Racingvs.Huachipato

Having suffered a narrow defeat in Chile, Los Acereros will head into the game looking to overturn their first-leg deficit and snap their run of four consecutive games without a win across all competitions.

Match preview

A 3-0 defeat against Corinthians in their final Group F game saw Racing de Montevideo miss out on automatic qualification to the Copa Sudamericana knockout stages as they finished second in the table, two points off the Brazilian outfit.

However, La Escuelita turned in a resilient team display in the first leg of their playoff clash with Huachipato as they picked up a 3-2 victory over Los Acereros at the Estadio Municipal de Concepcion last Tuesday.

After falling behind to Cris Martinez's fourth-minute opener, a brace from Guillermo Cotugno and Dylan Nandin's 38th-minute strike helped the visitors turn the game on its head before Martinez grabbed his second of the game to half the deficit for Huachipato in the 63rd minute.

While Eduardo Espinel's men have enjoyed a solid campaign in the Copa Sudamericana, they have struggled to find their feet in the Uruguayan Primera Division, where they fell to a somewhat disappointing 1-0 loss against Montevideo Wanderers on Saturday evening.

With the loss to Montevideo, Racing have now failed to win each of their last five league matches, picking up just two points from a possible 15 since scraping a 2-1 victory over Fenix in the season curtain-raiser on June 8.

Huachipato, on the other hand, failed to bounce back from their midweek defeat as they could only salvage a 1-1 draw with Cobreloa at the Estadio Huachipato-CAP Acero in the Chilean Primera Division on Saturday morning.

Martinez continued his fine form in front of goal as he netted on the stroke of half time to cancel out Javier Parraguez's 39th-minute opener before Cristian Insaurralde, Nicolas Palma and Nicolas Avellaneda received their marching orders in a late flurry of red cards.

With that result, Francisco Troncoso's men have now failed to win six of their last seven Primera Division games — losing four and claiming two draws — a run which has seen them drop to 11th-place in the league standings.

Having clinched their third top-flight title in 2023, they finished just one point above second-placed Cobresal, Huachipato returned to the Copa Libertadores for the first time since 2013.

However, a run of two wins from their six matches in Group C saw Los Acereros finish third in the standings with eight points from a possible 18 and drop down to South America's second-tier competition.

While Huachipato will be looking to turn the tie around on Tuesday, they have struggled to get going on the road, where they have lost four of their last five matches across all competition, with a 4-3 victory at Estudiantes on May 29 being the exception.

Racing de Montevideo Copa Sudamericana form:

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D

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W

L

W

Racing de Montevideo form (all competitions):

D

L

L

D

W

L

Huachipato Copa Sudamericana form:

L

Huachipato form (all competitions):

W

D

L

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L

Team News

Hugo Magallanes picked up a late red card in the league defeat against Montevideo at the weekend but the 26-year-old is eligible for Tuesday's tie and should start at the heart of the defence.

Magallanes should form the Racing back three with Agustin Pereira and Gaston Bueno, while we expect Agustin Alaniz, Santiago Mederos, Rodrigo Teliz and Thiago Espinosa to team up in midfield once again.

Tomas Veron Lupi, who has four goals in seven Copa Sudamericana games, should lead La Escuelita's attack once again, alongside Hugo Silveira and 22-year-old Nandin.

With his strike against Cobreloa, Martinez now has three goals and one assist in his last five games and we expect the Paraguayan striker to lead the Huachipato attack once again.

He should be joined in the final third by Brayan Palmezano and 24-year-old striker Maximiliano Rodriguez, while we expect an unchanged back four of Felipe Loyola, Benjamin Gazzolo, Renzo Malanca and Antonio Castillo once again.

Racing de Montevideo possible starting lineup:

Bacchia; Pereira, Magallanes Bueno; Alaniz, Mederos, Teliz, Espinosa; Lupi, Silveira, Nandin

Huachipato possible starting lineup:

Cerda; Loyola, Gazzolo,Malanca, Castillo; Montes, Villanueva, Silva; Palmezano, Rodriguez, Martinez

We say: Racing de Montevideo 2-1 Huachipato

Having secured a vital victory in the first leg, Racing will head into Tuesday's game with confidence as they look to reach the knockout stages. Huachipato have struggled for results on their travels and we predict Espinel's men will come away with another narrow victory.

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