With Their Backs Against the Wall, Botafogo Host Estudiantes With a 2 Goal Deficit.

By: Mauro | November 5th, 2008

Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas vs. Club Estudiantes De La Plata (Estadio Olimpico João Havelange “Engenhão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Tape delay @ 7:00pm PST on Fox Sports Español.Match starts LIVE @ 3:50pm PST Gamecast here. Online TV here.

With a two-goal deficit and experiencing an economic crisis, Botafogo must host Estudiantes and find a way to advance to the SemiFinals in order to salvage a season that will leave them without any silverware. Estudiantes swagger into Rio with the hope of keeping their lead or extending it and booking a place in the Semis.

Coming off a crushing 1-2 defeat at the hands of Atlético Mineiro this past weekend, the result saw the Rio side completely out of Copa Libertadores qualification and far from contending to win the Brasileirao. Also dragging down morale for this match, quite a few of Botafogo’s players have yet to receive a paycheck in the last several months.

Botafogo players are hoping they can get the help of their fans for tonight’s match so that the club can defend their ground and show that the Engenhão is indeed a tough place to play.

Both of Estudiantes’ goals in the 1st leg came off of dead ball situations and Botafogo have worked hard in training to defend those plays, as well as defending long range shots.

Coach Ney Franco can count on their captain and midfielder Lucio Flavio and Argentine forward Leandro Zárate, both back from muscular problems that had them sitting out the clubs last few matches. However, midfielder Tulio will miss this one due to a suspension and Uruguayan Guillermo Castillo will also miss this one with a serious knee injury.

Estudiantes’ team arrived a few days ago in Rio but is coming off a 0-1 loss to Huracán which put a period at the end of their title run in the Apertura.

Coach Leonardo Astrada will not be able to count on the services of Agustín Alayes (which is promising for Estudiantes as he’s earned two red cards in this competition) but will have defenders Juan Diaz and Leandro Desábato back from injury.

Astrada is also replacing Matías Sanchz and Gastón Fernández with Rodrigo Braña and Juan Manuel Salgueiro respectively.

Estudiantes can advance by losing by one goal–any score–or a loss of one goal. A 2-0 scoreline forces penalties and a 3-0 scoreline or more will qualify Botafogo directly.

Bottom Line: I am tempted to say that Estudiantes have this one in the bag but Botafogo’s Carlos Alberto and Wellington Paulista had a fantastic match two weeks ago in La Plata. Estudiantes have a very strong side, not strong enough to fight on both Sudamericana and Apertura fronts but they have shown to be able to beat teams both technically and by grinding out a result making them a team that gives their coach more than just one option of formation.

My Pick: 2-1 to Botafogo. The Rio side defend their ground, but can’t keep Mauro Boselli under wraps. Estudiantes advance and face the winner of the Argentinos-Palmeiras series in the Semi-Finals.

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, <a href=”http://img.conmebol.com/csf/pub/arti