Cerro Porteño is shown in the second round of the Libertadores 2022 facing Palmeiras in the first leg, starting at 18:15 this afternoon, in La Nueva Olla. The purpose of the Cyclone is to beat a Brazilian team for the first time in the Cup.
It is said and rightly so that the statistics are there to be broken and Cerro Porteño will need a lot of that to overcome the current champion of the tournament.
In terms of background, the Cyclone has everything against it. Of 18 participations in the round of 16, he was only able to qualify for the quarterfinals 7 times, being eliminated 11 times.
Cerro was never able to beat a Brazilian team in the round of 16 and as if all that weren’t enough, he couldn’t beat Palmeiras playing at home either.
4 “kills – kills” of the azulgrana team against the Brazilians in this phase and they gave up in all of them. The first was in the 2005 Cup against Paranaense. In the first leg the team from Curitiba won 2-1 and in the second leg Ciclón had their revenge 2-1, but Paranaense won on penalties (5-4).
In the 2014 edition Cruzeiro was the executioner of the azulgranas. In Belo Horizonte, the cerristas achieved a meritorious 1-1 draw, but in their stronghold in the Obrero neighborhood they fell 2-0.
In 2018, it was Palmeiras himself who eliminated Cerro. In the first leg, in La Nueva Olla, the azulgrana team lost 2-0 and in the rematch, in São Paulo, the 1-0 victory was not enough and they were out of the Cup due to goal difference.
The last matchup of the Ciclón against a Brazilian team, in the round of 16, was recorded in the 2021 Cup. This time Fluminense was the one that eliminated Cerro winning both matches; 2-0, in La Nueva Olla and 1-0, in Brazil.
Against Palmeiras and at home, Cerro did not do well in the Libertadores either, considering that they played 5 games and the Ciclón still could not defeat him. The results were 3 draws and 2 wins for Verdão.
Cerro Porteño still has the difficult path of changing history against Brazilian teams, in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores and to start dreaming, this Wednesday they must get their first win in their hometown against Palmeiras.
