Corinthians hosts Deportivo Lara in the first leg of South American Copa Sudamericana 1/16 finals. The match will be played on Friday, May 24th at Arena Corinthians (Sao Paulo)
In the last year's group stage of Copa Libertadores, Corinthians beat Deportivo from Lara at home with a 2: 0 score, while on the road - 2:7. That was Corinthians of coach Carille, who lost Jo, the best scorer of the champion’s season. Later, the team will lose the coach either, and they will hardly preserve their place in the top division. The Brazilian Cup final will be the final consolation, but Corinthians will lose it. The Brazilian grandee will persuade Carille to return to the coaching bridge, but last year’s winners over Deportivo will miss at least wingback Sidcley, pivot Maicon and playmaker Rodriginho.
Avelar and Manoel will perfectly fit into the defensive four with Fagner and Henrique. Generally, Corinthians has an apple pie order in defense. The young talent Pedrinho appeared ahead and diluted the midfield with Jadson and Ramiro. Alas, striker Romero has been injured since last year. Of course, Boselli and Love are not the best transfers, but the club lives within its means. Now the cup competitions are its priority. In the 1/8 finals of the cup, Corinthians lost the first home game to Flamengo (0:1). It seems that a ticket to Sudamericana, earned in the last season, may be the only consolation for the team of Carille.
Last season group stage of Copa Libertadores was the second in history for the Venezuelans. The coach Gonzalez led Rojinegro to the 2nd line in Primera, earning a ticket to the CL group once again. The progress of the Venezuelans lied in the fact that Deportivo was not the last in the group. It took 3rd place, so it didn’t eliminate from the COMNEBOL competitions but went to Sudamericana. The second stage of Sudamericana welcomes Venezuelans as survivors in the main tournament, but Gonzalez’s team has also changed.
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Of those who lost to Corinthians but were successful in the local championship, there are only veteran defender Di Giorgi, wingback Aponte and injured winger Soto. The players of last year’s bench - Manzano, Centeno and Vargas - became Lara’s failure in midfield. In the last CL games, the coach didn’t risk fielding players who barely turned 20 years old.
It is not surprising that such Deportivo failed in Primera. The loss of the last CL match to the main outsider, Atletico Huracan (3:0), was crowned with a terrible 8-game period (0-1-7), ending in a comforting home win over Trujillanos, an outsider of Apertura. The first part of the season was closed by the loss to Zulia (1:0). Deportivo finished in 14th place out of 20. All that is left to the losers from Cabudare - 2 matches with Corinthians, which created a real inquisition for the successful team last year. Are Venezuelans capable of a heroic deed?
Carille reaped the fruits of his style to gain the result at a minimal cost. On Sunday, he won the reserve squad of Atletico Paranaense (0:2), coping with 23 shots of the hosts. Both Love and Pedrinho scored. It was a reaction to the defeat to Flamengo, but now Carille must cope with the distribution of forces before the derby with Sao Paulo. However, Corinthians will take its opponent in the home field. The intensity of squad rotation will not affect the defense four, except that Urso will string along with experienced Ralf in the pivot zone. There will be substitutions in the attacking positions where Jadson competes with Sornoza, Love - with Clayson, and Boselli - with Gustavo.
The creative sector of Corinthians is experiencing problems for which the team’s fans actively criticize Carille. However, the upcoming rivals have a huge difference in terms of skills and quality. With all the scarcity of the line, highlighting an obvious favorite, I chose an event that implies the inability of one team to score and Over 1.5 goals scored. I believe that Corinthians is able to repeat the score of last year’s meeting of the teams at Arena Corinthians (2: 0). In this season, the Venezuelans have lost twice with the same score to another pragmatist - Menezes from Cruzeiro.
Prediction for the match: One team to score – no and Over 1.5 goals scored
