Atletico Paranaense defeated Atletico Junior 4-3 on penalties (2-2 aggregate) to win the 2018 CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana on Wednesday night. The win over the Colombian visitors in South America's second-most important club competition gives the Brazilian side their first ever continental triumph. After a 1-1 stalemate at the conclusion of 90 minutes at Arena da Baixada, Junior had an opportunity to take the lead in the 111th minute, but Jarlan Barrera botched a penalty and sailed it into the stands. Paranense opened the evening first in the 27th minute when Pablo Felipe took advantage of a breakdown in Junior's central defence to blast it past goalkeeper Sebastian Viera. Junior's equaliser came in the 58th minute when Teofilo Gutierrez headed in a second-chance ball off Jefferson Gomez's corner kick. The first leg also had ended in a 1-1 draw at Junior's Metropolitano Roberto Melendez stadium last week. Paranaense will take on Copa Libertadores winner River Plate of Argentina next year in the 2019 Recopa Sudamericana.
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