Patchy season and risk of exit: how Peñarol shape up vs Corinthians | OneFootball

Corinthians return to action this Thursday (21), when they face Peñarol at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at Estadio Campeón del Siglo in Uruguay, in the fifth round of the Copa Libertadores group stage. Their opponent comes into the match under pressure due to the high risk of being eliminated from the continental competition.

The Uruguayan club has not won a single match in the continental tournament so far, with two draws and two losses, one of them a 2-0 defeat to Corinthians at Neo Química Arena. As a result, Peñarol sit bottom of Group E with two points, three fewer than third-placed Independiente Santa Fé-COL and five behind Platense-ARG, who are second.

Photo: Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images

To stay alive in the Copa Libertadores, the aurinegro club needs to beat Timão at Campeón del Siglo. In the event of a loss or draw, the team will already enter the final round of the group stage eliminated, able only to fight for third place to secure a spot in the Copa Sudamericana playoffs.

On the other hand, Peñarol have ended a winless run and now have two consecutive positive results, against Liverpool and Cerro Largo, in Uruguayan Championship matches. Before that, they had two draws, one against Defensor in the domestic league and another against Platense in the Libertadores.

The standings in the domestic competition have also displeased the aurinegro fans. The biggest champions of the Uruguayan AUF League with 52 titles, the Carboneros are in fourth place, with eight wins, three draws and four losses, totaling 27 points.

The last defeat was precisely against Corinthians, on April 30. On that occasion, the team coached by Fernando Diniz delivered a dominant performance and won 2-0, with goals from Gustavo Henrique and Jesse Lingard, in a match that could have had a bigger scoreline given the number of chances created by Timão.

Coach Diego Aguirre, well known in Brazilian football due to spells at Atlético-MG, Internacional and São Paulo, is expected to field a team of: Aguerre; Escobar, Ferreira and Álvez; Rodriguez, Trindade, Umpiérrez and Laxalt; Togni; Batista and Arezo.

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