Atletico Nacional welcome Racing Club to Estadio Atanasio Girardot on Thursday as the 2023 Copa Libertadores knockout phase gets underway.
While the hosts finished second in Group H – four points behind Olimpia – the visitors won Group A after suffering a solitary defeat in six matches.
Match preview
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Atletico Nacional head into the first leg of their last-16 showdown with Racing Club on the back of a 2-1 victory over Jaguares de Cordoba, with 20-year-old forward Jayder Asprilla scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute.
Asprilla's goal ensured that the Medellin outfit picked up four points from their opening two games of the Categoria Primera A Clausura campaign, having suffered an agonising penalty-shootout defeat to Millonarios in the Apertura final.
The Colombian club made a strong start to their Copa Libertadores campaign, as they picked up three wins and one draw across their first four encounters, claiming victories over Olimpia, Patronato and Melgar in the process.
However, William Amaral's men ended the group stage on a sour note, losing each of their final two matches without scoring a single goal, so they will be determined to rediscover their best form when the knockouts get underway.
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Racing Club, meanwhile, suffered a 2-1 defeat against high-flying River Plate last time out, meaning that La Academia finished the first phase of the Argentine Primera Division season in 12th place – 25 points behind River Plate.
Possessing a record of nine wins, nine draws and nine losses in the league – with 36 goals scored and 35 conceded – Racing have experienced a wildly inconsistent Primera Division campaign up to now, but their Copa Liberatores record speaks for itself.
Indeed, the Avellaneda outfit lost just one of their six group games, picking up four wins and one draw to finish two points clear of second-placed Flamengo, and they also scored 13 goals, meaning that only Palmeiras have netted more Libertadores goals this year.
Managed by ex-Real Madrid midfielder Fernando Gago, Racing have suffered a solitary defeat in their previous 10 matches across all competitions, so the 37-year-old coach will be confident of overseeing a positive result on Thursday.
Team News
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Atletico Nacional are captained by former AC Milan defender Cristian Zapata, who will likely partner Juan Felipe Aguirre at centre-back on Thursday, while Jefferson Duque is expected to lead the line for the hosts.
In terms of absentees, Los Verdolagas look set to be without Andres Felipe Roman for the first leg after the right-back notched two assists in three Libertadores matches before sustaining an injury.
As for Racing Club, Johan Carbonero (ACL), Nicolas Reniero (ankle) and Anibal Moreno (muscle) are sidelined through injury, while former Liverpool defender Emiliano Insua (knee) is also expected to miss Thursday's clash.
Gago will likely stick with his favoured 3-4-3 formation, meaning that Axel Ojeda, Gabriel Hauche and Nicolas Oroz will operate in the forward line, with Gabriel Rojas and Tobias Rubio occupying the wing-back roles.
Atletico Nacional possible starting lineup:
Moreno; Ocampo, Zapata, Aguirre, Salazar; Alzate, Devenish, Suarez; Perea, Cantera, Gutierrez
Racing Club possible starting lineup:
Tagliamonte; Sigali, Piovi, Quiros; Rubio, Nardoni, Gomez, Rojas; Oroz, Hauche, Ojeda
We say: Atletico Nacional 1-1 Racing Club
With the second leg of this contest scheduled for next week, both sides look set to approach the first leg with caution, meaning that Atletico Nacional and Racing Club will likely play out a tense and cagey draw on Thursday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Morris
