University: Which rival had the best season and concerns the creams?

academic You are already fully psyched up for the enormous challenge you will face in Phase 2 of the Copa Libertadores 2022. After the draw of the tournament developed this Monday, it was known that the cream club has two possible rivals: Barcelona SC and Montevideo City Torque. Against either of the two, the ‘U’ will begin their fight towards the group stage of the most important club competition in South America and it will not be easy.

In fact, in this type of competition there is no easy rival. Most of the time, the prognosis is guarded. This does not mean that there are no more accessible adversaries than others and, precisely, that scenario is the one that University is evaluating.

Uruguayans who can be strengthened

Between his two possible contenders for the Liberators cup,

It happens that the Torque is a new team, which was only founded in 2007 and, therefore, its international presence has been negligible. Nevertheless, .

In 2012, Torque was promoted to the First Division of Uruguay for the first time and six years later it fell back to the Second Division. But then it only took a year to return to the top category, and then, it had a remarkable growth:.

Montevideo City Torque they beat Uruguay’s Fénix 2-0 in the first stage and then finished in second place in the group stage with 11 points, just three behind Independiente (Argentina), who won the qualification to the round of 16. The ‘Citizens’ were very close to moving forward.

. Anyway, he could be a very difficult opponent for academic, but not as much as Barcelona SC.

Continental level

The Ecuadorian team has a lot of history in the Copa Libertadores and its current high level is indisputable. .

Barcelona SC they finished in first place in the group stage, ahead of tough teams like Boca Juniors, Santos and The Strongest. Then, he eliminated Vélez Sarsfield in the round of 16, did the same with Fluminense in the quarterfinals, and fell to Flamengo in the semis.

At the local level, the ‘Ídolo del Astillero’ rounded off an irregular season, due to the fact that he focused fully on the Copa Libertadores. Thus, he achieved second place in the first stage and finished ninth in the second. In the accumulated table, he managed to stay with fourth place and thus qualify for the preliminary phase of the Copa Libertadores 2022.

Background

. In 1993, both teams met in the round of 16: the creams won 2-1 in the first leg in Lima and lost 3-0 in the second leg in Guayaquil. Later, in 1994, the two teams met again in the group stage of the tournament, drawing the two games without goals.

What’s more, . The ‘Canarios’ thrashed 4-0 at home, Guayaquil, and lost Lima 2-1.

In this context, the biggest challenge for the ‘U’ in the Libertadores would be to re-measure themselves against the Ecuadorian team. This does not mean that the creams should be trusted if they have to face Montevideo City Torque, since the Uruguayan club’s classification over Barcelona SC would show that it is up to any international challenge.