Flamengo and Vélez Sarsfield, in the Copa Libertadores; and Atlético Goianiense, Independiente del Valle and Sao Paulo in the South American, start with the favoritism that won them in the first leg of the quarterfinals and hope to ratify this week, in the second leg, their pass to the semifinals.
But they will not have it easy against their contenders.
The Libertadores, whose final will be won on October 29 by a Brazilian or Argentine team, since none of the other countries advanced to this phase, will have from Tuesday the decisive quarterfinal duels between Flamengo-Corinthians, Palmeiras-Atlético Mineiro, Talleres- Velez and Students-Athletico Paranaense.
To highlight, of the eight teams in dispute, only Talleres and Athletico Paranaense have not won the title of champion in the Libertadores.
In the South American in this instance there are no Argentines and there is more resistance to fight against four Brazilians still in the race, Internacional, Ceará, Sao Paulo and Atlético Goianiense, by the Peruvian Melgar, the Venezuelan Deportivo Táchira, the Ecuadorian Independiente del Valle and the Uruguayan National.
Of these only Sao Paulo, Internacional and Independiente del Valle have obtained the title in the South American. The final of the tournament called ‘the other half of the glory’ will be played on October 1.
Flamengo, undefeated in the Libertadores, is the team that made a good difference by beating Corinthians 0-2 in Sao Paulo, but Timao’s side are not giving up for Tuesday’s return game in Rio de Janeiro at the stadium Maracana.
Palmeiras, meanwhile, drew 2-2 away with Atlético Mineiro and remained undefeated in the tournament that they have won in the last two editions and will define their place in the semifinals on Wednesday at home, at the Allianz Parque de Sao Pulo. .
In the duel between Argentines, Talleres will receive Vélez and hopes to come back, also on Wednesday, at the Mario Kempes stadium, from the 3-2 with which he lost the series.
The match that will close the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores on Thursday will be that of Estudiantes de La Plata, which will host Athletico Paranaense, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, with whom they tie the key 0-0.
In the South American, Atlético Goianiense and Nacional will open the decisive round of the quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Serra Dourada stadium in Goiânia. The Brazilian team leaves with the confidence of having won 0-1 in the first leg in Uruguay, while their rival is bound to win.
By the same scoreline and also as a visitor, Independiente del Valle beat Deportivo Táchira 0-1 and on Tuesday the faces will be seen in Ecuador.
In a Brazilian duel, Ceará aspires to flip the coin at the Arena Castelao, in Fortaleza, and qualify for the semifinal at home on Wednesday, since Sao Paulo did know how to assert the locality and defeated it 1-0 last week in the gone in the Morumbí.
Internacional and Melgar, who tied 0-0 in the first leg, will go out on Thursday in search of victory and advance to the semifinal at the Beira-Rio Stadium in Porto Alegre, in the match that will close the quarterfinals for the South American.
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– Second leg of the Libertadores quarterfinals:
09.08: Flamengo (BRA) – Corinthians (BRA) First Leg: 0-2
10.08: Palmeiras (BRA) – Atlético Mineiro (BRA) First Leg: 2-2
10.08: Workshops (ARG) – Vélez Sarsfield (ARG) First Leg: 3-2
08.11: Students (ARG) – Athletico Paranaense (BRA) First Leg: 0-0
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– Second leg of the South American quarterfinals:
09.08: Atletico Goianiense (BRA) – National (URU) First Leg: 0-1
09.08: Ind. del Valle (ECU) – Deportivo Táchira (VEN) First Leg: 0-1
10.08: Ceará (BRA) – Sao Paulo (BRA) First Leg: 1-0
11.08: International (BRA) – Melgar (PER) First Leg: 0-0.
