Former champions Liga de Quito and Arsenal de Sarandi look to reach the final four.
Much is at stake, as the Copa Sudamericana reaches its quarter-final stage, where eight teams will do battle to stay in the race for the much sought after title. From the eight teams still left in the competition, only Liga de Quito of Ecuador and Arsenal de Sarandi of Argentina have won it in the past.
However, there are several teams who look very strong, namely Universidad de Chile and Vasco da Gama, two teams who slaughtered their opponents as they reached this instance of the competition. As a reflection of the competition on the continent, as many as seven clubs from South America's ten nations are represented in the quarter-finals. Which four teams will advance?
Independiente Santa Fe of Colombia are currently passing through a memorable moment and they will hope to continue this when they entertain Velez Sarsfield of Argentina in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana quarter-finals in Bogota on Tuesday.
Wilson Gutierrez, the coach of Santa Fe, understands that his team confront a complicated Velez side, but he is still confident in his team's chances: "This is a very difficult match for both teams, but we are preparing ourselves well. We are doing things well and playing good soccer."
Santa Fe come from thrashing Botafogo of Brazil 4-1, in a clash which they completely dominated. The Colombians have been one of the revelations of the competition, for their exciting attacking soccer.
Velez Sarsfield have given priority to the Copa Sudamericana, and for that reason rested several of their key players for their league clash with Argentinos Juniors on Saturday. As was expected Velez lost the match and are practically out of the title race.
However, like Velez's fans, Ricardo Gareca, the coach of Velez, understands the importance of the team lifting an international title, and due to this has selected Velez's best possible side for the clash. In reference to what should be expected of Velez on Tuesday, Gareca affirmed: "We will go to Bogota to win the match and not to play for a draw."
Vasco da Gama may have surrendered first-place of the Brazilian championship to Corinthians on Sunday, but as well as being in contention for the title on the domestic front, they are one of the favourites to win the Copa Sudamericana.
Vasco, who slaughtered Aurora of Bolivia 8-3 to reach the quarter-finals, travel to Peru to face a tricky Universitario de Deportes side. Vasco contain a wealth of talent in their attack, as was in clear evidence last week, however, their defense looks rather vulnerable. Due to this, in order for Vasco to return to Brazil with a positive result from Lima, it is essential that they sort out their problems at the back, because Universitario have proven to be ruthless when presented with goal-scoring opportunities.
Despite the fact that Vasco come into the tie as the favourites, Universitario defender Jesus Rabanal affirmed that his side are not afraid of the Brazilians.
"They don't scare us. They will be complicated rivals, like all Brazilian teams. We have to be alert throughout the duration of the ninety minutes to claim a positive result that would allow us to go to Brazil more calmly. That is the idea," said Rabanal.
They may not be one of Argentina's bigger clubs, however, since the past decade Arsenal de Sarandi have shown that they can match it with the very best. Arsenal, who lifted the Copa Sudamericana in 2007, will have an excellent opportunity to prove their worth when they take on Chilean giants Universidad de Chile.
Universidad have been without any doubt the most exciting team of the tournament so far, having qualified for this instance after hammering Flamengo 5-0 on aggregate. To many, La 'U' are currently the best team in South America, but in order to confirm this they need to win the title.
The Chileans may come into their clash with Arsenal as the favourites, but they can't be overconfident, as often this had led them to bow out at the decisive stages of competitions. This was the case in the 2010 Copa Libertadores, where although much-hyped they failed to reach the final after losing to Chivas de Guadalajara.
Liga de Quito take on Libertad in an intriguing quarter-finals match-up between two teams that have grown dramatically over the last few years. Liga, winners of the competition in 2009, reach this instance after scraping past defending champions Independiente, and will have to work even harder in order to overcome an extremely difficult Libertad.
Liga knocked Libertad out of the competition before going on to win the title in '09, and will be hoping to repeat the feat. The Ecuadorians will try to take full advantage of the altitude in Quito, before traveling to Asuncion for the return leg.
