De Arrascaeta reaches 70 Copa Libertadores appearances, becomes Flamengo's all-time leader in the competition

A backheel pass, the ball slipping through a defender's legs, and the scoreboard tilting in Flamengo's favor. That sequence, in the second half against Independiente del Valle, summed up pretty well what Giorgian De Arrascaeta means to Mengão. But what that night left behind goes well beyond one classy assist.

The Uruguayan started in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals, and with that match he reached 70 appearances in the red and black shirt in the continental tournament. The number makes him the player with the most appearances in Flamengo's history in this competition, ahead of anyone else who has ever worn the shirt in the Libertadores.

It's no coincidence that he's the one breaking this record. De Arrascaeta joined Flamengo in 2019 from Cruzeiro, and since then he has turned into a piece the club practically never questions. Trained in the youth ranks of Defensor Sporting, the Uruguayan has spent the years since carving out a place in the club's recent history that few would argue with today.

The numbers back it up. The number 10 is the top foreign scorer in Flamengo's history, a fact that already says plenty about his impact in Rio de Janeiro. And this past February he entered an even more exclusive club: he became the third player in Mengão's history to reach 100 goals and 100 assists with the institution.

After the win, De Arrascaeta didn't hide what this new personal milestone means to him. He put it this way on Flamengo TV:

It's an honor for me.Giorgian De Arrascaeta

In the match against Independiente del Valle, the Uruguayan was on the field for 72 minutes, and in that time he produced at least one moment worth remembering: that backheel assist for Bruno Henrique's goal, after nutmegging an opponent on the way, a play that sums up why he remains so decisive even after so many years at the club. After he came off, Lucas Paquetá checked in to play out the rest of the match.

Flamengo now has another shot at fighting for the Libertadores in these quarterfinals, a tournament the club has already won twice with De Arrascaeta as one of its key figures. The fact that the record for appearances in the competition now belongs to him only confirms something nobody in Rio de Janeiro doubts anymore: few players represent what this past decade meant for the club as well as the Uruguayan himself.