Clash of Titans in Belo Horizonte.

By: Mauro | May 7th, 2008

Cruzeiro Futebol Clube vs. Club Atlético Boca Juniors (Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
LIVE @ 3pm PST on Fox Sports Español.

Both teams have a pretty big head of steam and this one looks to be quite a big match. Boca is coming off a huge 1-0 win in the SuperClasico over River Plate and Cruzeiro also put their rivals, Atlético Mineiro, away with a 6-0 win over two legs for their 35th regional title of Minas Gerais.

Cruzeiro are looking for a 1-0 win over the reigning champions and could handle it with any other rival in this competition. Boca has not had a shabby record in Brazil of late and even in last year’s second leg of the final match they managed a resounding win in Gremio’s stadium and lifted the cup that night. So Cruzeiro know that this is not going to be just a walk in the park.

Also, the score line in the first leg was beneficial to Cruzeiro since they could have easily lost that match by two or three more goals. Boca came to life in that match and was able to register a solid win marred only by the away goal Cruzeiro managed to get past Boca keeper Mauricio Caranta.

Looks like left side midfielder Jadílson is still a question mark for tomorrow’s match. This could be troublesome since Jadílson’s back up, Fernandinho, is also not match fit. Sandro, Marquinhos Paraná or Jonathan could step in to replace him although that is not any of those players natural position, they have been able to cover it for coach Adilson Batista.

The bad news for Cruzeiro is that Juan Román Riquelme is match fit for this one. The cramps he was having during the River Plate match on Sunday are no longer plaguing the creative midfielder. Morel Rodriguez, however, is still nursing a knee sprain, an injury sustained in the match at the weekend.

Look for Riquelme and Fabián Vargas to team up in the midfield and give the Cruzeiro midfield headaches as they could forgo the strikers and score themselves. Adrian González was solid last week, look to Vargas to add his own spice to that role tonight. And for Cruzeiro, look to see if Guilherme and Moreno can be freed up in the front and take advantage of any holes Boca might allow.

Cruzeiro fans tried with all their might to disturb the Boca players’ sleep last night. They fired off fireworks and had a truck playing loud music all night long. This is the reason it’s tough to be the away team.

Bottom Line: I was surprised Boca showed up and dominated what I thought was a tough team in Cruzeiro last week. I had them ready for the Marcelo Martins Moreno knock-out punch. Cruzeiro seem to have lost the form they had before the 5-1 loss to Real Potosi but with the new championship in their pocket they might have what it takes to muster a 1-0 win. It is only one goal after all.

My pick: 2-1 to Boca. They are back from the dead and could make this result happen. Any other Argentine team would be dead in the water but Boca has some good luck in Brazil and is able to make things happen.

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