Boca Juniors and Cruzeiro return to action in the Copa Sudamericana when they square off at the Estadio Alberto Jose Armando in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash on Thursday night.
This will be the first encounter between the two sides since they met in the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals back in 2018, when the Argentine outfit picked up a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Match preview
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Boca Juniors had to dig deep in the Copa Sudamericana knockout-stage playoff as they picked up a 1-0 aggregate victory over Ecuadorian outfit Independiente Del Valle in July.
Having played out a goalless draw at the Complejo Independiente del Valle on July 18, veteran striker Edinson Cavani came up trumps in the second leg as his 39th-minute strike helped the Xeneize secure a 1-0 victory on home turf and win the tie on aggregate.
This followed a solid run in the group stages, where Boca Juniors picked up three wins and two draws from their six matches to collect 11 points and finish second in Group D, two points behind first-placed Fortaleza.
Diego Martinez's men head into Friday's clash fresh off the back of a 1-1 stalemate with Independiente Rivadavia in the Argentine Primera Division at the weekend, when Cristian Medina struck in the 95th minute to cancel out Ivan Vallalba's 77th-minute opener.
With that result, Boca Juniors have now gone six consecutive league games without defeat — picking up two wins and four draws — a run which has seen them rise to 15th place in the standings.
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Cruzeiro, on the other hand, failed to return to winning ways in the Brasileiro Serie A as they played out a goalless draw with Atletico Mineiro when the two sides squared off last Sunday.
A total of 18 shots were fired between the two sides at the Mineirao Stadium but neither goalkeeper would end up picking the ball out of the back of the net, with a draw being a fair result upon reflection.
Prior to that, Fernando Seabra's men saw their run of two back-to-back wins in the league come to an end on August 6, when they were beaten 2-1 by Fortaleza courtesy of goals from Breno Lopes and Renato Kayzer.
Cruzeiro, who are currently sixth in the Serie A table, now turn their attention to the Sudamericana, where they cruised through the group stages, claiming 12 points from a possible 18 to finish as Group H winners.
The Raposa picked up three wins and three draws from their six games to finish as one of just three unbeaten sides in the group stages — alongside Belgrano and Cuiaba — while scoring eight goals and keeping five clean sheets.
Cruzeiro now take on a Boca Juniors side who they met in Copa Libertadores quarter-finals in 2018, with the Argentine side claiming a 2-0 first-leg victory on September 20, two weeks before holding out for a 1-1 draw in Minas Gerais to win the tie on aggregate.
Team News
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Milton Delgado picked up a straight red card in the second leg against Independiente del Valle on July 25 and the 19-year-old midfielder will miss Friday's clash through suspension.
On the injury front, Boca Juniors will be without the services of veteran defender Marcos Rojo, who is set to sit out his third consecutive game through a muscle problem.
Fellow defender Cristian Lema has missed each of the last four matches since coming off injured against Independiente on July 25 and the 34-year-old will also play no part in Friday's matchup.
Cavani had a quiet game against Rivadavia last weekend but the Uruguayan striker, who has 16 goals in his last 20 matches, will be one to keep an eye on.
Meanwhile, Cruzeiro will have to cope without Fabrizio Peralta, who continues his spell on the sidelines, having returned from the Copa America in June with a muscle injury.
Gabriel Veron has missed each of the last four matches since coming off with a thigh injury against Palmeiras and the 21-year-old-forward is also out of contention for the Raposa.
Boca Juniors possible starting lineup:
Romero; Advincula, Figal, Medel, Blanco; Aguirre, Medina, Fernandez, Zenon; Cavani, Merentiel
Cruzeiro possible starting lineup:
Cassio; William, Ze Ivaldo, Villalba, Kaiki; Walace, Henrique, Barreal, Pereira; Jorge, Diaz
We say: Boca Juniors 2-0 Cruzeiro
Having won just two of their last eight away games, Cruzeiro will need to be at their best at the Estadio Alberto Jose Armando as they look to take a first-leg advantage back to Brazil. However, Boca Juniors have been near impenetrable on home turf and we are backing them to come away with the desired results
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
