Tonight, the Nilton Santos Stadium in Rio de Janeiro will be a direct witness to the final outcome of the Recopa to determine who will be the new South American super champion, which you can follow through BeIN SPORTS, between Botafogo and Racing Club. Two historic clubs in the South American football scene that, however, have never won this trophy.

Racing Club travels to Brazil with an advantage in the Recopa

Racing Club travels to Brazil with a wide advantage after winning 2-0 in Buenos Aires. Luciano Vietto scored the first goal in the first half from the penalty spot, and, with half an hour remaining, Adrián Martínez doubled the lead with a shot from outside the box after a great pass from Maximiliano Salas.

Now, Racing Club will be forced to protect their lead in the inferno of Rio de Janeiro. To give an idea, the only match that Botafogo lost in the Copa Libertadores playing at the Nilton Santos Stadium was in the first round of the previous edition, where they won their first title by defeating Atlético Mineiro in the final.

The history of Botafogo and Racing Club in the Recopa

Both teams know what it's like to play in a Recopa Sudamericana final... but they’ve never won it. Racing Club was the runner-up in 1989, when they played the final as the champion of the Copa Sudamericana. However, they couldn’t overcome Nacional, who won the first match in Uruguay 1-0 and managed to hold onto the advantage in Buenos Aires.

Five years later, it was Botafogo's turn, as they reached the final exceptionally by being the champion of the Copa Conmebol, since São Paulo held the titles of both the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana. The peculiar thing about this final was that it was played in Japan in a one-off match, where São Paulo won 3-1 in a team that already featured a legend like Cafu.