Racing Club can claim the Recopa Sudamericana for the first time when they visit Estadio Nilton Santos on Thursday to face Botafogo in the second leg of that tie.
When these teams met in Buenos Aires a week ago, Racing claimed a 2-0 triumph, putting them in a strong position to lift the trophy.
Match preview
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After a difficult opening leg, Botafogo will have a tall task ahead of them in their quest to win the Recopa Sudamericana for the first time in club history.
Claudio Cacapa saw his side register just one effort on target throughout the 90 minutes last week, putting them in a hole heading into this must-win fixture.
Throughout this month, Fogo have struggled in front of goal, failing to score in their last two matches played across all competitions, while netting in only one of their last five encounters.
Meanwhile, they have lost their only two home contests played in February, with their previous victory at Estadio Nilton Santos occurring on matchday five of the Carioca Serie A campaign last month (2-0 victory over Bangu).
The Brazilians have never come from behind to win a two-leg tie after losing the opener since the second round of the 2018 Copa Sudamericana when they defeated Paraguayan side Nacional 2-0 after losing the first game 2-1.
O Glorioso have never lost a competitive home game versus a team from Argentina, with their last triumph against a Primera Division opponent coming in the opening leg of their 2019 first round Copa Sudamericana tie with Defensa y Justicia (1-0).
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Racing are 90 minutes away from glory at the Recopa Sudamericana, netting once in each half of the opening game last Thursday.
That ended a two-match losing run for them, with those previous defeats occurring in the Argentine Primera Division, conceding four goals over that stretch.
Gustavo Costas will be cautiously optimistic heading into this decisive encounter, seeing as his side lost their last two away matches without scoring a single goal, including a 2-0 defeat at Estudiantes in early February.
Since winning their first two matches in the opening phase of the 2025 Argentine Primera Division season, El Primer Grande have lost three of their last five competitive games, all versus clubs from Argentina.
They have not lost a tie after winning the opening leg since the 2020 Copa Libertadores quarter-finals, when they fell 2-0 to Boca Juniors after a 1-0 triumph in their first match against them.
Their previous away victory versus Brazilian opposition occurred in the 2022 Copa Sudamericana group stage when they came from behind to claim a 2-1 triumph against Cuiaba.
Team News
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There are no injuries to report on the Botafogo side, though they will be missing Cuiabano, who was given a straight red card three minutes before the 90 last week.
Nathan Fernandes has yet to feature since signing in mid-February from Gremio, while they added Santiago Rodriguez on Sunday from Major League Soccer side New York City FC.
Costas brought in four new faces to the Racing squad for leg one who did not start their previous domestic encounter versus Argentinos Juniors, with Santiago Quiros, Bruno Zuculini, Luciano Vietto and Adrian Martinez all coming into the fold.
Vietto and Martinez each found the back of the net in leg one, while goalkeeper Gabriel Arias only had to make one stop to collect a clean sheet.
Botafogo possible starting lineup:
John; Vitinho, Danilo, Barboza, Telles; Newton, Kaue, Freitas; Savarino, Jesus, Kayke
Racing Club possible starting lineup:
Arias; Di Cesare, Colombo, Quiros; Martirena, Nardoni, Barrios, Rojas; Vietto, A. Martinez, Salas
We say: Botafogo 1-0 Racing Club (Racing Club wins 2-1 on aggregate) n
In the history of this competition no side has ever squandered a two goal advantage heading into the second leg, and we do not expect that to happen on Thursday, given the lack of continuity and quality that Fogo have displayed this month.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
