Catholic University vs Estudiantes – News and Probable Lineups

For the first time in a competitive context, Estudiantes will visit Claro Arena to face Universidad Catolica in Santiago, with a spot in the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals at stake.

The contest remains competitive after the initial leg in La Plata concluded with a 1-1 scoreline last Tuesday.

Match overview

Catolica responded well after conceding early during the match in Argentina, demonstrating strong defensive resilience for a significant portion before finally equalizing with just 10 minutes remaining.

The Chilean team heads into this fixture with an unbeaten streak of two matches across all leagues, aiming to avoid defeat in the Libertadores for the seventh consecutive time.

Under Daniel Garnero, the team has opportunities to extend their unbeaten home run to seven matches in a row on Tuesday.

However, they did drop points in two of their three group stage matches at home this year in the Libertadores but secured a 2-0 victory the last time out against Equadorian outfit, Barcelona, at Claro Arena.

This century, they have never progressed from a round of 16 tie in the Libertadores after drawing in the first leg.

A win on Tuesday would see them reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010-11 when they eliminated Gremio to advance.

Estudiantes, on the other hand, faced a dip in form at a critical moment during the first leg last week.

They come into this match having secured only one win from their last four competitive outings, scoring as many goals in their 4-0 win over Gimnasia as they have in all other matches combined in August.

Alexander Medina’s team will be looking to break a three-match losing streak away from home across all competitions this week, having failed to score in any of those encounters.

That said, they have managed to progress beyond this stage in their last two appearances while maintaining an unbeaten record in their two away matches in the round of 16 this decade.

The four-time Libertadores champions have struggled, winning just one of their last five second-leg fixtures in the round of 16 in this competition.

El Leon has only faced Catolica away once in this tournament, achieving a 3-1 victory in the first leg of their semi-final encounter in 1969 before ultimately lifting the trophy for the second time that year.

Team News

Juan Rossel is likely to miss out for Universidad due to a knee injury, while Clemente Montes recovers from foot surgery, Sebastian Arancibia is dealing with a muscle tear, and Diego Valencia along with Tomas Asta-Buruanga are sidelined with cruciate ligament injuries.

Fernando Zampedri capitalized on his team’s only on-target attempt last week, marking his fourth goal in this year’s Libertadores.

Estudiantes’ only injury concern is Santiago Arzamendia, who is unavailable due to a cruciate ligament issue.

Joaquin Tobio Burgos netted their solitary goal just four minutes into the first leg, marking his first goal in this year’s competition.

Universidad Catolica probable starting XI:

Bernedo; Cerezo, Ampuero, Gonzalez, Mena; Valencia; Martinez, Zuqui, Cuevas, Giani; Zampedri

Estudiantes probable starting XI:

Legguard; Meza, Nunez, To. Palacios, Benedetti; Castro, Piovi; Perez, Ti. Palacios, Burgos; Cheek

This encounter is expected to be closely contested, but it is believed that Catolica’s composed defense will prevail, while their patience and the leadership of their captain may lead them to success.