Juventude and Atlético-MG will settle a Copa Do Brasil quarterfinal place on Tuesday at Alfredo Jaconi, with the second leg starting at 19h30 in Caxias do Sul after the first meeting finished 0-0 at the Arena MRV. A win in regulation sends the winner through. Another draw pushes the tie to penalties.
The reward is immediate and clear: the club that goes through earns R$ 4 million and keeps its run in the Copa do Brasil alive. For Atlético-MG, the match also carries weight beyond the cup, because staying in the competition helps preserve the path it still needs to keep its future continental ambitions moving. For Juventude, it is the chance to turn a home night into a place in the next round.
Juventude has reasons to trust Alfredo Jaconi. It has suffered only two defeats there this season, and it finished another match without conceding a goal, part of a year in which it kept a clean sheet in 51% of its games. Rodrigo Sam is back after suspension, while Messias remains a doubt and Mandaca is still being monitored after lasting less than 30 minutes against Atlético-MG. Aderlan is available again, and Allanzinho is out with a left knee ACL injury.
Atlético-MG arrives with its own absences. Léo Duarte is sidelined by a muscle injury in the right thigh, Patrick is out with a ligament injury in the right knee, and Índio is also unavailable because of a right knee injury. Cissé is back after suspension, and Dudu is expected to start on the bench. The first leg offered little margin for error, and Atlético-MG did not turn its possession into enough danger, which is why the return leg demands a sharper final pass and a more direct approach.
Maurício Barbieri said Juventude met the goal of arriving at Alfredo Jaconi alive for the deciding match, and that is now the shape of the tie: one team protected by its home ground, the other forced to break a deadlock it failed to crack once already. Flavio Rodrigues de Souza from SP will referee the match, with Alex Ang Ribeiro from SP and Cipriano da Silva Sousa from TO as assistants, Rafael Traci from SC on VAR and Fabio Augusto Santos Sá Junior from SE as fourth official. The match will finish the round-of-16 story in one of three ways: a regulation winner, a penalty shootout or a ticket to the quarterfinals.
