Tigre (Argentina) vs Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Tigre produced a great campaign on their return to the Argentine top flight, sitting into eighth spot of the aggregate table to return to continental action. Their best appearance was in 2012, when they lost the Sudamericana final to Thursday’s opponents. El Matador are living difficult times at the moment: last Saturday, they beat Lanus 2-1 at home, stopping a three-match losing streak and taking a little breather in the league table: they are now on 11 points after nine rounds, five over bottom-placed Colon. The aforementioned victory also broke a negative run of four home matches without a win (one draw and three losses).
Sao Paulo produced an irregular performance in the Brazilian league in 2022, finishing in eight place to clinch a ticket to the Copa Sudamericana (which they lifted 11 years ago by beating Tigre). This season has not started in good style either as they were knocked out of the Paulistao, losing on penalties to non-league side EC Agua Santa three weeks ago, when they played as hosts at Palmeiras. On a positive note, O Tricolor succumbed to a single regular-time loss across their last six matches (winning four and drawing one) and they won the last two on away turf.
This is a very important game for Tigre and their fans because a decade ago they were beaten in the final by Sao Paulo in a game that was suspended at halftime because Tigre decided to retire their team after there were riots inside their locker room. For the brazilian team this is just another game, they will miss important players like striker Calleri and center back Diego Costa, so I’ll go with the hosts to win.