This Friday the Copa Libertadores sub-20 starts in Pichincha; Independiente del Valle, Liga de Quito and Orense SC represent Ecuador

Twelve clubs from ten South American countries, divided into three groups, will start this Saturday in Ecuador for the title of the sixth edition of the Copa Libertadores under 20.

Independiente del Valle will go out to defend the title it won in 2020, while the champions of the other four editions failed to qualify for this year.

Los Rayados del Valle, as Independiente is also called, came close to winning the first title in 2018, but lost the final 2-1 against the host, Nacional from Uruguay.

One of the figures that Independiente had to reach the 2020 title, beating Argentina’s River Plate 2-1, is defender Piero Hincapié, who also shines today with the Ecuadorian senior team, with which he is one step away from qualifying. for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Universitario de Deportes, from Peru, the first champion of the tournament played in 2011, will not be in the current edition, nor will the Argentine River Plate winner of 2012, nor the Sao Paulo of Brazil in 2016 and the Uruguayan Nacional, champion of 2018.

The tournament will be played in two phases, the first phase or Groups, the twelve classified teams will face each other, ten champions of the participating Associations and in the case of Ecuador, in addition to the Independiente, Liga de Quito and Orense SC, champion will also participate. and third of the national under-18 tournament 2021, respectively.

Once the group stage is over, the first of each group, plus the best of the three teams located in second position, will qualify for the final stage.

The four qualifiers will go to the semi-finals, the winners of both semi-final matches will play for the title, while the two losing teams will play the match for third place.

The stadiums for the tournament are: Banco Guayaquil, owned by Independiente del Valle, located in the Chillos Valley, and the Olímpico Atahualpa, in the north center of Quito. The semifinals, final and third place will only be at the Banco Guayaquil stadium. (D)