Palmeiras will face Cerro Porteño on Wednesday at 19h at Nubank Parque in the first leg of the Conmebol Libertadores round of 16, and Gustavo Gómez is back in the frame after joining Tuesday’s training. The defender has recovered from a right thigh injury, giving Abel Ferreira a possible reinforcement for a knockout tie that starts with plenty at stake.
Readers are searching now because this is not just another midweek game. Palmeiras leads the Brasileirão with 48 points, but it also comes into the match after drawing at home with Internacional and watching its lead over Flamengo shrink from eight points to six, with one more game played. Paramount+ will show the match, while ge will cover it in Tempo Real.
The probable Palmeiras lineup points to Carlos Miguel in goal, then Gustavo Gómez, Murilo, Barboza, Allan, Marlon Freitas, Andreas Pereira, Piquerez, Arias, Flaco López or Mauricio, and Vitor Roque or Sosa. Jefté is out after surgery on his right knee, Bruno Fuchs remains in physical transition, and Khellven and Paulinho are both sidelined with right thigh injuries. Arthur and Gustavo Gómez are also listed as suspended, which leaves the question of how much Gómez can actually be used if he is cleared to start after training only on Tuesday.
Cerro Porteño arrives with reasons to believe this tie will not be simple. It finished first in Group F with 13 points, ahead of Palmeiras on 11, and it stayed unbeaten against the Brazilian side in the first phase after winning once in São Paulo and drawing once in Assunção. The Paraguayan club also ended the Apertura of the Campeonato Paraguaio in third place and has one win and three losses in four Clausura matches, a run that does not erase the fact that it handled Palmeiras better than anyone else in the group.
On the other side, Cerro Porteño’s expected XI includes Manuel Roffo, Ramírez, Velázquez, Merolla, Cañete, Domínguez, Morel, Piris da Motta, Cecilio Domínguez, Iturbe and Vegetti. Merolla and Iturbe recovered from physical problems and traveled with the squad, and Merolla is expected to start. Gustavo Tejera will referee the match, with Nicolas Taran and Carlos Barreiro as assistants, Mathias de Armas as the fourth referee and Leodan Gonzalez in the VAR booth.
That is what makes Wednesday’s first leg more than a routine knockout opener: Palmeiras has the form of a league leader, but Cerro Porteño already showed in the group stage that it can live with it. If Gustavo Gómez makes it from Tuesday training to the starting line, Palmeiras gains more than a name back; it gains a central piece for the one part of the season where a single lapse can end the run.
