The Conmebol will be raffling off the crosses of the eighth finals of the Copa Libertadores this Wednesday. The two surviving Colombian teams had hard crosses, which will test the power they are made of.
Atlético Nacional and Pereira represent the tricolor flag in the maximum continental tournament, having finished second in their respective groups.
The purslane team will compete against Racing de Avellaneda led by Fernando Gago. An attractive mix, between two teams that have shown high and low peaks in the first half of 2023. The first leg will be played at the Atanasio Girardot stadium in Medellín and the second leg at the ‘Avellaneda Cylinder’.
Nacional not only finished second in its Libertadores group, but also finished second in the BetPlay I-2023 League, beaten in the final by Millonarios. Racing for its part qualified as the leader of its area in the Cup, with a great stage where it beat a force like Flamengo, who finished second. The Academy also marches in section 13 of the Argentine league, where it has not found the regularity of recent seasons.
If Atlético Nacional takes the ticket to the quarter-finals, it would meet the winner of the key between Boca Juniors and Uruguay’s Nacional. difficult road.
Deportivo Pereira in turn competes with the surprising and always competitive Independiente del Valle. Difficult obstacle considering the quality, hunger and hierarchy that the Ecuadorian team has shown in recent continental tournaments. The first leg will be held at the Hernán Ramírez Villegas Stadium and the second leg at the Banco de Guayaquil.
The Matecaña team finished in second place in an area it shared with Boca Juniors and Colo Colo, but in the Colombian league, it was unlucky and left out of the I-2023 League semifinal home runs. Independiente del Valle, for its part, finished as the leader of Group E by beating second-placed Argentinos Juniors and eliminated Corinthians and Liverpool from Uruguay.
If they pass this stage, Pereira would face the winner of the series between Atlético Mineiro and Palmeiras, one of the most attractive of the round of 16 due to the individual and collective quality of both teams.
Both Nacional and Deportivo Pereira were on the same side of the penalty area.
On the other side were most of the Brazilian teams – Flamengo, Fluminense, Athletico Paranaense, Internacional de Portoalegre – along with River Plate, Bolívar, Argentinos Juniors and Olimpia from Paraguay.
River takes on Internacional, while Paranaense takes on Bolívar de La Paz. The winners of these two keys will meet in the quarterfinals.
For his part, Flamengo will clash with Olimpia, while his arch-rival, Fluminense, will do the same against Argentinos Juniors. The winners meet in the quarterfinals. That is to say that there could be a “classic carioca” that encourages the Copa Libertadores in the decisive phase.
Conmebol has not yet defined the exact dates of the round of 16 matches, which would be played between August 1 and 10.
The teams that reach the final of the Copa Libertadores will meet in one match, scheduled for November 4, at the legendary Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
