Unión eye Estudiantes' Copa Libertadores opener before weekend clash | OneFootball

Estudiantes, who will host Unión on Saturday in the Apertura, will visit Independiente Medellín in Colombia from 9 p.m. in the Copa Libertadores.

Estudiantes de La Plata will make its debut this Wednesday in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s most important club tournament, when it visits Colombia’s Deportivo Independiente Medellín in a match corresponding to the opening round of Group A.

The match, scheduled for 9 p.m., will take place at Atanasio Girardot Stadium and will be broadcast on Fox Sports and Disney+ Premium. The appointed referee is Venezuelan Alexis Herrera, while his compatriot Ángel Arteaga will be on VAR duty.

Estudiantes comes into this match in excellent form, having not only been crowned Argentine football champion by winning the 2025 Torneo Clausura, but also enjoying a very solid start to 2026, sitting second in Zone A of the Torneo Apertura and also thrashing Ituzaingó in the round of 64 of the Copa Argentina.

“El Pincha,” which has won the Copa Libertadores four times (1968, 1969, 1970, and 2009), will look to put last year’s disappointment behind it after losing on penalties in the quarterfinals to Brazil’s Flamengo, which would eventually go on to win the title.

Independiente Medellín, meanwhile, is going through a poor spell in the Colombian league, where it sits 14th after 15 rounds.

The runners-up in Colombian football reached the group stage after eliminating Liverpool and Juventud Las Piedras, both from Uruguay, in the qualifying rounds.

Probable lineups for Independiente Medellín vs Estudiantes

Deportivo Independiente Medellín: Salvador Ichazo; Leyser Chaverra, Daniel Londoño, José Ortiz; Hayen Palacios, Baldomero Perlaza, Halam Lobos, Diego Moreno, Frank Fabra; Francisco Fydriszewski and John Montaño. Head coach: Alejandro Restrepo.

Estudiantes (LP): Fernando Muslera; Eric Meza, Leandro González Pírez, Tomás Palacios, Gastón Benedetti; Mikel Amondarain, Ezequiel Piovi, Alexis Castro; Tiago Palacios, Guido Carrillo, and Facundo Farías or Edwuin Cetré. Head coach: Alexander Medina.

Time: 9 p.m.

Referee: Alexis Herrera.

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