Gremio hosts Universidad Catolica in round 6 of South American Copa Libertadores. The match will be played on Thursday, May 9th at Arena do Grêmio (Porto Alegre)
Gremio showed not a very confident start in the CL group, while the Gaucho’s team is one of the main favorites of the entire competition. The winner of Copa Libertadores in 2017 and last year's semi-finalist has only 7 points. The cause of the shortfalls was the loss to Universidad in Santiago (1: 0), but not only it. Gremio missed the points with Argentine Rosario (1: 1) and somehow lost to Paraguayan Libertad (0: 1) at home. Paraguayans are inferior to Brazilians in terms of quality, but as a result, the first ones became the leaders of the group, and they won’t miss the 1st line. It’s a good thing that the Tricolor braced itself and, having won Rosario (3: 1) at home and the game in Paraguay (0: 2), drew level with Universidad Catolica, but the additional fixtures of the Gaucho’s team are better than those of the Chileans. Now, Gremio is enough not to lose the Chilean champion to get in the playoffs. Of course, the Brazilians won’t be grateful for small favors. The Tricolor definitely counts on the quarterfinal and on a bonus in the form of the advantage of the home field in paired games. The opponent, which scores more points, will receive this bonus. Gremio is definitely hoping to finish the group stage with 10 points in the asset.
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Total field domination the last group game of Gremio with the group leader clearly showed who is actually the strongest. However, having believed in the performance of the simplest task, the Tricolor’s coach had fibbed in Brazilian Serie A. On the eve of the CL matches, it is a common thing to expect a reserve squad for Serie A matches from Gremio. However, having already lost 4 points in the start of local championship (with Santos and Avai), Portaluppi’s fielded the regular squad against Fluminense. Having led by three goals to nil, the Tricolor somehow managed to disappoint themselves and the fans of Arena do Gremio again. The players from Porto Alegre lost to Fluzao with a 4:5 score, and it is difficult for me to find the cause for the negligence of the team, which, in fact, is not typical of Gremio. There are only 3 rounds played in Serie A, and the 18th position of the team is a short-term phenomenon. However, a cold shower in the form of the last misfire should bring the team to life, so I won’t be all over the matches in Serie A and the start of the CL group stage. Gaucho has already received some judgments of mistrusting the newcomer Tardelli and the helplessness of Vizeu and Marinho. In any case, the captain Maicon recovered, Luan is a star creative player, and Everton is dragging the entire attack of the team. Of course, Gremio is not an enchanting team, and Portaluppi is a pragmatist. Therefore, we should ultimately expect the highest organization and attentiveness from the hosts of the meeting.
After a home defeat to Libertad (2: 3), the Chileans lost points in Argentina (1: 1), and the center forward Saez fell out from Quinteros stable. La Cato leads the local championship but lost the last away match to O’Higgins (1-0). And the team coach didn’t field only two players of the regular squad, which plays in CL. The top division of Chile, of course, is inferior to Brazilian Serie A, but I tend to the fact that Universidad Catolica will not be fresher and better prepared than vis-à-vis. Undoubtedly, Quinteros understands that his team will have to relegate to Sudamericana Cup, and Rosario Central will not be able to move the Chileans from third place. In addition to parity in Argentina, La Cato lost to Libertad in Paraguay (4: 1), but I do not expect such a defeat in Brazil. The coach of the visitors could not help but made correction of errors after the failure in Paraguay. And the defeat to Fluminense should be a good lesson for technically and qualitatively superior Gremio.
Prediction for the match: Gremio to win + Under 3.5 goals scored
