Melgar de Arequipa will seek his first Copa Libertadores win tonight and qualify for the second stage of the Copa Libertadores South American Cup when he finishes third in his group. Four dates of the continental tournament were played, which he ranked as the under-champion of Peruvian football.
After a great South American Cup in which they reached the semi-finals last year, the Arequipa side continue to struggle to excel at a higher level than the local tournament. He has picked up just one point in his four Cup appearances after drawing at home with Paraguay’s Olimpia, losing on aggregate to Colombia’s Atlético Nacional and losing in Argentina to tonight’s rivals in Arequipa, Patronato.
FBC Melgar will face the Board of Trustees for the fifth time. Photo by : Joinnus
YOU CAN SEE: “It already seems to be the pink zone of the clowns”: Tiktoker triggers laughter by showing the street of Arequipa
The result of this poor campaign is that Melgar are in the bottom three of the 32 teams in the competition. Metropolitanos de Venezuela in Group “B” is fourth without points, another club not having a good time with the Libertadores is Monagas SC, also from Venezuela, with only two units. They’re the only teams that don’t know what it takes to win.
With this in mind, the Arequipa team still has options to continue in international competition. If he wins today Patronage, In a game that will be played from 19:00 at the Monumental Arequipa, they have chances to qualify for the next stage of the Copa Sudamericana by finishing third.
If there is a draw or a loss, there will be no more chances, since the difference is less than six goals. On the last day they will visit Olimpia and the board will do the same against Atlético Nacional. With a draw, you have achieved the goal of staying alive.
Martinez is back
Melgar had six days to plan his match against Patronato. The novelty in Mariano Soso’s eleventh game will be the return of Tomás Martínez. The Argentina midfielder, who was absent from the final two dates of the local tournament, was recovering from a left thigh injury.
Another who has received special attention is striker Luis Iberico, who would return to the far left field. That way, despite the fact that wing-backs Paolo Reyna and Alejandro Ramos have also recovered, Melgar could revert to the 3-5-2 formation.
The possible formation would have Cáceda in goal; the defense with JeanPierre Archimbaud, Alec Deneumostier and Leonel Galeano. The midfield with Horacio Orzán, Walter Tandazo, Tomás Martínez, Jamir D’Arrigo and Cristian Bordacahar; and in front Iberico and Bernardo Cuesta.
Patronato lost to leaders Agropecuario in Argentina’s “B” division at the weekend. The gaucho delegation arrived last night and had striker Juan Cruz Esquivel as their reference figure. Coach Walter Otta kept his line-up under wraps.