Chapecoense qualifies for Copa Libertadores
Just five days after the anniversary of the Chapecoense tragedy, the Brazilian side clinched a return to the Copa Libertadores on the final day of the season.
Five days on from the anniversary of the catastrophe, the club remarkably booked its place in next year's Libertadores in dramatic fashion as Tulio de Melo's 95th-minute strike completed a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Coritiba.
The result ensured Chape finished eighth, which proved sufficient to earn its chance to qualify for the group stages of South America's premier club competition as Gremio and Cruzeiro, who finished in the top six, had already qualified by winning the Libertadores and Copa do Brasil respectively.
The three players to survive the crash, Neto, Jackson Follman and Alan Ruschel, who was an unused substitute at Arena Conda, celebrated the achievement in front of ecstatic fans by driving a medical buggy around the pitch.
Chapecoense began 2017 by winning the Campeonato Catarinense, before being defeated in an emotional Recopa Sudamericana by Atletico, the club whose graciousness in requesting the Brazilian side be named Copa Sudamericana winners ensured the players who lost their lives would be remembered as "eternal champions".
The club was eliminated from this year's Libertadores after fielding an ineligible player, while Flamengo sent them out at the last-16 stage in the Sudamericana.
Barcelona hosted Chape in the Trofeu Joan Gamper in August and won 5-0, with defeat to Urawa Reds in the Suruga Bank Championship followed for the Brazilian side.
Vagner Mancini and Vinicius Eutropio were sacked before Gilson Kleina replaced interim coach Emerson Cris to become the fourth man at the helm in October, and he masterminded a surge away from the relegation zone and into the Libertadores.