One to watch: Bolívar bank on altitude, new boss before Fluminense | OneFootball

Bolívar will be Fluminense’s opponent this Thursday in the Libertadores group stage. A traditional participant in the continental tournament, the Bolivian club is counting on an old ally to try to secure its first win in the competition: the altitude of La Paz.

Bolívar’s home matches are played at Hernando Siles Stadium, located about 3,650 meters above sea level, one of the highest altitudes in world football. This factor usually poses a major challenge for visiting teams, which face greater physical strain and need to adjust their pace of play.

In addition to the natural challenge of the altitude, Fluminense’s opponent is going through a period of change off the pitch. Head coach Flavio Robatto was dismissed last week after three seasons in charge of the team. For this round’s match, former player and club idol Vladimir Soria will take over on an interim basis.

In the Libertadores, Bolívar have yet to find their rhythm. The team sits bottom of the group with just one point earned. In their opener, they lost 1-0 to Independiente Rivadavia and, in the following round, drew 1-1 with Deportivo La Guaira. A situation not very different from Tricolor’s.

On the domestic stage, however, the performance is better. In the Bolivian league, Bolívar are in third place, with three wins in four matches played.

They qualified for this Libertadores by finishing second in last season’s national championship, behind only Always Ready, who were the champions.

With little preparation time after the change in the coaching staff, the tendency is for Vladimir Soria to keep the core of the team that had been playing. In their last match, in the domestic tournament, Bolívar thrashed Real Tomayapo 6-0, in a game in which some players were rested with the Libertadores fixture in mind.

Probable Bolívar lineup

Lampe; Jesús Segredo, Arreaga, Echeverría and José Segredo; Justiniano, Robson Matheus and Melgar; Dorny Romero, Oyola and Cauteruccio.

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