Internacional vs Olimpia

There is everything to play for between Internacional and Club Olimpia as they meet at the Estádio José Pinheiro Borda in the return leg of their Copa Libertadores qualifying tie. The first leg yielded a goalless stalemate.

A narrow 1-0 home victory over domestic rivals Juventude brought some light at the end of the tunnel, halting Internacional’s disappointing six-game winless streak in all competitions (D4, L2). A low-scoring theme has highlighted Internacional’s recent competitive fixtures, with each of the last four seeing one or both teams failing to trouble the scoreboard in the matches garnering under 2.5 total goals (W1, D2, L1). A lack of ruthlessness in front of goal could pose a problem for the hosts, as they’ve netted one goal or less in each of their last six competitive games on home soil (W1, D1, L4). Additionally, Diego Aguirre’s men had been on a disastrous eight-match winless home streak (D3, L5) before claiming the abovementioned triumph over Juventude. On the bright side, the Brazilians have never lost a Copa Libertadores encounter to Olimpia (W2, D1).

On the other hand, a trip to the Estádio José Pinheiro Borda may stir some painful memories within the Olimpia faithful, considering their only previous visit to this venue yielded a 6-1 defeat. Indeed, Internacional have been a formidable opposition to Olimpia, with the Paraguayans drawing a blank in their last two H2H meetings. ‘El Decano’ will have to defy the odds to overcome the Brazilian powerhouse, but they cannot draw confidence from their recent form. Ahead of the kick-off, Sergio Orteman’s men have gone from three consecutive victories in all competitions to back-to-back competitive outings without winning (D1, L1). Yet, there’s been plenty of action in Olimpia’s recent road trips, as each of their last four competitive away fixtures saw over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet (W2, L2).