The Lanus vs Santos Laguna Copa Libertadores match will take place this Wednesday, April 16, 2014 (3:00 PM Pacific) at the Estadio Ciudad de Lanus. This first-leg game will kick-off the Round-of-16 in the competition. Lanus will attempt to leave the game with a win, although the Mexican side enters the game as the strong favorite.
The ‘Granate‘ reached the Round-of-16 after finishing second in Group 3 which also included Cerro Porteño (1st place), O’Higgins, and Deportivo Cali. In their group, Lanus earned 8 points, scored 6 goals, and received 5. That allowed the Argentine team to be ranked #14 out of 16 entering this knock-out round.
The team coached by Guillermo Barros Schelotto enters the series against Santos Laguna as the clear underdog. Not only did they barely make it out of one of the weakest groups in the Libertadores, but the team demonstrated deficiencies on offense. Against Santos, Lanus will have to play a perfect home game, where they need to win by more than a goal, and hope to prevent the Mexican side from scoring any.
Santos Laguna has been one of the best teams thus far in the tournament, finishing the group stages ranked #3 out of 16. They finished in first place out of Group 8 with 13 points; 11 goals scored, 5 received. The 11 goals have them tied for the second best offense in the Libertadores, while the 5 goals received have them as the 3rd best defense (although they received 3 goals in their last group match where they played with their ‘B’ team).
The team coached by Pedro Caixinha has very high expectations for this Libertadores. They arrived in Argentina knowing that they are the favorite to win, as they face a team which on paper is much weaker. Santos has to play a smart defensive game, although offensively they will look to score at least a goal in order to take advantage of the away-goal rule.
The second-leg match will be played next April 23rd in Torreon, Mexico. The winner of this Round-of-16 series will face the winner between Bolivar and Leon in the quarterfinals.
Lanus vs Santos Laguna Prediction
The Lanus vs Santos Laguna match will initiate the Round-of-16 stage in the Copa Libertadores 2014. Lanus will play on the attack as they understand that winning in Mexico will be extremely difficult. Although the Argentine side will look to be the offensive team this Wednesday, they will also be careful while on defense in order to prevent Santos from scoring an away goal. That away goal will be the Laguneros’ biggest aim, and that will cause Caixinha to establish a counter-attacking system. The Lanus vs Santos Laguna match wil end ina 1-2 win for the Mexican team.
Lanus vs Santos Laguna TV Schedule
The Lanus vs Santos Laguna match will be televised on FOX Deportes at 3:00 PM Pacific.
Lanus vs Santos Laguna Highlights
The Lanus vs Santos Laguna video highlights will be uploaded soon after the end of the match.
