Independiente del Valle (Ecuador) – Boca Juniors (Argentina)

Independiente del Valle finished in third place in group F of the Copa Libertadores despite beating Liverpool FC of Uruguay 2-1 at home on matchday six. The team added seven points, one behind second place, San Lorenzo. A few days later, IDV beat Orense 1-0 as hosts to win the first phase of the Ecuadorian league, accumulating 35 points in 15 games, four ahead of Barcelona SC. Overall, Javier Gandolfi’s men are unbeaten in their last four matches, winning three and drawing one. The same can be said about their last four home games.

Boca Juniors could not skip the playoff round despite beating the Bolivian club Nacional Potosí 4-0 at home: they finished in second place in group D of the Copa Sudamericana with 11 points, two behind Fortaleza EC. Accumulating seven points in five Professional League games, El Xeneize had its last competitive match on June 19, beating Almirante Brown of the second division in the round of 32 of the Argentine Cup. Diego Martínez’s men lost just one of their last seven in all tournaments, winning four and drawing two. However, they lost four of their last six away games (along with two wins).

Big problems for Boca here, as they will have 14 casualties: midfielder Guillermo Fernández reached the limit of yellow cards while Edinson Cavani and Cristian Lema are injured. Ezequiel Fernández, Cristian Medina and Kevin Zenón are involved in the Olympic Games, while the new players Gary Medel, Milton Giménez and Tomás Belmonte, new reinforcements, have not been registered for this phase due to an administrative error.
They reach the level of Quito with a team full of young players and should have problems against the usually solid Independiente.

BET: Independiente del Valle -0.75 @ 1.87