Paulo Henrique Ganso did not travel with Fluminense to Bolivia on Wednesday afternoon, April 29, after doctors diagnosed him with myocarditis and advised against exposing him to the altitude of La Paz ahead of the Copa Libertadores group-stage match.
The bolívar vs fluminense fixture at Estadio Hernando Siles is scheduled for Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. Brasília time and will be played at more than 3,600 meters above sea level.
Fluminense left Rio on Wednesday without Ganso; the club’s medical department made the decision after the diagnosis and recommended he not fly to high altitude. Fluminense president Mário Bittencourt also did not travel with the squad, while Guga was part of the group and should be available for the match.
The arrival plan was deliberately minimalist: Fluminense intended to land in La Paz only on matchday to try to blunt the well-known effects of altitude on players who live at sea level.
On paper, the result matters to both clubs. Bolívar and Fluminense had taken one point each from their opening two matches in Group C, leaving both sides still searching for a first win as the group stage settles into its second round.
Bolívar went into the competition having drawn 1-1 with Deportivo La Guaira in their opening home match, and their preparations have been marked by upheaval: Flávio Robatto resigned last week after a draw and a defeat, and Vladimir Soria was appointed interim coach and debuted with a 6-0 win over Real Tomayapo last weekend.
Robatto had been Bolívar’s coach since 2024 and compiled 73 wins in 117 matches at the club, a record that underscores how sudden the change at the dugout has been for the Bolivian side.
For Fluminense, the pressing fact is that they enter Hernando Siles after two defeats on the road in the group — losses earlier to Deportivo La Guaira and Independiente Rivadavia — and without a key midfielder cleared to travel. Losing Ganso to a medical ruling narrows the options for a team already trying to mitigate the altitude by arriving as late as possible.
The tension for both teams is plain: Bolívar must convert home-field and altitude advantage into points under an interim coach whose first domestic result was a rout, while Fluminense must manage fitness, squad choices and the unknown variables of playing above 3,600 meters without one of its creative midfielders and with the club president absent from the trip.
The single question that follows from those facts — and the one that will decide whether Fluminense can change the narrative of their Group C campaign tonight — is whether the team’s matchday arrival and available players, including Guga, can overcome the altitude and Bolívar’s home momentum to secure the club’s first win in the group.
