He Deportivo Pereiracurrent champion of the Colombian league, will fulfill his dream this Thursday when he plays the first match of Libertadores Cup of his story before an irregular Colo Coloon the opening day of Group F.
At the Hernán Ramírez Villegas de Pereira stadium, both casts will measure forces from 10:00 p.m. on this Wednesday, April 5.
The ‘Matecaña’ group, directed by Alejandro Restrepowill try to reverse the bad moment that he is experiencing in the Colombian tournament, in which he has accumulated five games without wins and still has not managed to show the good level that led him to the title last year.
The team, which is currently 14th in the table with 12 points, reaches its first appearance in the Copa Libertadores after the backbone of the team that won the league title was disarmed, which is why coach Restrepo had to start from scratch.
The main cards of the Colombian team for the debut are the goalkeeper Aldair Quintana, whose level has been growing; the experienced center Geisson Perea; the midfielder Yilmar Velasquez, who at the age of 23 has already been called up to the Colombian National Team; and the striker arley rodriguez.
The coach Restrepo assured in a press conference that he sees the players “with a lot of motivation, with a lot of desire to have a great tournament.”
Colo Colo, meanwhile, arrived in Colombia on Tuesday with the hope of starting their participation in Group F on the right foot, of which they are also part Boca Juniors and Monagas.
The team of Gustavo Quinteros He has had an irregular start to the season and currently occupies seventh place in the table with 14 points and is four behind the leader Universidad Católica. However, the ‘Cacique’ has just beaten Huachipato 0-1, which is second in the table.
For this match, the Argentine-Bolivian strategist will not be able to count on the left back Erick Wiemberg due to injury.
However, there will be some of the most outstanding players like the Argentine Augustine Bouzatthe midfielder Stephen Pavezthe central Maximilian Falcon and the goalkeeper Brian Cortes.
The white team hopes to get past the group stage for the first time since the 2018 edition, when they reached the quarterfinals in which they were eliminated by Palmeiras.