Fluminense Seek to Defeat their Nemesis at Maracanã for The Recopa
Brazilian Fluminense will play on Thursday for the Recopa Sudamericana title against Liga de Quito, a team that defeated them in both continental finals they played and seeks their sixth international title and third at the legendary Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
After losing 1-0 in the altitude of Quito last week in the first leg, Fluminense is required to win the return leg by at least two goals to lift the trophy of the tournament that pits the champions of the Libertadores and the Sudamericana.
The Ecuadorian team, which won at home with a goal in injury time of the second half by the newly hired Paraguayan forward Alex Arce, only needs a draw away to increase to three times the number of times they have defeated Fluminense in continental finals.
In the event of a victory by the Carioca team by just one goal difference, the title will have to be decided on penalties.
Despite the advantage of playing at home, Fluminense will have to overcome the trauma of having let two international titles slip away against the same rival in their stadium.
Liga de Quito beat Fluminense at Maracanã in the finals of the Libertadores in 2008, via penalty shootout, and the Copa Sudamericana in 2009, after winning 5-1 in Quito and losing 3-0 in the return leg in Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to those two international titles, the Quito team also has the Sudamericana in 2023 and the Recopa in 2009 and 2010.
"I'm not concerned about what happened in the past. I'm more worried about the present and what will happen on Thursday. On the pitch, it will be eleven against eleven and the one who does things better will win," said Argentine forward Germán Cano, Fluminense's top scorer, ruling out that history could weigh in the match.
Fluminense comes to the decisive match after two consecutive defeats, last week in Quito and Sunday against Flamengo by 2-0 at Maracanã in a match where coach Fernando Diniz reserved several starters.
Diniz will be able to count on young forward John Kennedy on Thursday, one of the stars in the Libertadores campaign and scorer of the title goal, who had to serve a suspension in the first leg.
But the coach has not yet clarified whether he will start him or if he will align again the trio of forwards formed by Cano, Colombian Jhon Arias, and Keno.
Liga de Quito, which arrived on Tuesday in Rio confident of a new victory at Maracanã with its players rested and in perfect physical condition, has only played one official match this year, last week's.
Its main absence will be that of Spanish coach Josep Alcácer, who still does not have the Conmebol license for continental matches, so assistant Adrián Gabbarina will return to the bench.
The interim has all his players available, except for defender Facundo Rodríguez, who was not able to be registered, but has not yet said whether he will start Arce from the beginning, who was decisive in the few minutes he was in the first leg but has hardly trained with his teammates.
- Possible lineups:
.Fluminense: Fabio; Guga, Felipe Melo, Thiago Santos (or Samuel Xavier), Marcelo; André, Matheus Martinelli, Ganso; Keno (or John Kennedy), Jhon Arias, Germán Cano.
Coach: Fernando Diniz.
Liga de Quito: Alexander Domínguez; José Quintero, Ricardo Adé, Richard Mina, Leonel Quiñónez; Oscar Zambrano, Ezequiel Piovi, Sebastián González, Jhojan Julio; Luis Estupiñán (or Alex Arce), Jhojan Julio, and Jan Hurtado.
Coach: Adrián Gabbarina.
Referee: Argentine Facundo Tello assisted on the sidelines by his compatriots Ezequiel Brailovsky and Gabriel Chade, and by Mauro Vigliano in the VAR.
Time: 9:30 pm local time (0:30 GMT on Friday).
Stadium: Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro.
