Copa Sudamericana

Athletico Paranaense (Brazil) vs RB Bragantino (Brazil) Athletico Paranaense returned to the Copa Sudamericana finals (after lifting the title in 2018) thanks to their solid 2-0 home success over Penarol in late September to make it 4-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals (with interim boss Paulo Autuori in charge). The day after, the club announced Alberto Valentim as new coach. However, the team are on two consecutive defeats at the moment: last Tuesday, O Furacao lost 1-0 at home to Atletico Mineiro (with a mostly alternative XI), which places them in the 13th spot of the Brazilian league table, having…

Atletico Paranaense (Brazil) - Peñarol (Uruguay) Two former Penarol players (David Terans and Pedro Rocha) against their old club scored last Wednesday to give Athletico Paranaense a key 2-1 away success in the first leg. Now the team only have to avoid defeat at home in order to return to the Copa Sudamericana’s final after lifting the title in 2018. On Sunday, the team also beat Gremio 4-2 at home to make it four consecutive victories in all competitions and occupy ninth spot of the Brazilian league table, with 30 points in 21 matches. At home, O Furacao are on…

Peñarol (Uruguay) - Atletico Paranaense (Brazil) Penarol haven’t found any difficulties to knock out Peruvian side Sporting Cristal: they won 1-0 at home to make it 4-1 on aggregate. On Friday, the team settled for a 0-0 home draw against CA Fenix to make it four points in two rounds in the Uruguayan Torneo Clausura to remain occupying one of the Copa Libertadores’ spots in the aggregate table. El Carbonero are on nine matches unbeaten in all competitions, having claimed six victories and three draws since losing to Nacional 1-0 at home in the Copa Sudamericana’s round-of-16. Since then, they…

Red Bull Bragantino (Brazil) - Libertad (Paraguay) Red Bull Bragantino continue to make history in their first continental appearance. A month ago, the team beat Rosario Central 1-0 at home to make it 5-3 on aggregate and reach the Copa Sudamericana’s semi-finals. In fact, they also are producing a remarkable campaign in the league: following a 1-1 away draw at EC Bahia, Mauricio Barbieri’s men hold onto the fifth spot of the table after 20 games, which would qualify them for the Copa Libertadores in 2022. On a sorry note, the side are on three games without a win, having…

Peñarol (Uruguay) - Sporting Cristal (Peru) Penarol produced a remarkable performance last Wednesday and it was enough to beat Sporting Cristal 3-1 away, which means they would advance to the semi-finals unless they lose 3-0 or worse. On Saturday, the team also managed to beat CA Progreso 1-0 at home to remain third-placed in the Uruguayan Torneo Apertura, six points behind Plaza Colonia (who have already become champions with one round to go). They are on five games unbeaten in all competitions, winning four wins and one draw. At home, Penarol lost only one of the last 14, along with…

Bragantino (Brazil) - Rosario Central (Argentina) Red Bull Bragantino took a big step towards the Copa Sudamericana’s semi-finals last Tuesday, when beating Rosario Central 4-3 away with three goals scored by winger Artur. Last Saturday, coach Mauricio Barbieri fielded an alternative XI that ended up losing 2-1 to Juventude at home. That result stopped two positive runs: three games unbeaten in all competitions (two wins and one draw) and ten games without defeat at home (three victories and seven stalemates in regular time). Speaking of the league, Bragantino remain fourth-placed on 28 points despite losing the last game. After losing…

Rosario Central are back in the quarter-finals of a continental competition after 20 years: with captain Emiliano Vecchio scoring, they beat Deportivo Tachira 1-0 at home to make it 3-2 on aggregate in the round-of-16. However, things are different in the league. Last Friday, coach Cristian Gonzalez fielded an alternative XI, which lost 1-0 at Sarmiento. That result extended their losing run to three matches: El Canalla managed only three points from 15 on offer so far. Central were beaten by Aldosivi 2-1 in their last home match, which broke a six-game unbeaten run of five victories and one draw…