Palmeiras opened its 2026 Copa Libertadores campaign against Junior Barranquilla on Wednesday at 21:30 Brasília time, playing in Cartagena, Colombia, after the match was moved out of Barranquilla because the Metropolitano stadium is under renovation. The group-stage opener at Estádio Olímpico came with the Brazilian club still carrying the sting of last year’s runner-up finish to Flamengo and the momentum of a 2-1 win over Bahia on Sunday that left it on top of the Brasileirão with 25 points.
The match was scheduled to be shown by Globo and ge tv, with ge providing Tempo Real coverage, as Palmeiras pursued a fourth continental title and Junior tried to break a long run of frustration in the matchup. Junior had never beaten Palmeiras, with one friendly draw and four Libertadores losses, and it arrived in fifth place in the Colombian league with Carlos Bacca and Yimmi Chará back in the squad after recovering from injury. Cristian Barrios was the only listed absence for the home side.
Palmeiras, though, was also short-handed. Paulinho, Piquerez, Vitor Roque and Jefté were unavailable, with Vitor Roque and Paulinho traveling with the delegation but remaining in physical reconditioning, Piquerez out after surgery on his right ankle, Vitor Roque dealing with pain in his left ankle and Jefté sidelined by a right thigh injury. The absences left coach and supporters to weigh depth as much as form in a tournament where every point can matter before the group stage settles.
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Larson, a 20-year-old midfielder called up for a Libertadores match for the first time, captured the mood in a brief line before kickoff: “É uma competição diferente.” That was the edge in the night — Palmeiras arriving as one of the continent’s heavyweights, but with enough injuries and enough travel in the legs to make even an opener feel like a test rather than a procession.
Maximiliano Ramírez of Argentina was assigned as referee, and Cartagena became the stage for a meeting that carried more history than geography suggested. Junior moved the game because its home stadium was unavailable, Palmeiras brought a deep but patched-up squad, and the result in the hours that followed would tell whether the champion hopeful could turn a strong domestic start into an immediate continental one.
