Update from last night’s matches 03/26/08.

By: Mauro | March 27th, 2008

LDU Quito vs. Arsenal de Sarandi (Quito, Ecuador)

Arsenal started off their visit well going up 1-0 on a goal from Leguizamon but then fell apart like they did against Fluminense a few weeks ago. Damian Manso (ex-Newells) played a great match which included scoring one of the his side’s 6 goals. I believe this group is all but tied up. I had this match going 3-1 to LDU Quito but it was 6-1. Bully for them.

LDU Quito and Fluminense have separated themselves from the other two teams in Group 8 and look to advance. Libertad has been a shadow of their run last year and Arsenal, who had a great Copa Sudamericana winning all of their away matches, including one in the Azteca stadium in Mexico, have been a total failure.

Flu have been fantastic, with Dodo leading the way and Thiago Neves close behind. LDU Quito has surprised me by playing a really nice brand of football and getting some key results. Their coach Edgardo Bauza has never lost to Arsenal as a coach. Patricio Urrutia has stepped up his game and the squad includes old Ecuadorian national team starters Ivan Kaviedes and Agustin Delgado as well as Manso who inspired people to see him as a starter on the Argentine National team when he debuted for Newell’s as a young man.

It’s unfortunate that Flu and LDU Quito meet each other in the final match of this group as I’m sure both teams will be fielding “B” sides in order to rest the starters.

River Plate vs. Universidad Catolica (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Because I missed the match (thanks Fox Sports Grill) I had to rely on a few sources for information on this match. One, my dad who said the match was total crap other than the two opportunities it seemed the Catolica keeper GAVE River to score on and two: some online sources including some video that showed a River team still fractured from front to back and unable to play the brand of football their fans expect from them. Instead, River displayed the high quality of their players. Falcao and Buonanotte were the stand outs (it’s no surprise that both were brought up through River’s youth system). Falcao scored the fastest goal in Copa Libertadores history in the 37th second. Check the vid. I had River winning this one 2-1, it was 2-0, pretty close. Kudos for me.

Word in Chile is that Buljubasich was bought in this match. Being a victim of Buljubasich’s blunders (he played for River once upon a time) I’d say he’s prone to these types of matches from time to time, which is why, I believe, he’s not playing in Europe somewhere. With that said, I think he’s a stand up guy and will accept his role in this defeat and come back stronger, unfortunately he might not be able to show that form much longer in this competition.

The chips are not stacked against Catolica, however, they still play the two teams they are in direct competition with for the second qualifying spot, one of which is a home match. All they need is a win and a draw and one more River win (which is highly likely with San Martin coming to Buenos Aires in their last group match) and they could be looking at the second round.

And if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, being the home team almost guarantees you a draw, with a little more effort, you could get a win. Which brings me to the next match…

Universidad San Martin vs. CF America (Lima, Peru)

If there’s one team that shouldn’t be bothered by the high altitude of Lima, it’s America, who also play in a high altitude stadium. I honestly expected America to get an away win but I predicted a modest 1-1 draw so to see them lose was quite surprising.

But on second thought, not really that surprising. San Martin did manage to beat River Plate at their stadium and defended well. They lost 0-1 against U. Catolica at home but by the smallest difference. San Martin could easily be in 2nd place with a draw against Catolica.

That aside, I’m not sure I can say that America is playing their best football rather, I believe, they just aren’t getting the results their club’s history and fans demand.

With this result, River are in first place with nine points, followed by America on goal difference over Peruvian side San Martin with six points. U. Catolica are at the bottom with only 3 points.