The Last Golden Ticket.

By: Mauro | September 18th, 2008

Club Bolívar vs. Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito (Estadio Hernando Siles de La Paz, La Paz, Bolivia)

LIVE @ 5pm PST on Fox Sports Español. Gamecast here. Online TV here.

Weeks ago, LDU Quito was able to conquer South America by winning the Copa Libertadores. Fielding one of the most solid sides on the continent, LDU face their first test of the Sudamericana against Bolivar at home. In the first leg, in Quito, LDU showed that at home they are a tough nut to crack. But this time, LDU will have three defenders out to injuries, including Argentine stalwart Norberto Araujo.

I had my reservations about whether or not LDU was going to be the same side they were with Joffre Guerron on the right, but without Guerron, Navia was able to exploit the center of the pitch alongside Claudio Bieler and open up some space on the left for Luis Bolaños who has continued with his excellent form.

Beating Bolivar 4-2 at home, LDU showed a penchant for not only creating a large volume of opportunities on offense but also goal scoring prowess to boot. The defensive end is not as solid as it could be, which was evident when they had to slug it out with Fluminense in the final of the Libertadores, but with so much offense, most teams need to have the caliber of offense they have to keep up and there are not that many teams like that in South America.

LDU will be without defenders Norberto Araujo, Neicer Reasco and Jairo Campos, all due to injuries. LDU coach, Edgardo Bauza will look to field either Alejandro Espinosa or Cristian Suarez in the midifeld as well.

Bolivar faces a tough battle ahead of them. They need to overturn a 2-4 deficit by registering a solid 2-0 win to force penalties. The single thing they have going their way is that they have two away goals to work with. Otherwise they are coming off a defeat at the weekend to La Paz FC in the local Bolivian league and the home field advantage will not be the advantage it usually is since LDU is used to playing in the altitude of Quito.

While Bolivar is one of the best clubs in Bolivia, they are minnows when compared to most South American sides including LDU which is only confirmed when one looks at their record in these types of international competitions.

Bottom Line: Bolivar have the slimmest of chances to advance to the next round and to their dismay, they face one of the best teams on the entire continent. LDU are a solid, compact and highly dangerous team and could make a legitimate run for the international double this year.

My Pick: 2-1 to LDU. If they field a mixture of their best 11 and subs, 1-1. Sorry, I have no idea what Bauza is thinking much less what side he’ll be fielding since it will have a profound effect on the product on the pitch.

Also, keep this in mind, the winner of this match up will qualify for the Round of 16 to face Juan Roman Riquelme and Boca 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 one here.