Athletico Paranaense has dropped down to the second spot of the Group G table following their 2-1 away defeat at Boca Juniors in May. Coach Tiago Nunes rotated his players last Saturday when the team won 4-0 at Alagoano. O Furacao is sitting in seventh spot of the league table on 16 points, one behind the last Libertadores’ place. The side is on four games unbeaten in all competitions, with two wins and two draws in regular time. Athletico Paranaense has been almost perfect at home lately: they won 15 of their last 18 matches, losing only once in that span.
Boca Juniors took advantage of the aforementioned 2-1 home win over Athletico Paranaense thanks to Carlos Tevez’s goal in regular time to win the Group G. Gustavo Alfaro’s men lost their last competitive game (2-0 to Tigre in the Superliga Cup final in June), which stopped a 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions (six wins and six draws in regular time). However, they claimed a single success in their last seven away matches (four draws, two defeats), having failed to score in the last three.
Both sides are strong, but I’m going with a home win as Athletico Paranaense seem unstoppable at home and they already won this fixture 3-0 when they met in the groups’ stage. In addition, Boca Juniors will have to deal with several important absences.