Football is weird. Seriously. One minute you’re watching a tactical chess match, and the next, you’ve got two 40-year-olds breaking records in a game that felt more like a street fight than a Copa Libertadores fixture. When we talk about Talleres de Córdoba vs Alianza Lima, most people just look at the scorelines. But if you actually watched the 2025 Group D clashes, you know it was way more chaotic than a 2-0 or 3-2 result suggests.
The Night the Veterans Took Over
Let’s be real: Alianza Lima wasn't supposed to have the legs for this. But in April 2025, they hosted Talleres at the Alejandro Villanueva, and things got bizarre. We saw something that had literally never happened in the history of the Copa Libertadores. Two different players over the age of 40 scored in the same game.
Paolo Guerrero, who is basically a walking monument at 41, bagged a brace. Then Hernán Barcos, also 40+, added another. It was like a "legends" match broke out in the middle of a high-stakes continental tournament. Talleres fought back with two quick goals from Federico Girotti—who, funnily enough, was rumored to be joining Alianza for the 2026 season—but the "Old Guard" of Lima held on for a 3-2 win.
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Honestly, the energy in Matute that night was suffocating. Talleres had 58% of the ball, but Alianza had the "vibe." And sometimes in South American football, the vibe beats the tactics.
Talleres de Córdoba vs Alianza Lima: The Revenge in Córdoba
Fast forward to May 15, 2025. The scene shifted to the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba. This was the match Talleres fans had circled in red. They needed a win to keep their Sudamericana hopes alive, and boy, did they deliver.
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Talleres didn't just win; they bullied Alianza for 90 minutes. Rubén Botta opened the scoring at the 23-minute mark with a laser from outside the box. Then Valentín Depietri doubled it before the half. But the real drama? It wasn't the goals.
- The Penalty Miss: Paolo Guerrero had a chance to pull one back from the spot in first-half stoppage time. He missed. You could almost feel the air go out of the Peruvian side right then.
- The Red Card: Carlos Zambrano, who is never far from a referee's notebook, picked up a second yellow in the 74th minute. After that, it was over.
- The Goalkeeping: Javier Burrai was a wall for Talleres, even picking up a yellow card for some cheeky time-wasting late in the game.
Talleres finished that match with a 2-0 win, leveling the playing field. It’s kind of crazy how different the two legs were. One was a high-scoring veteran showcase, and the other was a disciplined, tactical lockdown by the Argentinians.
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Why This Matchup Still Matters in 2026
By the time the group stage ended in 2025, both teams actually found themselves on the outside looking in for the Libertadores knockouts. Alianza Lima finished third in Group D with 5 points, and Talleres ended up fourth with 4 points. It was a brutal group with São Paulo and Libertad.
But the Talleres de Córdoba vs Alianza Lima rivalry left a mark. It showed a shift in how these "mid-tier" continental giants approach each other. Talleres proved they have the tactical depth to neutralize Alianza's physical play, while Alianza proved that their aging stars can still produce magic if you give them an inch of space.
Key Takeaways from the 2025 Series:
- Experience vs. Youth: Alianza relies heavily on "jerarquía" (hierarchy/experience), while Talleres plays a much more high-pressing, modern game.
- Home Field is Everything: Both teams won their home games. In the Libertadores, the altitude of Lima and the "caldera" atmosphere of Córdoba are genuine 12th men.
- The Girotti Factor: Federico Girotti was the standout performer across both games. His ability to find space between the center-backs is why Alianza spent most of the 2025 off-season trying to sign him.
If these two meet again in the 2026 season, don't expect a boring 0-0 draw. The history is too spicy now. There’s bad blood, there’s a history of red cards, and there’s the constant battle between Argentinian pragmatism and Peruvian flair.
To keep up with the next chapter of this rivalry, keep an eye on the official CONMEBOL schedules and injury reports. If Paolo Guerrero is still lacing up the boots at 42, you can bet he’ll be looking for one last goal against the "Albiazul." Check the latest squad rotations before placing any bets, as both teams have been undergoing massive defensive overhauls to avoid the late-game collapses we saw in 2025.