Gabigol leads hosts into Copa Lib final against River

Gabriel 'Gabigol' Barbosa led the way as Flamengo routed Brazilian rivals Gremio 5-0 to reach the Copa Libertadores final.

Gabigol scored twice at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, where Flamengo cruised to a 6-1 aggregate triumph on Wednesday.

Flamengo will now face defending champions River Plate in the Libertadores final in Santiago on November 23.

The semi-final tie was deadlocked at 1-1 following Flamengo's draw at Gremio in the opening leg on October 2, but Jorge Jesus' men blew the match wide open after half-time.

After Bruno Henrique broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute, Gabigol doubled the lead with a thunderous half-volley into the roof of the net within a minute of the second-half restart.

Gabigol – on loan from Serie A giants Inter – made it 3-0 after converting a 56th-minute penalty before Pablo Mari headed past Paulo Victor 11 minutes later.

Flamengo – champions in 1981 – showed no mercy as Rodrigo Caio scored the team's fifth goal via a glancing header 19 minutes from the end.