Barcelona de Guayaquil and Cruzeiro will open their Conmebol Libertadores group-stage campaign on Tuesday at 21h Brasília time at the Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo in Guayaquil, Ecuador. and Disney+ will carry the match, and ge will provide live play-by-play coverage.
Barcelona comes in on a better run. It beat LDU 2-0 in the Ecuadorian championship, sits third with 12 points from seven games and has gone seven matches without a loss, with three wins and four draws. The Ecuadorian side also reached the group stage by getting through the preliminary rounds with wins over Argentinos Juniors and Botafogo.
Cruzeiro arrives under pressure. The club is 19th in the Brazilian championship with one win in 10 games, along with four draws and five defeats, and it was routed 4-1 by São Paulo at Morumbis before turning back to continental play. Its defense has been the league's worst so far, with 20 goals conceded.
Tuesday's match also marks Artur Jorge's third game as Cruzeiro coach and the club's return to the Libertadores after six editions away. The squad list has been trimmed by injuries and one disciplinary case: Lucas Romero is out with thigh pain, Cássio has a multiligament injury in his left knee, Luís Sinisterra has a muscle injury in his right thigh and Marquinhos is sidelined with a left-knee injury. Walace was removed after violating the club's code of conduct by criticizing teammates in messaging-app conversations, while Japa was called up at the last minute as a bench option.
Cruzeiro is also expected to make changes on the field, with Kauã Moraes likely to start on the right side in place of William and Lucas Silva expected back in midfield. Barcelona will have three new players for this Libertadores match in Elkin Perlaza, Jefferson Intriago and Marcos Mejía, while João Rojas has not played since the match against Botafogo because of a knee injury and is expected to remain out of the lineup. For Cruzeiro, the trip to Guayaquil is less about spectacle than damage control, but it opens a tournament the club has spent six editions waiting to rejoin.
