Fluminense faces Platense this Thursday, at 7 PM (Brasília time), at the Maracanã, in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. The Brazilian team seeks to advance to the competition semifinals. The second leg is scheduled for next Thursday, at the same time, in Argentina, at the Estadio Ciudad de Vicente López.
Flu eliminated Independiente Rivadavia without managing to defeat them in four opportunities, achieving three draws and one loss. The campaign to the quarterfinals did not feature traditional Argentine teams like Boca Juniors, River Plate, or Racing, but that did not mean ease. The tricolor now faces another Argentine club debutant in the competition.
Fluminense became the first team since América from Mexico in 2002 to face so many debutant opponents in a single edition of the Libertadores. By the end of the quarterfinals, the club will have played six of its ten matches against teams that had never participated in the competition.
The article also mentions that player Guga made a classified-as-"desperate" outburst regarding the Maracanã pitch, expanding a list of player complaints about the field conditions. Additionally, Fluminense criticized the refereeing of the classic against Vasco through an official statement.
