Corinthians hold the edge over Athletico-PR in Copa do Brasil knockout ties | OneFootball

The Brazil Cup is narrowing down. In pursuit of a spot in the next phase of the tournament, Corinthians and Athletico-PR begin the quarter-final dispute. The first duel is scheduled for this Wednesday, starting at 9:30 pm (Brasília time), at the Baixada Arena, in Curitiba (PR).

The two teams meet again in a knockout stage of the Brazil Cup after 16 years. Confident after the victory over Vasco last weekend, Timão tries to make the advantage it has over Furacão in knockout matches in the national tournament count.

In total, Corinthians and Athletico-PR have faced each other on three occasions in the Brazil Cup, twice in the quarter-finals and once in the round of 16. The Paulista Alvinegro has a wide advantage: it won all three knockout matches against the Paraná team in the competition. In these matches, the Paulista team scored 12 goals and conceded seven.

The first knockout encounter between the teams was in 1997. Corinthians lost the first home game, by 2 to 1, but went to get the result in the return match. Timão applied a 6 to 2 thrashing over Athletico-PR, in Curitiba, and advanced to the quarter-finals with a 7 to 4 victory on aggregate.

Then, the teams met again in the quarter-finals of the 2001 Brazil Cup. At the time, the first leg ended in a goalless draw with Corinthians hosting. In the second duel, Timão won 1-0, thanks to a goal from Ewerthon, and secured the qualification.

Finally, the last time Corinthians and Athletico-PR dueled in the Brazil Cup was in 2009, again in the quarter-finals. Once again, Timão had to chase the deficit, as it was defeated 3-2 in the first match. The Alvinegro, however, recovered with two goals from Ronaldo and went to the semi-finals. That year, the Parque São Jorge team won its third tournament title.

A curious fact that draws attention is that, in two of the three knockouts, Corinthians fell behind in the first leg and had to chase the qualification in the return match – and succeeded. It remains to be seen, now, if this will be the scenario of the knockout stage that follows.

Corinthians, therefore, seeks to maintain the 'tradition' of passing by Athletico-PR in the Brazil Cup. For this, Timão relies on the solid defense it has shown so far in the current edition of the competition. The Alvinegro's defensive system has been working and was not breached in the matches against Novorizontino and Palmeiras.

It is worth remembering that, if the aggregate score ends in a draw at the end of the 180 minutes, the decision of the spot between Corinthians and Athletico-PR will be on penalties. The return match takes place on the next 10th of September (Wednesday), at 9:30 pm, at the Neo Química Arena.

Remember the Brazil Cup knockouts between Corinthians and Athletico-PR:

1997

2001

2009

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.