European club football’s flagship competition will return to London in 2013, providing Wembley its second UEFA Champions League final in two years. On one evening, inside 90 minutes – give or take an extra 30 and the cruel possibility of penalties – new kings of the continent will be crowned. For its South American counterpart, however, continental sovereign has to be achieved over a gruelling seven days, besting your opponents both home and away. With such great distance between many of the sides competing for the Libertadores, there seems no viable alternative for CONMEBOL. To name Montevideo, for example, as the host city of the 2012 final could leave a club like Velez Sarsfield of Argentina with just a short skip across the River Plate, while potential opponents Deportivo Tachira of Venezuela would face six thousand mile round trip.

The two-legged format has served the competition well in recent years, throwing up classic encounters such as LDU Quito’s thrilling spot-kick victory at the Maracana two years ago after a stunning Thiago Neves hat-trick had clawed Fluminense of Brazil back from a 5-2 aggregate deficit, but, as I eagerly anticipated the kick-off of the first leg of this year’s final late on Wednesday evening, I couldn’t help thinking how much more exciting it might have been had everything been on the line that very night. It was a curiosity that will now be answered. An absorbing goalless draw in the Estadio Centenario stadium leaves us with the prospect of an out-and-out final in Sao Paulo when Santos host Penarol in the return leg this week. With away goals meaning nothing more than home ones, and with the prospect of a third meeting abolished since current Penarol coach Diego Aguirre struck in the last minute of injury time gave the Uruguayans the title in the competition’s last play-off in 1987, we have a ‘proper final’ on our hands.

Prior to the first leg, Santos were favourites, and while they still are, Penarol will fancy they chances heading into the return leg with honours even. On their last trip to Brazil, they blew away reigning champs Internacional in Porto Alegre. And forward Alejandro Martinuccio is confident of a repeat performance. “We played good football and had some opportunities to score,” he said, “the second leg will be similar and I hope that’s the case because we played much better than Santos.” Goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa agreed: “We should have made home advantage count.”

Aguirre’s side have found their winning formula since sneaking through the group stage by sitting deep and hitting their opponents at pace on the break, and it was following a transition that they carved out the first big chance of the night on Wednesday. Top scorer Juan Manuel Olivera found himself all alone six yards from goal, but didn’t have the pace to beat Santos ‘keeper Rafael to Luis Aguiar’s neat pass; the Brazilian stopper has been one of the stars of this side’s campaign and would have to be alert on a number of occasions before the break, most notably whenever his side’s offside trap failed. Guillermo Rodriguez should have done better with a free header before namesake Dario squandered the best opportunity of the game, lofting his finish over the bar.

But the first half was all about one man: Neymar. The Chelsea and Real Madrid target was hitherto embarking on the biggest night of his career. And it was to be an extremely difficult one for the teenager who looked increasingly lost in the fanfare, mystified as to why the entire whole world had turned against him what was supposed to be his big night. He was – correctly – booked after 19 minutes for diving and from then on had to endure a bumpy ride, with 36-year-old Dario Rodríguez expertly bullying the youngster off his stride. “The guy kicked me… my stomach really hurts” grumbled a bewildered Neymar to the Globo microphones as he took to the pitch for the second half, adding “the ref said that if I dive again he will send me off.” The man in the middle, Carlos Amarilla, had made his point; and to the official’s credit, he granted Neymar the protection he deserved in the second-half. “The referees need to understand what a player like Neymar has to take,” protested Santos coach Muricy Ramalho from the dugout. “The way he plays, dribbling at opponents, of course they will [try to] take him down and he will fall.”

That big, bad nasty world that Neymar lives in then sat back and waited for the petulant adolescent to fling his toys across the playroom and stick two fingers up to the inevitable red card that was about follow. To blow his lid. To blow his team’s chances. To throw away the opportunity for which Santos had been waiting 50 years. To prove he wasn’t worth the money. To prove he was no Pelé. To prove he wasn’t even another Robinho. To prove them all right… only he didn’t. Instead, he curtailed his petulance, left the histrionics behind, swept aside the incessant belligerence he had displayed, and set about trying to make his team tick. He was far from his best, but so too were Santos. Unable to retain possession in the absence of playmaker Paulo Henrique Ganso, their play was scrappy, disjointed, and wasteful. Ze Eduardo once again failed to lead the line with any authority while Elano was lost amongst a combative midfield. Santos’ best opportunities fell to Alex Sandro, twice, and then Ze Eduardo – all three were created by Neymar. His own moment arrived ten minutes from time when he attempted what has become his trademark swept finish from the left side of the box into the near post. It wasn’t to be his night, however, as his effort was too central leaving Sosa to calmly block the shot. He was indeed below par, but Neymar lived to fight another day – one that was looking extremely unlikely after 18 minutes at the Centenario. “There is no point going in strong on Neymar because he has shown that he will not retreat,” admitted Aguirre this week. “That tactic doesn’t work anymore, he can not be intimidated.”

While it might all have been so different had veteran striker Diego Alonso not been denied his Martin Palermo moment by an offside flag five minutes from time, 0-0 is a result that probably suits both sides. “Penarol have already recorded good results away from home so anything can happen,” said a confident Sosa, while Santos defender Durval insisted his side were happy with the clean sheet, adding, “We now hope we can perform better in the return match in front of our supporters.”