After last week’s results several teams will have to pray for miracles to advance to the quarter-finals of the Copa Sudamericana. Vitoria and Goias of Brazil, Lanus of Argentina, Emelec of Ecuador and Cienciano of Peru suffered heavy defeats in the first legs of their match-ups.
Difficult Tasks Ahead
Cienciano were thrashed 3-0 by San Lorenzo in Buenos Aires, and will need to be at their very best in Cusco in order to progress. However, this seems a difficult task because Diego Simeone counts with a very solid unit this season. The 2002 winners of the competition are one of three Argentine clubs still alive.
Juan Ramon Carrasco’s River Plate breezed past Vitoria of Brazil 4-1 in Montevideo and are favoured to advance. But they shouldn’t be too confident, because Brazilian sides are always a handful when playing in front of their own fans.
Lanus were humiliated 4-0 by Liga de Quito in Ecuador last week, and are all but eliminated from the competition. The Buenos Aires outfit will need to score four times and concede no goals only to force a penalty shoot-out. Due to this they are likely to field a reserve side in order to concentrate on the Argentine domestic league.
Meanwhile, Emelec and Goias will have to overturn 2-0 deficits against Botafogo and Cerro Porteno, respectively. Achieving this won’t be an impossible task, but both teams will have to be very aggressive when moving to the attack.
Up for the Taking
The three remaining round of 16 ties are wide open. Internacional failed to overcome Universidad de Chile in Porto Alegre, and will need to score at least once in Santiago on Thursday in order to stay in with a chance.
Velez Sarsfield scored twice in injury-time to claim a heroic 3-2 victory over Union Espanola at the Jose Amalfitani stadium in Liniers. However, the Chileans will be hoping to claim a narrow win that will take them through.
Brazilian outfit Fluminense fought out a 2-2 draw with Alianza Atletico in Peru, and will now have to win in Rio de Janeiro to advance. But it isn’t an impossible task for the Peruvian minnows also to win in Brazil, because Fluminense currently find themselves rock-bottom of the Brazilian first division.
Gregory Sica
Goal.com
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