Libertad dispatched of Brazil's Sao Paulo to reach the quarter-finals, after a 2-1 aggregate score. The Paraguayans overturned a 1-0 deficit, by playing extremely effective soccer in Asuncion. The fact that they knocked off one of South America's most successful clubs means that they could beat anyone.
However, there are several teams who look very strong, namely Universidad de Chile and Vasco da Gama, two teams who slaughtered their opponents as they reached this instance of the competition. As a reflection of the competition on the continent, as many as seven clubs from South America's ten nations are represented in the quarter-finals. Which four teams will advance?
Independiente Santa Fe of Colombia are currently passing through a memorable moment and they will hope to continue this when they entertain Velez Sarsfield of Argentina in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana quarter-finals in Bogota on Tuesday.
Wilson Gutierrez, the coach of Santa Fe, understands that his team confront a complicated Velez side, but he is still confident in his team's chances: "This is a very difficult match for both teams, but we are preparing ourselves well. We are doing things well and playing good soccer."
Santa Fe come from thrashing Botafogo of Brazil 4-1, in a clash which they completely dominated. The Colombians have been one of the revelations of the competition, for their exciting attacking soccer.
Velez Sarsfield have given priority to the Copa Sudamericana, and for that reason rested several of their key players for their league clash with Argentinos Juniors on Saturday. As was expected Velez lost the match and are practically out of the title race.
However, like Velez's fans, Ricardo Gareca, the coach of Velez, understands the importance of the team lifting an international title, and due to this has selected Velez's best possible side for the clash. In reference to what should be expected of Velez on Tuesday, Gareca affirmed: "We will go to Bogota to win the match and not to play for a draw."
Vasco da Gama may have surrendered first-place of the Brazilian championship to Corinthians on Sunday, but as well as being in contention for the title on the domestic front, they are one of the favourites to win the Copa Sudamericana.
Vasco, who slaughtered Aurora of Bolivia 8-3 to reach the quarter-finals, travel to Peru to face a tricky Universitario de Deportes side. Vasco contain a wealth of talent in their attack, as was in clear evidence last week, however, their defense looks rather vulnerable. Due to this, in order for Vasco to return to Brazil with a positive result from Lima, it is essential that they sort out their problems at the back, because Universitario have proven to be ruthless when presented with goal-scoring opportunities.
Despite the fact that Vasco come into the tie as the favourites, Universitario defender Jesus Rabanal affirmed that his side are not afraid of the Brazilians.
"They don't scare us. They will be complicated rivals, like all Brazilian teams. We have to be alert throughout the duration of the ninety minutes to claim a positive result that would allow us to go to Brazil more calmly. That is the idea," said Rabanal.
They may not be one of Argentina's bigger clubs, however, since the past decade Arsenal de Sarandi have shown that they can match it with the very best. Arsenal, who lifted the Copa Sudamericana in 2007, will have an excellent opportunity to prove their worth when they take on Chilean giants Universidad de Chile.
Universidad have been without any doubt the most exciting team of the tournament so far, having qualified for this instance after hammering Flamengo 5-0 on aggregate. To many, La 'U' are currently the best team in South America, but in order to confirm this they need to win the title.
The Chileans may come into their clash with Arsenal as the favourites, but they can't be overconfident, as often this had led them to bow out at the decisive stages of competitions. This was the case in the 2010 Copa Libertadores, where although much-hyped they failed to reach the final after losing to Chivas de Guadalajara.
Liga de Quito take on Libertad in an intriguing quarter-finals match-up between two teams that have grown dramatically over the last few years. Liga, winners of the competition in 2009, reach this instance after scraping past defending champions Independiente, and will have to work even harder in order to overcome an extremely difficult Libertad.
Liga knocked Libertad out of the competition before going on to win the title in '09, and will be hoping to repeat the feat. The Ecuadorians will try to take full advantage of the altitude in Quito, before traveling to Asuncion for the return leg.
Libertad dispatched of Brazil's Sao Paulo to reach the quarter-finals, after a 2-1 aggregate score. The Paraguayans overturned a 1-0 deficit, by playing extremely effective soccer in Asuncion. The fact that they knocked off one of South America's most successful clubs means that they could beat anyone.
