Flamengo beat Independiente del Valle 2-0 in Quito, in the first leg of the Libertadores quarterfinals, and became the first team to defeat the Ecuadorians as home team in knockout stages of the competition. The Brazilian team imposed this historic mark by overcoming Del Valle on their own turf.
Before this game, Del Valle had played 14 matches as home team in Libertadores knockouts, with nine wins and five draws, scoring 26 goals and conceding 12. The only defeat as home team in knockouts had been avoided until then, including when the team had to play in Asunción, Paraguay, against Grêmio in the 2021 preliminary round due to pandemic health restrictions, and still won.
The only two defeats Del Valle suffered at home in their entire Libertadores history happened in group stages, both against Palmeiras, in 2021 and 2024. In total, the Ecuadorian team played 40 matches as home team in the competition. Del Valle is an emerging project that took off in local football in 2007 and has been competing in the Libertadores since 2014.
This was the first confrontation between Flamengo and Del Valle in Libertadores knockouts, but the two clubs already know each other from previous encounters in the competition's group stages.
