O Botafogo makes its debut in Copa Sudamericana this Thursday, at 21h (from Brasilia). Glorioso faces Magallanes in Rancagua, Chile. The two teams are in Group A, which still has LDU and Cesar Vallejo.
Buoyed by the 2-1 victory over Audax in the first leg of the Rio Cup, coach Luís Castro’s Botafogo fights against its own irregularity. The Portuguese, however, expects the team to make a good debut.
To make the group evolve, Luís Castro bets on the cast’s positive expectations. Players claim to be focused on the tournament and understand that tranquility is needed to win away from home.
“There is expectation, but not anxiety, as we are used to complicated games. It will be a difficult debut, away from home. But we have to try to do our part well and win”, said midfielder Eduardo.
Castro must promote changes in relation to the team that started the game against Audax. Midfielder Lucas Fernandes, midfielder Gustavo Sauer and striker Luís Henrique should start playing, respectively, in the vacancies of Marlon Freitas, Raí and Carlos Alberto
Tomorrow starts the South American to Glorioso! ⭐️🌎 #VamosBOTAFOGO pic.twitter.com/x43ZjnHViB
— Botafogo FR (@Botafogo) April 5, 2023
On the Magallanes side, the climate is worrying. The Chilean team comes from a 3-2 defeat to Palestino and is threatened with relegation. Reasons that make coach Nicolás Núñez recognize that the Copa Sudamericana is in the background.
“The Copa Sudamericana is not our priority this year, the Chilean Championship is. But we are going to face it with the seriousness that this competition asks of our team. We need to show ourselves at a good level on the continental sphere”, he said.
Magallanes played in two phases of the Pre-liberators. The team eliminated the Bolivian Always Ready, winning both games. However, they stopped against Independiente Medellín after losing 2-0 in Colombia after a 1-1 draw on Chilean soil.
The team will go with the base that played in the Pre-Libertadores. The squad has some very experienced players, such as defender Christian Vilches, midfielder Carlos Villanueva and dangerous striker Felipe Flores.
DATASHEET
MAGELLAN X BOTAFOGO
Local: El Teniente Stadium, in Rancagua (Chile)
Data: April 6, 2023 (Thursday)
Time: 21:00 (from Brasilia)
Referee: Cristian Ferreyra (Uruguay)
Assistants: Carlos Barreiros (Uruguai) and Andres Nievas (Uruguai)
WAS: Andres Cunha (Uruguay)
MAGELLAN: Gastón Rodríguez, Marcelo Filla, Christian Vilches, Fernando Piñero and Nicolás Crovetto; Alfred Canales, Tomás Aránguiz, César Cortes, Julian Alfaro and Carlos Villanueva; Felipe Flores
Technician: nicholas nunez
BOTAFOGO: Lucas Perri, Di Plácido, Víctor Cuesta, Adryelson and Marçal; Tchê Tchê, Lucas Fernandes, Eduardo and Gustavo Sauer; Luís Henrique and Tiquinho Soares
Technician: Luis Castro
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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