Having kept the tie level on the road last week, Defensa y Justicia will now look to make the most of home-ground advantage when they take on Botafogo in the second leg of the Copa Sudamericana quarter-finals on Thursday.
The sides were inseparable last week as Nicolas Tripichio cancelled out a Gabriel Pires opener in the 78th minute, and both teams will now resume the battle for a place against LDU Quito or Sao Paulo in the final four.
Match preview
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While Defensa have not been at their sparkling best of late, they do have a fairly good record against Brazilian opponents, having taken down a few of them en route to the title in this competition back in 2020.
The hosts returned to league action over the weekend and drew 0-0 against Platense on the road, although they were arguably lucky to have come away with the point as their opponents dominated the match but could not find the net despite firing 22 shots on goal.
After conceding a 3-0 away loss to Millonarios in the first group-stage match of this competition, Julio Vaccari's side won six in a row, including a 3-1 aggregate victory over Emelec in the round of 16.
Defensa have been flawless on their home patch in the Copa Sudamericana, winning each of their four matches, scoring two or more on three occasions, while they are also unbeaten at home in their last 13 matches in all competitions (W10 D3 L0).
However, while they are the favourites in this match, the hosts will know the attacking prowess that their opponents possess and will have to ensure they do not concede the first goal like they did last week.
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The visitors have been excellent this season and come into this match following a convincing 3-0 win over Bahia in the league last weekend, which extended their unbeaten record to 19 matches in all competitions.
That result also saw them maintain an 11-point advantage over Palmeiras in the Serie A standings, now on 51 after 21 matches and looking increasingly likely to be crowned champions at the end of the season with each passing week.
Bruno Lage's side were unbeaten in the group stages of this competition, though their record was not as impressive as they would have hoped, with two wins and four draws, which saw them finish behind LDU Quito in Group A.
Still, they have found a way to get the job done so far in this competition, as they showed in the last round when they took a 2-1 lead in the first leg against Club Guarani and played out a goalless draw a week later to secure their place in the last eight.
Fogo beat this opponent back in the 2019 season and will believe very strongly that they can get the win here, which will be an accomplishment in itself, considering they were knocked out of this competition in this round the last two times that they have participated in it.
Team News
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The hosts will be without Alexis Soto, who is still nursing a broken nose and is expected to remain sidelined for at least another two weeks.
Gabriel Alanis is the longer-term absentee with a muscle injury, while Tripichio will be hoping that his goal off the bench in the last match will see him promoted to the starting 11 in this one.
Defender Rafael da Silva picked up a knee injury during the first phase of the Argentine Primera Division season and has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign.
Fernando Marcal (calf) and Tiquinho Soares (knee), who has scored nine goals already this season, are both injured and only expected to return to action in late September.
Defensa y Justicia possible starting lineup:
Bologna; Sant'Anna, Malatini, Cardona, Caceres; Barbona, Gutierrez, Tripichio; Solari, Fernandez, Togni
Botafogo possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Placido, Adryelson, Cuesta, Hugo; Danilo, Gabriel, Tche Tche; Henrique, Victor, Angulo
We say: Defensa y Justicia 1-1 Botafogo
While the visitors have been excellent this season, their recent away form has been less impressive, with four straight draws in all competitions and failing to score in their last three. We do expect them to get a goal here, but we feel that the hosts will do as they did in the first leg and level proceedings by the final whistle.
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