Students will play much of the season when this Thursday they try to qualify for the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores de América against Athletico Paranaense, in the quarterfinal match of the continental competition. The match will be played at the UNO-Jorge Luis Hirschi Stadium, in La Plata, from 9:30 p.m., with the arbitration of the Uruguayan Andrés Matonte and broadcast by the Fox Sports signal.
The match that was played last week in Curitiba ended tied with no goals, so the winner of Thursday’s match will advance to the semifinals, an instance in which he will play against the winner of Palmeiras and Atlético Mineiro, who this Wednesday will define the key in Saint Paul. In the event of a tie, the qualifier will be decided by shots from the penalty spot.
Estudiantes, four-time winner of the Libertadores, is at stake for much of the success of the season in this instance, after three disappointments: the team led by Ricardo Zielinski did not reach the final of the League Cup (they fell in the quarterfinals, eliminated by Argentinos), was left out in the 16th. of the Argentine Cup (against Belgrano) and in the Professional League he is 23rd. 12 units from the Tucuman pointer.
Given this reality, the La Plata team has no options in front of a stadium full of fans who take the Copa Libertadores as a contest in which “Pincha”, by tradition and history, must be the protagonist without accepting another role.
Students had a high-level moment in the season, in the League Cup and the group stage of the Libertadores, with a game based on constant pressure, great power in the air, with the Uruguayan defender Agustín Rogel as the leader, and firepower on offense with Fernando Zuqui’s stopped ball, and goals from Boselli and Leandro Díaz. However, his game decreased, he misses a player like Gustavo Del Prete who was uneven as a winger and was sold to Pumas de México, and injuries have also affected him, in values such as Rogel, Noguera, Boselli and Díaz.
Paranaense, led by an “old fox” like Luiz Felipe Scolari, world champion with Brazil in Japan-Korea 2002, could not beat “Pincha” in his stadium and now knows that he will have to withstand a constant attack and be very intelligent against .
Scolari could play with three central defenders (the Colombian Nicolás Hernández, Pedro Henrique and Thiago Heleno) with the aim of counteracting the aerial game of Estudiantes and in the offensive the presence of a “little jewel” is likely, Vitor Roque, only 17 years old .
It will be a tense night in the new and charming La Plata stadium, Estudiantes will have to go for everything, but Paranaense, fourth in the Brasileirao, eight points behind Palmeiras, will be crouched waiting for their chance.