Barcelona SC vs Cerro Porteno

Estadio Banco Pichincha is the venue as Barcelona SC and Cerro Porteno meet in their final 2023 Copa Libertadores encounter.

It’s been a thoroughly disappointing Copa Libertadores experience for Barcelona, but they could still make amends by switching to the Copa Sudamericana knockout playoffs. Despite suffering four defeats in five Group C outings – except for a 2-1 home win over Bolivar on Gameweek 2 – the hosts only need to avoid another loss to secure a third-place finish. However, avenging a 2-1 defeat from the reverse fixture looks far-fetched, with ‘Idolo del Ecuador’ coming into proceedings on the back of three consecutive Copa Libertadores losses, bookended by a goal-glutted 4-2 thumping at Palmeiras last time out. Home comforts won’t necessarily boost Barcelona’s bid to bounce back, given that they’ve lost back-to-back matches ‘to one’ at the Estadio Banco Pichincha in the build-up to this showdown.

On the other hand, Cerro Porteno’s hopes of progressing from Group C were off to a memorable start as they eked out a 2-1 home win over Barcelona to kick things off in the Copa Libertadores. But a dismal run of four successive continental losses by an aggregate score of 11-1 in the aftermath has condemned the Paraguayan side to a bottom place. Given Barcelona’s superior goal difference, only a win will do for ‘El Ciclon,’ who’ll take the field brimming with skepticism following a poor return of one win from their last eight competitive games (D3, L4). Moreover, Facundo Sava’s lads have conceded precisely twice in back-to-back matches ahead of this trip (D1, L1), casting further doubt on their chances of beating the odds in Guayaquil.