The name of striker Miguel Merentiel was one of the most cited in the Twitter after Palmeiras 1-0 defeat against Athletico-PR, for the semi-final of the Copa Libertadores. Several fans are wondering about the ‘disappearance’ of the player, who has only entered the pitch twice since joining Verdão.

For many, the loss to Hurricane opened up the limits for the Palmeiras team. The fact that Merentiel hasn’t played for eight games has bothered some fans, given that the club invested around 7.5 million reais for the athlete, who defended Defensa y Justicia-ARG.

“Is Merentiel so bad to be behind Navarro?” asked a page that follows the club. “Could someone ask Abel at the press conference why Merentiel never comes in?” asked a fan.

“Merentiel came just to say he signed a 9?” Protests another fan. “Merentiel can’t be the 5th option in a reserve bank that doesn’t even have that much quality. Janela do Palmeiras competed too negatively against her rivals. And Veron still sold cheap,” said said a user.

Palmeiras lost 1-0 to Athletico-PR with a goal from Alex Santana, in the first leg. Verdão didn’t play well and coach Abel Ferreira saw few options on the bench to change the scenario of the game.

The return of the semi-final will be played next Tuesday, at 9:30 p.m. (Brasilia time), at the Allianz Parque. Palmeiras must beat Hurricane by at least two goals to guarantee the classification in regulation time and reach their third consecutive Libertadores final.