5 Tips for Tuesday & Wednesday’s CONMEBOL Libertadores Action

The first game on this list of round of 16 ties in the CONMEBOL Libertadores sees defending champions Palmeiras travel to Chilean outfit Universidad Catolica on Wednesday night.

In Group F Catolica managed to qualify for this round with nine points to their name, following three victories against Atletico Nacional 2-0, Argentinos Juniors 1-0 and Nacional 3-1, with Fernando Zampedri, Diego Valencia and Clemente Montes all getting on the scoresheet in the latter match.

Meanwhile, Palmeiras cruised through Group A with 15 points ahead of Defensa Y Justicia, Independiente del Valle and Universitario, scoring 20 and conceding seven in six matches.

In general, Palmeiras’ form has seen them concede plenty of goals, hence for the both teams to score tips, as in the Brazilian Serie A, they have won their last five matches with both teams scoring in three of these in two 3-2 victories against Santos and Bahia, as well as in a narrow 2-1 win against Internacional where goals by Deyverson and Danilo gave them a late victory late last month.

The next game on this list of tips sees Boca Juniors take on Atletico Mineiro at La Bombonera on Tuesday night.

Boca managed to qualify from Group C in a relatively unconvincing fashion, managing 10 points with three wins to their name, with their most recent being 3-0 and 2-0 victories over The Strongest and Santos. Prior to their 3-0 victory over Bolivian outfit the Strongest, they had failed to score in any of their last three Libertadores matches against Ecuadorian side Barcelona twice in a 1-0 loss and a 0-0 draw, as well as losing 1-0 to Santos.

Brazilian Serie A outfit Mineiro breezed through Group H, earning 16 points from a possible of 18 against the likes of Paraguayan side Cerro Porteno, America de Cali of Colombia and against Venezuelan outfit Deportivo La Guaira.

Atletico come into this game having won their last four matches in the league, with their three most recent victories being by the score group of 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 against Cuiaba 1-0, Flamengo 2-1 and America Mineiro, where Dylan Borrero’s 68th-minute strike proved to be the only goal of the game.

Sao Paulo and Racing Club will take each other on once against at the Libertadores having both met in Group E of this year’s competition.

Sao Paolo’s last two matches have resulted in 1-0 and 2-0 wins against Bahia and Internacional, but, prior to this recent run of form, they hadn’t won their last three matches, drawing 1-1 and 0-0 with Ceara and Corinthians, as well as losing 2-1 to RB Bragantino.

Racing Club actually topped Group E by three points ahead of Wednesday’s opponents, having drawn 0-0 at home with them, before winning 1-0 at Cícero Pompeu de Toledo Stadium on matchday five with a goal from Joaquin Novillo, giving them control of the group.

In and around this result, Racing have also beaten Sporting Cristal 2-1 and 2-0, as well as beating Rentistas 3-0.

Fellow Argentine Primera División side Velez Sarsfield host Ecuadorian LigaPro outfit Barcelona on Wednesday.

Velez managed to progress through Group G which contained some tricky sides, such as Union La Calera of Chile, as well as Liga de Quito and Flamengo with 10 points, winning three of their last four matches, 2-0 and 2-1 against Union as well as 3-1 against Quito thanks to goals from Thiago Almada, Lucas Janson and Federico Mancuello in the latter match.

On the other side, Barcelona were very impressive when qualifying from Group C, advancing ahead of the likes of Boca Juniors and Santos, beating the latter 3-1 last time out in this competition, as well as narrowly scraping past Boca in early May and hammering Bolivian outfit The Strongest 4-0.

The final game on this list of round of 16 ties sees Cerro Porteno face Fluminese at Estadio General Pablo Rojas on Tuesday.

The hosts have won two of their last three games in the Libertadores via a 1-0 scoreline against Deportivo La Guaira and America de Cali, as well as losing 1-0 to Atletico Mineiro inbetween these victories. They advanced from Group H having scored just four goals in six matches, finishing on 10 points.

Fluminese, however, aren’t in great goalscoring form themselves, having won two of their last three matches in the Brazilian Serie A, recording 1-0 and 2-1 victories against Flamengo and Sport Recife, with Lucca Borges de Brito bagging a brace in the latter win. Fluminese could only manage a 0-0 draw at home to Ceara in the middle of these two results and will travel to Paraguay knowing that they will be facing one of the sternest defensive outfits in this year’s competition.