Atletico Nacional vs Patronato

The 2023 Copa Libertadores Group H is drawing to a halt as Atletico Nacional and Patronato go head-to-head at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot.

Despite securing a place in the Copa Libertadores knockouts with a game to spare, Atletico Nacional can still finish top of Group H with a win here, suggesting this meeting won’t have a friendly character whatsoever. For the sake of argument, Paulo Autuori’s men are out to claim revenge after an underwhelming 3-0 defeat at Olimpia Asuncion last time out knocked them down from an almost-flawless four-game Group H start (W3, D1). Nacional’s Copa Libertadores campaign got underway with a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Patronato, a result that fits a larger pattern. Indeed, barring a narrow 1-0 triumph at Melgar on Gameweek 4, each of their four remaining Group H fixtures has featured over 2.5 goals. Against this backdrop, two of their last three competitive home games have seen one or both sides fail to score in matches garnering under 1.5 total goals.

In the meantime, Patronato’s hopes of continuing their continental journey hang by a thread after a disastrous run of four defeats from their five Group H outings (W1) nailed them to the bottom of the section. However, the visitors could still switch over to the Copa Sudamericana if they can better Melgar’s result against Olimpia Asuncion, with only a point separating the bottom two sides ahead of the kick-off. But that’s easier said than done, given that except for a 4-0 home thumping of Melgar on Matchday 3, they’ve lost three of their last four Copa Libertadores fixtures without scoring. That’s not to mention they’ve conceded a combined seven goals in the most recent two.