Racing Montevideo vs Huachipato

The iconic Estadio Centenario sets the stage for a ‘make or break’ Copa Sudamericana playoff tie between Racing Montevideo and Huachipato.

Despite falling behind within the opening four minutes of their first-leg tie in Chile, Racing Montevideo claimed a precious 3-2 win in a topsy-turvy affair at Estadio Huachipato-CAP Acero to set one foot in the next playoff round. However, that victory remains the only positive amidst Racing’s rotten patch, with Eduardo Espinel’s side going winless in five of their last six outings across all competitions (D2, L3). On top of that, they’ve lost three of their four competitive home matches (W1) since a 2-1 triumph against Nacional Asuncion in the previous Copa Sudamericana round, failing to get on the scoresheet in the last two.

On the other hand, visiting Huachipato couldn’t recover from a morale-wracking first-leg loss, drawing 1-1 against domestic minnows Cobreloa in the warm-up for this pivotal fixture. Playing away from home doesn’t bode well for the visitors’ bid to turn this tie on its head, considering they’ve lost four of their last five competitive games on the road (W1), including a thumping 4-0 defeat to The Strongest in Copa Libertadores back in May. If it’s any consolation, the only exception to this dreadful run was a goal-glutted 4-3 win at Argentine giants Estudiantes on their last continental travel. Worryingly for Huachipato, they conceded 3+ goals in four of those five away matches.