Men's football: Timão face Rosario again for Libertadores last eight | OneFootball

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Corinthians Agency

This Thursday night (20) promises a special atmosphere for Corinthians. At 9:30 p.m., at Neo Química Arena, Timão faces Rosario Central (ARG) again in the second leg of the CONMEBOL Libertadores Round of 16. The match will be broadcast on ESPN and the Disney+ platform.

After a 0-0 draw in Rosario (ARG) last Thursday (13), a simple win will send Timão through to the quarterfinals. In the event of another draw, the spot will be decided on penalties.

One of the leaders of the Corinthians squad, goalkeeper Hugo Souza is approaching this match with the seriousness it deserves. For the No. 1, this is Timão’s chance to keep dreaming of winning the CONMEBOL Libertadores.

“Our preparation has been very good and we know exactly what we have to do. It’s our most important game so far. We’re approaching it in the best way possible. We’re very excited and, God willing, we’ll get this qualification in front of our fans, to bring joy to them and keep this dream alive within us. It’s everyone’s dream and we will fight for it until the end,” said Hugo, who expects another balanced match in this reunion.

“It’s an opponent whose strengths and weaknesses we already know. We’ll have to know how to defend against what they do best. Coach Diniz has made everything very clear to us. We’ll also have to know how to exploit their weak points so that we can put our best game into practice and secure qualification. Everything has been well prepared. We’re going there to do our best. We believe in that a lot. By doing our best, we’ll be closer to qualification,” he added.

Timão wrapped up preparations for the decisive match on Wednesday afternoon (19) at CT Dr. Joaquim Grava. The squad began activities with a tactical instruction video in the Flexform Meeting Room. After activation work in the gym and a warm-up on the pitch, head coach Fernando Diniz ran two tactical exercises. Set-piece plays and penalty kicks were also practiced.

Fernando Diniz will not be able to count on defensive midfielder Allan for this challenge. The No. 29 received a red card in the first leg and will serve an automatic suspension this Thursday (20). Center-back André Ramalho is another confirmed absence. The defender was hospitalized for observation due to a bout of labyrinthitis. He was discharged this Wednesday (19) and will be re-evaluated by the medical department in the coming days.

Corinthians and Rosario Central (ARG) faced each other in the Round of 16 of the 2000 CONMEBOL Libertadores. In the first match, at Gigante de Arroyito Stadium, Timão was defeated 3-2, with two goals from Luizão. In the return leg, at Pacaembu, Alvinegro won 3-2 in regulation time (goals by Edilson and Luizão, twice) and then won 4-3 on penalties.

Check out Timão’s CONMEBOL Libertadores campaign in 2026:

09/04 – Platense (ARG) 0 x 2 Corinthians – Goals by Kayke and Yuri Alberto 15/04 – Corinthians 2 x 0 Independiente Santa Fe (COL) – Goals by Raniele and Gustavo Henrique30/04 – Corinthians 2 x 0 Peñarol (URU) – Goals by Gustavo Henrique and Jesse Lingard06/05 – Independiente Santa Fe (COL) 1 x 1 Corinthians – Goal by Gustavo Henrique21/05 – Peñarol (URU) 1 x 1 Corinthians – Goal by Zakaria Labyad27/05 – Corinthians 0 x 2 Platense (ARG)13/08 - Rosario Central (ARG) 0 x 0 Corinthians – Round of 16

Watch today’s training video on Corinthians TV:

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