Boca Start Their Engines.

By: Mauro | May 14th, 2008

Club Atlético Boca Juniors vs. F.C. Atlas A.C. (Estadio José Amalfitani “El Fortin”, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

LIVE @ 3pm PST on Fox Sports Español.

Boca host the first leg in Buenos Aires against a team that they played against in the group stage, twice. These two seem pretty evenly matched.

Both teams won the match they hosted in the first round. In Buenos Aires, the final score was 3-0 to Boca with Rodrigo Palacio running rampant behind Atlas defenders and in Guadalajara, it ended 3-1 to Atlas with a Bruno Marioni hat-trick. Since then, Boca eliminated Cruzeiro with an authoritative win at their ground and a less than lustrous one in Brazil but both by the same score line. 2-1. Here’s the link for the second leg. In Atlas’ favor is Boca’s record against Mexican teams in the Libertadores. Check here for that record.

Riquelme is supposed to be fit to play this match. He’s been separated from his teammates in training and given a different workout regime to help him arrive in good fitness come match time. Should he, for one reason or another, I imagine that Boca coach Carlos Ischia will not hesitate to put Leandro Gracian in his place.

The big player out for Boca this time is their stadium, La Bombonera. After the ice throwing incident, the CONMEBOL has decided to suspend Copa Libertadores matches for 30 days from the incident, enough time for Boca to install some sort of protection for the linesmen on the luxury box side of the pitch. Should Boca make the final, they could host one of the legs there.

Atlas arrived in Buenos Aires on Monday to begin training. They are coming into this match on the shoulders of their leading goal scorer, Bruno Marioni, who has seven goals so far in this competition. Atlas have won all of their home games except for last week’s draw against Lanús, a result which allowed them to advance. Here’s the link to their first leg against Lanús.

The person for Boca defenders to keep their eye on is Marioni. He was cold and calculating when they faced off in Guadalajara in the group stage. Also, look for Diego Colotto to be dangerous, keep an eye on Ulises Mendivil and goal keeper Jorge Bava to keep his squad close.

Look for Riquelme to possibly play a lighter role than usual, he is still nursing an injury but those who know him, know he won’t sit this one out. Morel Rodiguez and Julio Cesar Cáceres will anchor the defense and Martin Palermo and Rodrigo Palacio should keep the Atlas defense busy. Jesús Dátolo should play a bigger role today as he is very mobile on Riquelme’s left, look for him to hook up with Palacio and cross the ball into Palermo.

Bottom Line: While this match is being played at Vélez Sarsfield’s stadium, this is a home match for Boca, look for their fans to come out in force. Boca should take care of business here. The only question is whether or not they can dominate on another pitch that’s not La Bombonera like they did against Cruzeiro. Atlas face an uphill battle in this leg, at home they’ll be more comfortable.

My pick: 2-0 to Boca. Enough to keep the second leg interesting. Atlas are a good side but Boca took them apart in Buenos Aires in the group stage. I look for that to happen again tonight.

Check the CONMEBOL website for results, stats and upcoming matches.