would lose 2-1 in their second matchday of the Libertadores, against River Plate with goals from Cabañas, Falcao, and Ortega for the millionaires. On the eighth matchday of the local tournament, Romano's Eagles would suffer their third straight defeat when they visited Tigres' University team. The feline team would deliver a painful 3-0 defeat with goals from Hugo Sánchez, Lucas Lobos, and Fernández. By this point, the Coapa team had sunk into Group 2 with 6 points, below Veracruz, who were fighting to avoid relegation. On Matchday 9, things wouldn't change; the Eagles would lose 2-1 at home to a very modest San Luis. The worst part was that there was no sign of improvement in the team's play, coupled with poor performances from players like Richard Núñez, Higuain, and Sebastián Domínguez. Here, the goals would come from Rojas for the Ave and Chango Moreno and Valdez for Potosinos. Five days later, at the Estadio Azteca, América would host Universidad de San Martín in the third round of the Copa Libertadores. At the start, the Peruvians delivered a decisive blow with a goal from Roberto Silva, but Romano's men, incredibly, turned things around with goals from Márquez, Iñigo, and Salvador Cabañas. The Eagles were fighting internationally, but in Mexico, they went through a bitter struggle, drawing strength from weakness against their arch rivals. Cruz Azul, playing with a man less, salvaged a draw with a goal from the inconsequential Federico Higuain. The other goals came from Salvador Cabañas and Sabah's double for the Celestes.