Looking forward to tomorrow night's final, first leg. Chivas will play their first official game in their brand new stadium. That should add emotion to the moment. I am wondering how Bofo Bautista will play? Last week in Chile he looked like the Kaka of Milan, but he is such an inconsistent player he could turn around and instead of playing like Kaka he could play more like caca in the next match!

Inter played too cautiously last week at Sao Paulo, I do not think they can do the same tomorrow in Guadalajara against a very dynamic attacking team. But I also do not expect the normally reliable Renan to have as shaky a game in goal as he did last week in Sao Paulo.

Not a bad first leg tonight, although a lot of that was down to Internacional eventually turning it round and getting the win they so clearly deserved. Chivas were shit. It was quite funny, all the same, to see them take the lead (with a wonderful header from Bofo Bautista) with practically the last touch of a half in which they'd been played off the pitch.

Andrés D'Alessandro was brilliant and when given the man of the match award he says - as he always does - that he's still dreaming of a call-up for the Argentine national team again one day. On the form he's been on ever since he went to Inter, it's hard to argue against that...

Agreed. They totally outplayed Chivas. There's no excuse for them not wrapping it up in their own backyard next Wednesday.

And agreed too on D'Alessandro. If Newcastle players can make the Argentina squad, then surely former Portsmouth boys can too.

Superb performance from Inter. They completely cotrolled the game in the first half and hit the woodwork twice, only to fall behind to Bautista's header from outside the area. Retrieving it from the net was just about the oly thing Renan had to do in the first half

They continued to play as if they were the home team and their deserved equaliser came from Giuliano who has now scored decisive goals against Estudiantes, São Paulo and now Chivas. I've long argued here that Spurs should have bought him instead of or as well as Sandro - who also had a good game, controlling the midfield with Guiñazu.

It was a sign of their attacking intent that the winner came from a header by Bolívar having been set up by fellow centre back Índio. I can't see them losing it now even if Chivas did win by two in Santiago in the semi.

And yes, Sam, D'Alessandro was a deserved MOM winner.

Oh, one thing I forgot: Fox Sports' commentators (Argentines, of course) were priceless tonight. They're fucking idiots normally, but tonight we had one asking the other, 'Guiñazú is Argentine, right?'

I mean, really.

A possible reason why OTF favourite Cienciano didn't qualify this time around?

A Peruvian soccer player was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday for helping thieves steal money from first division club Cienciano two years ago.

Cesar Ccahuantico, a 30-year-old who played in midfield for Cienciano between 2001-08, helped thieves who stole $84,500 meant for players’ wages, court sources in the Andean city of Cusco said.

Four masked men stole the money from the club’s premises in March 2008 and police found later that one of them had called Ccahuantico eight times on his mobile phone before and after the robbery.

So who's all staying up to watch Inter walk away with it tonight?

Well me, obviously, although I'm not sure 'staying up' really counts in my case being as it's kicking off at about 10pm Argentine time. I won't be on OTF for it though as I'm meeting up with a fellow WSC contributor for a drink. Totally forgot about the Copa final being on tonight (it's not exactly getting blanket coverage here, what with no Argentine club being involved) but since we're both South American football journalists, I'm sort of asuming we'll end up finding a place to watch it.

This is why I really need to open a bar in Dublin. Too many boozers, not enough that show world footy. I will be enjoying it from afar anyway. Have a good one.

Despite a magical surprise opener from Chivas, a quite wonderful cross from Kleber finds Rafael Sobis' tiptoe and then the back of the net. Inter have looked the better team by far all game and should wrap this up, but never say never...

The game's surely up now. Tinga's gone off with a head injury and Hector Reynoso decided it would be a good idea to punch Rafael Sobis in the back while the officials were blindsided. Sobis went off holding his back and the substitute Leandro just nutmegged one defender in midfield and burst on into the area, where he added the second. Really don't see any way back for Chivas.

Chivas' #9 gets sent off for a daft, spoiled brat-type two-footed tackle on D'Alessandro. Then Giuliano shows off a marvellous piece of individual skill to squeeze between 2 defenders and knock in one for himself. Congratulations Internacional, victory well deserved!

This is bloody insane. The Chivas players start kicking everyone else after the final whistle. There's an off screen interview with a very angry-sounding Reynoso. I wish I understood Spanish.

Nice commentary Away Goals.

The game was similar in many respects to the first leg with Inter dominating, Chivas taking the lead just before half time with a spectacular strike and Inter getting the goals their superiority deserved in the second half.

The arrival of Rafael Sobis and Tinga during the World Cup break to add to Inter's already strong squad proved to be decisive. Sobis replaced the injured Alecsandro and added to his goal in the 2006 Libertadores Final and Tinga, with Guiñazu and Sandro controlled the midfield. With the pace of Taison and Kleber's crosses Inter were worthy winners.

Chivas didn't exactly cover themselves in glory with their conduct during and after the game. Rafael Sobis, having equalised from Kleber's superb cross, was taken off after being punched three times in the back and his replacement Leandro Damião, of whom I confess I've never hear - he didn't even make their reserve team on Sunday - won the ball on the halfway line and sprinted away to score the second. It was no surprise when Arellano was sent off for a violent assault on D'Alessandro.

Giuliano's superb goal was a fitting climax. I've been singing his praises since last season - watch out for a big money transfer to Europe and a place in the Seleção. Six goals in the Libertadores from midfield - and he started most of those games on the bench. It's a measure of Inter's strength in depth that he's not guaranteed a starting place.

So Inter are Bicampeão and the Taça Libertadores was appropriately lifted by captain Bolívar.

I'm sure I posted something earlier in the thread about the afters in this tournament and here we went again. I think it was the same guy who was throwing the punches in the game that started this foolishness after the game: Reynoso. Truly embarrassing.

In terms of the game itself, Inter seemed to be cruising along and were hit with a surprise goal. Chivas just couldn't hold the ball/Internacional weren't giving it up. It was a weird tie in that there seemed to be just enough action to keep things interesting but seemed to teeter on not being very interesting. The second leg was certainly more exciting, and although I just complained about Chivas' tough guy approach, I guess some of that added to the energy of the game. In the end, Internacional seemed to maintain their momentum throughout the knock-out rounds but Chivas seemed to dip in form. I wonder if some of that had to do with the WC interruption or if it was just that Chivas ran into better sides in La U and Internacional.