Institutional work has Independiente del Valle as ‘favorite’ in the Copa Libertadores sub-20

Valley Independent starts this saturday defense of the Copa Libertadores sub-20 title, tournament to be played in Quito between February 5 and 20with the participation of two other Ecuadorian clubs: Liga de Quito and Orense.

The Rayados lifted the Cup in 2020 after defeating Argentina’s River Plate in the final (2-1) in the edition that was played in Paraguay.

By staff and infrastructure, the Negriazules are among the favorites for the title. “We see it well, and if they qualify us like this it is because the club has worked in a good way”, said Miguel Bravo, Independent technical director.

Bravo arrived this season at the black and blue club to direct Independiente Juniors, a subsidiary of Los del Valle in series B of the LigaPro, but he will be in charge of the U-20 team that disputes the Cup.

The preparation of the campus began on January 3. “We put the group together, some are from the first team of Independiente and others from our subsidiary”, said Bravo, in statements collected by the organization of the tournament.

“We seek to give identity to the campus, a game model, attached to the characteristic idea of ​​the first division team. We know that the tournament is strongvery complicated, but there is confidence in winning it again”, indicated the Ecuadorian coach.

Independiente is top-seeded in the group Awhich are completed by Caracas FC (Venezuela), Sporting Cristal (Peru) and Blooming (Bolivia).

At B Group is it so League, Internacional (Brazil), Peñarol (Uruguay) and Millonarios (Colombia), while the group C they integrate it OurenseNewell’s Old Boys (Argentina), Guaraní (Paraguay) and Universitario de Concepción (Chile).

The albos arrive as national champions of the U-18 tournament and the Machaleños as the third best placed in the local tournament, behind Independiente.

The Negriazules will play the group stage at home, at the Banco Guayaquil stadium, while the another scenario chosen for the tournament is the Olympic Atahualpa.

Independent opens the tournament this Saturday (15:00) against Caracason February 8 it is measured with Sporting Cristal and on Friday 11 with Blooming.

“All rivals are strong, champions of their countries, but the champion will be defined by details, something characteristic of short tournaments, where an error or a virtue make you win or lose, they will be tight matches, you have to be very attentive to those details”, said Bravo.

The strategist highlighted the institutional work of Independiente, “a club in which children from the age of 10 or 12 are used to fighting for the title, and that are constantly fighting for international tournaments”.

Bravo spoke of the “challenge” What does it mean for the Rayados U-20 team? win the Libertadores again. “It is a pressure that we have to play at home, but we came with that idea. We have to be champions again”, he pointed out.

In his favor, Independent It also has the statistic of being the only Conmebol team with presence in all editions of the tournament, with two consecutive finals played (2018 and 2020) and a title in their record, of which they start the defense. (D)