DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS? FLAMENGO'S 1ST RIVAL IN LIBERTADORES, MILLONARIOS WAS ALREADY 'BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD'

Much has already been said about the legendary team Millonarios– Flamengo's debut rival in the CONMEBOL Libertadores this Tuesday (2), with – in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was a squad led by star Alfredo Di Stéfano and filled with players from River Plate in a maneuver that disregarded the transfer rules of the time.

The so-called " Ballet Azul" was named as the best team in the world and gave the club the code name "Ambassador", for representing Colombian football in Europe. But the reality of the moment is different.

Millionarios has been a company club for more than a decade, what we call SAF in Brazil. And the law that made it possible to transform associative clubs into S/A arrived earlier in Colombia, more precisely in 2011. At that time, lawyer Gustavo Serpa, who lived in New York, in the United States, was convinced by friends that it would be worth investing in the club he loves and owner of the second biggest fans in the country.

So, he and 20 other partners bought the debt from an association of creditors and rescued the Millonariosde a desperate situation. In 2015, Serpa gained a partner for his business. The Âmber investment fund, owned by French businessman Joseph Oughorlian, acquired 80% of the shares and began to control the club, but kept Serpa as manager.

The lawyer became the group's executive and today also manages the club. communication group Caracol, one of the most important in Colombia, also purchased by Oughorlian. Millos then became part of an international conglomerate of clubs, as Âmber also controls Lens, from France, Zaragoza, from Spain, and Padova, from Italy. In addition to having a stake in Inter Miami (USA).

In the current Colombian season, the team has an irregular championship. They had come from seven games without winning, but gained momentum with the 3-1 victory over local rival Santa Fé last week; and with the mixed team's triumph over Fortaleza last Saturday (30). Results that restored hope of qualifying for the final stage of the national tournament.