The Uruguayan Montevideo City Torque and the Peruvian Cienciano will seek a ticket to the semifinals of the Copa Sudamericana this Thursday in the last 90 minutes of a series that Horacio Melgarejo's team is winning by two goals.
The legendary Centenario Stadium in Uruguay will witness a match in which the local team - one of the members of the City Group - will seek to make history by securing their ticket to a stage they have never played before.
On the other side, Cienciano will try to maintain the first leg advantage (2-0) to make it into the top four and continue dreaming of emulating their historic 2003 campaign, in which they won the Copa Sudamericana with Freddy Ternero and players like Óscar Ibáñez, Santiago Acasiete, Carlos Lugo, Juan Carlos Bazalar, and Germán Carty.
Leader of the Uruguayan Clausura Tournament with one match pending, Montevideo City will take the field at its best moment of the season. It will do so with an eleven that will have several changes compared to the one that on Monday defeated Liverpool 3-1 to reach the top of the mentioned tournament with a perfect score.
The return of Franco Torgnascioli to the goal, Gary Kagelmacher to the defense, Pablo Siles to the midfield, and Salomón Rodríguez to the attack will be some of the changes Marcelo Méndez will make.
Franco Pizzichillo, a key player for the team, will also be included in the starting eleven and could play in the midfield or in the attack.
Meanwhile, Cienciano arrived in Montevideo with the mission of defending the advantage they obtained in Cusco, and they will do so with a strategy that is far from being defensive. "If you hang on to the crossbar, the match becomes extremely long," Melgarejo said.
The visitor will face the match without the injured Alejandro Hohberg, who could be replaced by Juan Bautista Romagnoli or Juan Matías Succar.
The team of the Argentine Horacio Melgarejo will probably take the field without any further changes compared to the team that won in the first leg.
In this way, Uruguayans and Peruvians will seek a spot in the semifinals to play against the winner of the series between the Brazilians Atlético Mineiro and Santos.
- Probable lineups:
Montevideo City: Franco Torgnascioli; Eduardo Agüero, Kevin Silva, Gary Kagelmacher; Ezequiel Busquets or Braian Andrade, Pablo Siles, Gonzalo Montes, Facundo Silvera; Franco Pizzichillo, Salomón Rodríguez, and Esteban Obregón. Coach: Marcelo Méndez.
Cienciano: Ítalo Espinoza; Carlos Cabello, Maximiliano Amondarain, Kevin Becerra, Marcos Martinich; Cristian Souza, Santiago Arias, Ademar Robles, Neri Bandiera; Juan Bautista Romagnoli or Juan Matías Succar and Carlos Garcés. Coach: Horacio Melgarejo. EFE
