Unión eye Estudiantes' Copa Libertadores opener, weekend foes | 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 their debut this Wednesday in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s most important club tournament, when they visit 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 come into this match in excellent form, having not only been crowned Argentine football champions by winning the 2025 Torneo Clausura, but also enjoying a very solid start to 2026, currently sitting second in Zone A of the Torneo Apertura and having also thrashed Ituzaingó in the Copa Argentina round of 64.

“Pincha”, who have won the Copa Libertadores four times (1968, 1969, 1970 and 2009), will look to put behind them the disappointment of the last edition, in which they lost on penalties to Brazil’s Flamengo in the quarterfinals, with Flamengo eventually going on to win the title.

Independiente Medellín, meanwhile, are going through a rough spell in the Colombian league, where they currently sit 14th after 15 rounds.

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