We have reached the second legs of the Round of 16 in the 2022 Copa Libertadores and on the 5th of July we have a meeting between Boca Juniors and Corinthians.
The match will be played at La Bombonera and there is sure to be a tremendous atmosphere inside one of the world’s top stadiums.
Boca Juniors come into the match on the back of a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Banfield in the Liga Professional Argentina on the weekend. The hosts were 3-0 down at half-time and could not find a way back into the game in the second half.
However, Boca Juniors played a completely different team in the loss against Banfield than the first leg of this tie with Corinthians, which ended 0-0 in Brazil.
The loss against Banfield means Boca Juniors have failed to win any of their 3 most recent games and in addition to the fixtures highlighted above, there was a 2-1 loss at Union in the Liga Professional Argentina.
However, Boca Juniors are on a 4-match unbeaten run in the Copa Libertadores. They have beat Always Ready away and Deportivo Cali at home, with both matches ending 1-0 in the group stage of the competition.
Home form in the Copa Libertadores shows Boca Juniors are undefeated in their last 9 fixtures, winning 5 of those matches and keeping 8 clean sheets in their last 9 on home soil.
Corinthians make the trip to La Bombonera having lost 4-0 at Fluminense in the Brazilian Serie A on the weekend. Much like Boca Juniors, Corinthians chose to rotate their team on the weekend and it backfired as they found themselves 2-0 down at half-time and conceded an additional 2 goals in the second half.
That result means Corinthians have failed to win any of their last 3 fixtures in all competitions. In addition to the loss at Fluminense, Corinthians were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Boca Juniors in the first leg of this tie and at home by Santos in the Brazilian Serie A.
Form in the Copa Libertadores shows Corinthians are tough to beat but they have been held in each of their last 4 games.
They have failed to win any of their 5 most recent away games in the competition, failing to score in 4 of those 5 matches.
Team news and Boca Juniors are without the injured trio of Jorge Nicolás Figal, Diego Gonzalez, and Norberto Briasco. Top scorer Dario Benedetto will play up-front.
Corinthians have a significant injury list including Fagner, Willian, Rafael Ramos, Du Queiroz, Renato Augusto, Luan, Paulinho, Ruan Oliveira, and Gustavo Silva.
Boca Juniors do not give much away when playing at home in the Copa Libertadores. It would not come as a surprise to see this one end in a 0-0 draw like the first leg and go into extra-time. This is a game that could easily go all the way to a penalty shootout to decide the winner.