On Wednesday, the first finalist in the 2024 Copa Sudamericana will be revealed when Lanus host Cruzeiro in leg two of that tie at Estadio Ciudad de Lanus.
When these sides met in Brazil last week, Lanus equalised with fewer than 20 minutes remaining to earn a 1-1 draw heading to Argentina.
Match preview
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Throughout the 2024 edition of this tournament, Lanus have reacted well after conceding, and they did so once again last Wednesday.
Ricardo Zielinski's men have conceded first in three away matches in the Copa Sudamericana this year and found a way to earn a result.
At home, they are undefeated in the knockout portion of this tournament, beating LDU Quito 3-1 in the last 16 and claiming a 0-0 home draw with Independiente Medellin in the quarter-finals.
Lanus are winless in their last five matches across all competitions and have not won a game in normal time since that home victory over LDU Quito in August.
This is their third appearance in the semi-finals of this competition, and the Argentines have never been knocked out or lost a match at this stage of the Sudamericana.
Their four all-time victories versus Brazilian opponents in the Sudamericana all happened on their home field, though their only defeat in Lanus in this competition occurred in the group stage this season versus Cuiaba (1-0).
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Cruzeiro got the second-half start they were hoping for in the opening leg, scoring six minutes after the restart, but could not hang on.
It was the second successive time at home in the competition this season that they had failed to win when scoring the opening goal.
Away from home, they have points in four of their five Sudamericana affairs, with their only road loss coming at Boca Juniors in the round of 16 (1-0).
Fernando Diniz has yet to win an away match since replacing Fernando Seabra as manager in September, with Celeste failing to score an away goal since the man who guided Fluminense to the Copa Libertadores title last year took over.
Raposa are winless in their last seven matches across all competitions, losing 3-0 domestically at Athletico Paranaense on Saturday.
They have lost their only two visits to Argentina in this competition, failing to find the back of the net in both of those instances.
Team News
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For this decisive match, Lanus could be missing Abel Luciatti with a muscle injury, while Raul Loaiza is out for the season after sustaining an ACL issue and Nicolas Morgantini is not expected to return from his Achilles tendon problem until early December.
Nery Dominguez may be a few weeks away from returning from his groin strain, Eduardo Salvio is projected to return from a sore calf in early November, around the same time that Leonardo Jara should be fully healed from a thigh injury.
Ramiro Carrera scored the equaliser last week with just over 15 minutes remaining in leg one of this tie, enablibng them to avoid defeat against Cruzeiro.
On the Cruzeiro side, Juan Dinenno is out for the season due to an ACL injury, while Cassio may be a game-time decision after missing their weekend fixture because of a thigh injury.
Lucas Romero is eligible to return for this encounter after missing the opening leg through suspension, while Rafa Silva can play despite being red-carded in their domestic fixture against El Paranaense.
Kaio Jorge gave his side the lead five minutes into the second half against Lanus last Wednesday, but it was not enough to earn them a victory.
Lanus possible starting lineup:
Losada; Caceres, Izquierdoz, Perez, Soler; Pena, Boggio; Acosta, Torres, Carrera; Bou
Cruzeiro possible starting lineup:
Anderson; William, Marcelo, Villalba, Xavier; Henrique, Walace; Veron, Vital, Barreal; Jorge
We say: Lanus 1-0 Cruzeiro (Lanus advances 2-1 on aggregate)
Neither side are in great form domestically, but we believe the Lanus resilience and strong play at home in this competition will be enough to propel them to victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
