Fluminense and Operário-PR meet at the Maracanã on Tuesday at 21:30 with a place in the Copa do Brasil round of 16 on the line. The second leg of the fifth phase starts from a 0-0 first-leg draw, which means any winner advances and another draw sends the tie straight to penalties.
The first meeting came on April 23 at the Estádio Germano Kruger in Ponta Grossa, where neither side could break through. This return leg carries the weight of two very different paths to the same point: Fluminense entered the tournament in the fifth phase, along with the other Série A clubs, while Operário-PR came through four earlier matches unbeaten, with three wins and one draw.
Fluminense arrives with Luis Zubeldia expected to lean on his strongest available lineup. The probable side has Fábio in goal; Guga, IJemmes, Freytes and Guilherme Arana across the back; Hércules, Nonato and Lucho Acosta in midfield; and Savarino, Canobbio and John Kennedy up front. The club listed three absences: Matheus Reis after knee surgery, Germán Cano with a grade 2 muscle injury and Martinelli, who is dealing with pain in his left thigh and remains under evaluation for a possible injury.
The timing matters for Fluminense because the team is still carrying momentum from the Brasileirão, where it sits third with 27 points despite a 2-2 home draw with Vitória in its last league game. Operário-PR, by contrast, comes in after a 3-0 away loss to CRB in the eighth round of Série B and sits eighth in the table with 12 points.
That league contrast does not erase what Operário-PR has already done in the cup. The team knocked out Betim, Capital-DF and Londrina to reach this stage, and Luizinho Lopes is expected to keep the core of his Série B side. The midfield spot is still open between Matheus Trindade and Índio, while the attacking reference is being weighed between Pablo and Caio Dantas. The probable lineup is Vagner; Doka, Cuenú, Klaus and Moraes; Índio or Matheus Trindade, Vinicius Diniz and Boschilia; Berto, Pablo or Caio Dantas and Aylon.
Operário-PR listed three absences in Mingotti, Brenno and Zuluaga. The larger question is whether Fluminense can turn home advantage and top-flight depth into a clean finish, or whether a disciplined visiting side can drag the tie into a shootout and keep its run alive one more step.
