Lanus (Argentina) vs Cruzeiro (Brazil)
Lanus are now one home win away from their third Copa Sudamericana final in history after their 1-1 road stalemate at Cruzeiro EC last Wednesday. On Sunday, coach Ricardo Zielinski fielded a completely alternative XI that ended up losing 1-0 away at Atletico Tucuman. As a result, El Granate made it just 20 points in 19 Liga Profesional matches (which keeps them out of the continental spots in the aggregate table) and 11 competitive games without a win (seven draws and four losses). At home, Lanus haven’t claimed any victories across the last five, drawing four and losing one.
Cruzeiro EC fans will have felt frustrated after the 1-1 home stalemate against Lanus as the team were unable to hold onto their lead. On Saturday, coach Fernando Diniz rested most of his regulars and they ended up losing 3-0 away at Athletico Paranaense. As a result, A Raposa remain eighth-placed in the Brasileirao table on 44 points, seven behind the last Copa Libertadores’ berth. The side are winless in their last five matches in all competitions (three draws and two losses) and took a single point from the last nine on offer on away turf without even scoring in that time.
The 1-1 in the 1st leg means that a draw will send this to the penalties shootout, so I don’t expect either of them to take any early risks. Lanus has also struggled to score lately, getting only 4 goals in the last 10 games and at home they couldn’t even score in the last 3, so I think this should be a tight slow paced game.