The match this Thursday between Argentine Talleres and Brazilian Sao Paulo for the Libertadores will be very special for Colombian midfielder James Rodríguez, who returns to the main American club tournament after 14 years.
After winning two Champions Leagues, two Club World Cups and two European Super Cup titles with Real Madrid and a Europa League with Porto, in addition to countless trophies in Spain, Germany and Portugal, the one from Cúcuta returns to the Copa Libertadores , in which he already competed in 2010 as a footballer for the Argentine Banfield, which at that time reached the round of 16.
He recently declared in an interview with Globo Esporte that he was “very young” (he was 18 years old) when he played in that Libertadores and that now he sees it as a “very difficult tournament with long trips, not like the Champions League, with short trips.”
The Colombian international arrives in Córdoba as the top figure of Brazilian Sao Paulo, three-time champion of the competition (1992, 1993 and 2005), and eager to ratify in South American football what he achieved in his successful European journey.
However, his name has recently been involved in a scandal that affects the ‘Tricolor’, a club accused by a rival of having allegedly fixed matches in the Brasileirao 2023.
Outside of that, the team led by Thiago Carpini is totally focused on the continental competition after being left out of the fight for the title in the Paulista Championship, where they lost weeks ago in the quarterfinals.
For its part, Talleres will try to make good use of its good form in the Argentine League Cup, where it is among the leaders.
Walter Ribonetto’s team is second in Zone A, with 22 points and tied with Barracas Central, behind the leader of that group, Argentinos Juniors (24), and ahead of River Plate and Vélez (21).
The Albiazules have just beaten the latter 1-0 and, although their coach opted to replace Rubén Botta and Gastón Benavídez due to physical problems during that clash, he confirmed that the entire squad is available to receive the Brazilians.
This is his fourth participation in the Libertadores, after reaching the quarterfinals in 2022, his best performance.
Córdoba and São Paulo already faced each other in the competition, in the second round of the 2019 qualifying phase: Talleres gave the surprise, winning the first leg (2-0), a result that closed the tie, since the second leg concluded 0-0 .
Goalkeeper Guido Herrera still remains on the team from that feat.
This group B match, completed by Ecuadorian Barcelona and Chilean Cobresal, will be played this Thursday at 9:00 p.m. (00:00 GMT on Friday) at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium in Córdoba, under the arbitration of Venezuelan Alexis Herrera. EFE
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