The 2021 edition of the Copa Libertadores is starting to get old, and the eight remaining teams in the competition will want to make the most out of their first Quarter-final encounters that will take place this week.
Years ago, Argentine teams dominated this stage of the tournament in presence and number, but this edition has brought us a change of guard, as five Brazilian teams are still in the race to win the competition. Sao Paulo, Palmeiras, Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro and Fluminense will be joined in this stage by River Plate, Paraguay's Olimpia, and Ecuador's own Barcelona, who will try to balance things a bit more when it comes to the next round.
As usual, the games in the continental competition will take place from Tuesday to Thursday. The first one of those will see the all-Brazilian tie between Sao Paulo and defending champions Palmeiras. The tie that guarantees the presence of a Brazilian side in the semis will have two teams that have only lost once in the tournament, which makes us anticipate a tight clash but with options in front of goal for both teams.
Wednesday will be the most "packed" day, since there will be two matches taking place. The first one of those will feature Olimpia, who eliminated Internacional in a penalty shootout, against 2019 Copa winners Flamengo. The Brazilian side has been quite balanced both at home and away, and their back-to-back wins over Defensa y Justicia are proof that they could walk away from the Manuel Ferreira Stadium in Asunción with a win.
The second of Wednesday's games will have River Plate and Atlético Mineiro going at it. Marcelo Gallardo's men have to be considered as a title contender every tiime, even against Mineiro, who were the best team in the group stage but got to the last eight after two controversial draws against Boca Juniors. Either way, the Brazilian side will want to leave those games behind and show to the world why they got to this stage unbeaten in the first place.
Last, but not least, the game that will put an end to the first legs of the Quarter-finals will be between Fluminense and Barcelona. The team from Brazil won Group D and walked past Cerro Porteño without breaking a sweat, while the team from Ecuador claimed the top spot in Group D and struggled to beat Vélez with a 3-2 aggregate in the Round of 16. With these results in mind, we can anticipate this clash could be one of the most interesting to watch in this round.
Don't miss a beat of these games in the Copa Libertadores Quarter-finals by clicking on the link of the game you are eager to watch. Once there, you will find every detail you need to keep track of the matches.
