Racing (Argentina) vs Cruzeiro (Brazil)
Racing Club are facing a continental final again after 32 years (they lost to Cruzeiro EC in 1992) and will fight for their first Copa Sudamericana title after reversing the score to beat SC Corinthians 2-1 at home. In addition, La Academia also beat San Lorenzo 2-1 away last Sunday to stay alive in their fight for the Liga Profesional crown, making it 40 points and trailing leaders Velez Sarsfield by four with four rounds to go. In addition, they remain occupying one of the Copa Libertadores’ spots in the aggregate table. Overall, Gustavo Costas’ men are on five consecutive victories in all competitions.
Cruzeiro EC return to an international final after losing to Estudiantes in the 2009 Copa Libertadores thanks to their 1-0 away success at Lanus, with striker Kaio Jorge netting the winner in the first half. Last Wednesday, coach Fernando Diniz fielded an alternative XI that lost 2-1 away at SC Corinthians. However, they remain occupying seventh spot in the Brasileirao table (currently qualifying for the Copa Libertadores), with 47 points after 34 rounds. On a sorry note, Cruzeiro won just two of their last 11 competitive matches, drawing five and losing four.
Racing’s attack is running perfectly lately: they’ve scored 17 goals in the last 7 games, including 2 in each of their last 5 matches that were all wins, so while I think they should win this final, I’ll go for the OVER as I can definitely see scoring and that should open things up for more goals.