Nearly Full Strength Inter and Chivas Face off in Guadalajara, This One Should Be Good.

By: Mauro | November 12th, 2008

Club Deportivo Guadalajara (Chivas) vs. Sport Club Internaciónal (Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico)

LIVE @ 4pm PST on Fox Sports Español. Gamecast here. Online TV here.

After having taken care of River Plate in the Quarter-finals, beating them away and then drawing the home leg, Chivas will host Inter of Porto Alegre tonight at the Estadio Jalisco for their Semi-final clash in the Copa Sudamericana. Chivas should field an almost completely full strength side, where Inter will be missing a key injury that could make the difference in this match.

Trying to become the 2nd Mexican side to win a CONMEBOL tournament – Pachuca won the 2006 edition of the Sudamericana over Chilean side Colo Colo – Chivas are coming into this one with their best possible form since the end of the summer.

While they are not a dazzling team playing side, they are explosive on the offensive side. With Ramón Morales on the ball on the left and Omar Arellano on the right, they have been known to pounce on 50/50 passes and make their opponents pay. With that said, tonight should be a completely offensive set for Chivas, since they are at home they will attempt to hit Inter with all their firepower.

While they will be almost full strength, they will be without the services of Johnny Magallón, who had a fracture in his arm that was recently operated on.

Chivas is coming off a poor season in Mexico where they sit 2nd from the bottom of their group and have a minimal chance of qualifying for the Quarter-finals. Coach Efrain Flores won’t admit it, but it’s obvious that Chivas have made the Sudamericana their priority.

Sitting in 6th place in the Brasileirao, Inter has arrived at Guadalajara without their star midfield play maker, Andrés D’Alessandro, who was the victim of food poisoning from an empanada he ate and is not expected to be fully recovered by game time. D’Alessandro attempted to travel with his teammates but was not well enough to and his wife had to come and pick him up. His condition was so bad that he even spent some time in the hospital. Word was they were going to have him travel yesterday but Andrés is still in Porto Alegre today.

Inter coach Tité will try to patch the void left by D’Alessandro’s absence with Daniel Carvalho, former CSKA Moscow player on loan to Inter. Still though, without D’Alessandro, Inter are a very dangerous and very organized side. Also, pound per pound, Inter’s players are far more technically gifted than the Mexican side’s players but that’s nothing new, River’s players were supposedly better and they advanced ahead of the Argentine giants.

With Nilmar on the attack, Chivas defenders will not able to rest easy because of D’Alessandro’s absence. Also, don’t forget that Alex scored two fantastic long range goals in the 1st, home leg in Porto Alegre against Boca Juniors.

Both teams have said they are coming out to win this one but Inter would do well enough with a draw, preferably a draw with some goals in there, since they could close out this series at home. Chivas should try to get a lead they can carry with them into Porto Alegre to defend.

Bottom Line: From what I saw from both of these sides in the Quarters, Inter, to me, have the advantage. And I know I’ve said before not to underestimate the Mexican sides in a CONMEBOL competition but really, Inter were impressive against Boca – mind you, I am aware it was not Boca’s best 11 – and really looked far more organized and put together in the home and away legs. Still, Chivas have an outside chance of getting the win here since they are at home and can be deadly on the counter or even when they have possession. They have only three wins in six matches in this tournament, advancing on away goals but the same goes for Inter. Their big wins were in the aforementioned matches against Boca and then they have four draws in six matches.

My Pick: 2-1 to Chivas. I think Chivas will defend their ground and get a slight lead, Inter cannot keep them from scoring but Chivas won’t keep them from scoring, keep an eye on the long crosses into Chivas’ box.

The winner of this series, faces the winner of the other Semi-final between Estudiantes de La Plata and Argentinos Juniors.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about upcoming matches and for those of you in need of a bracket to get your heads around the competition, get an updated one here.