Piquerez on LDU v Palmeiras: Altitude no issue for us | OneFootball

Palmeiras completed their preparation for the first leg of the Libertadores semifinal this Wednesday. The Palmeiras delegation trained at the Ecuador national team's training center and has already started adapting to the altitude of 2,850m in Quito. Left-back Piquerez mentioned the difference in working under these conditions and projected the match.

“We trained here and already noticed a bit of a difference, especially with the ball in relation to the altitude. We are used to it, even this year we already played in Bolivia and we hope to have a great game tomorrow,” evaluated the Uruguayan.

“LDU has a very strong, very competitive team, and if they reached these stages, it's because they play very well. They have already eliminated great Brazilian teams and it will be a great confrontation. I hope we come out victorious,” projected Piquerez.

Palmeiras and LDU face each other this Thursday at 9:30 PM (Brasília time) at the Rodrigo Paz Delgado Stadium in Quito, Ecuador. The return match will be at Allianz Parque next week.

Palmeiras' experience at altitude

This season, Palmeiras has already played a match at altitude. In the group stage, they went to La Paz to face Bolívar and won the game 3-2. On that occasion, Verdão followed a similar strategy and arrived at the match location two days in advance to prepare.

The Palmeiras delegation landed in Quito on Tuesday night after starting their preparation in São Paulo. In the last activity, Abel Ferreira led a tactical training session.

Palmeiras' campaign in the Libertadores

Palmeiras is the team with the best campaign in the 2025 Libertadores, with nine wins and one draw. The Brazilian team finished the first phase with a 100% success rate. In the round of 16, they eliminated Universitario-PER and in the quarterfinals, they passed River Plate-ARG to reach their 12th semifinal.

“It's good to reach these final stages. It's for a few, a privilege. Thank God, in recent years, Palmeiras has been participating a lot in these phases. It's about enjoying the moment, tomorrow we know we have a very important challenge here at altitude, but we are used to playing this type of game. I hope we can do what we've been training for. It's about getting a good result here to finish at home,” concluded Piquerez.

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