Reaching a Libertadores final is an honor for few teams, and winning it is unforgettable. Let the two-time champion for Grêmio and Palmeiras, Felipão, say so.

He has already led the Gaucho team to Eternal Glory, a motto spread by Conmebol to enhance the South American competition in 1995, and repeated the same in 1999 with Palmeiras.

The coach can win the most desired title in America for the third time in 2022, now with the new great of Brazilian football, Atlhético Paranaense, in the decision against the favorite Flamengo.

But how can we understand the success of this team and the partnership that started with different objectives and could end in an epic way? This is what we will understand in this article.

To understand how the coach ended up at the team from the Caju neighborhood, in Curitiba, we need to go back in time a little.

After winning the second title in the Copa Sudamericana, in the decision against Red Bull Bragantino, and the runner-up in the Copa do Brasil in 2021, expectations were high for the 2022 season.

Coach Fábio Carille was hired, coming from Saudi Arabia. However, the experience was not very good, with a very weak campaign in the Libertadores group stage, losing the first two games, including a humiliating 5-0 defeat by The Strongest.

Carille was summarily fired, and Mario Celso Petraglia needed to find a solution to avoid having the season frustrated. The recipe was to bring in an old football acquaintance.

Luiz Felipe Scolari, who was out of football after a period of hiatus following an unsuccessful experience at Grêmio, arrives at Furacão with a well-defined foundation:

The first mission was to reverse the defeats and seek qualification for the Copa Libertadores knockout stages. 

With an incredible recovery, the club from Paraná put its bad phase aside and managed to rank second in group B with three wins and a draw, losing in the tiebreaker criteria to Libertad.

In the following stages, they took revenge on the Paraguayans, and qualified heroically against Estudiantes de La Plata away from home in the last minute. Then, they achieved an impressive classification against the current two-time champion of America, Palmeiras.

Within the Brazilian championship, the team has attended the G-6 since the beginning, always rotating the team to compete in the Cups, which was the club's focus for 2022.

In the Copa do Brasil, the team from Paraná ended up in the quarterfinals against Flamengo in games that were marked by balance and discussion about the way Felipão's team played.

Regardless of what happens, Athlético's campaign is historic in itself and proves how successful this partnership between the club and multi-champion Luiz Felipe Scolari was.

The final chapter will be on October 29th in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Felipão can win his third title and be the Brazilian who has won the most in the championship that brings together teams from South America.

But what are the reasons why this marriage works so well? It is a mix of technical competence and experience with the infrastructure and professionalism of the Paraná representative in the Libertadores. Let's understand.

Many analysts and commentators said that his career was over in 2014, after the embarrassing 7-1 against Germany, at the World Cup in Brazil. 

Without forgetting its roots, betting on motivation and tactics, it regains relevance after the 2018 Brazilian title, with Palmeiras. And now, with Atlhético Paranaense, he can return to the glory days with the third Libertadores.

And this could be the farewell title to a highly successful career, which could place him as the 5th biggest winner in the history of world football, reaching his 27th title.

They say that Felipão is lucky, but the combination of technical capacity with good infrastructure and planning are necessary ingredients. This is what takes Furacão to their second Libertadores final.

Until the mid-1990s, the Paraná team was well below its main state rival, Coritiba, and was not highlighted on the national scene.

The arrival of Mário Celso Petraglia as president changes the club's structure. It implemented some sensitive changes that forever changed its history:

The sum of all these factors, with the commitment to pay the club's debts, meant that the team accumulated good campaigns and achieved its first national title, the 2001 Brazilian Championship.

In 2005, the first Libertadores final in its history against São Paulo. He is runner-up after losing the second game, at Morumbi.

Between 2018 and 2021, the club from Paraná consolidated itself as a great national champion with two South American titles and the Copa do Brasil title. And the year 2022 could transform the great team from the state of Paraná into a great one in South America.

What will happen in the grand Final of the Libertadores 2022 is unknown, but we cannot doubt the success of Felipão and Athlético Paranaense, which was planned for this moment. Take care, Flamengo!