Despite having several important casualties in their squad, Barcelona de Guayaquil rescued a goalless draw from the pitch of América Mineiro on Tuesday, in the first leg of the third and final qualifying round for the Copa Libertadores.
In a match played at the Arena Independencia stadium in Belo Horizonte, the Ecuadorian club ratified the defensive strength they had shown in the previous rounds, in which they beat Uruguayan City Torque and Peruvian Universitario with just one goal conceded in four appearances.
América Mineiro, who is participating for the first time in the Libertadores, had more possession of the ball during the process, but was unable to create frequent danger against the goal defended by the Argentine Javier Burrai, who barely received two shots between the three posts during the 90 minutes.
The visitors, who did not have defender Luca Sosa due to suspension or the injured Byron Castillo, Damián Díaz and Erick Castillo, had two chances in the first half with crosses from winger Adonis Preciado and two shots from striker Gonzalo Mastriani, who required the Jailson goalkeeper.
In the second act, the Brazilian team advanced their lines and looked for the winning goal, especially after the entry of the skilful midfielder Matheusinho. However, he ran into the good defense of Barcelona, which had an outstanding performance by Uruguayan central defender Carlos Rodríguez.
In one of the last actions of the challenge, Jailson committed a maximum penalty on the Ecuadorian Michael Carcelén. However, when the 90 minutes had already passed, Carlos Garcés took the penalty kick off target and prevented his team from taking advantage of the rematch.
The second leg will be played next Tuesday at the Monumental stadium in Guayaquil.
The third qualifying phase of the Copa Libertadores will continue this Wednesday with the matches Everton against Estudiantes de La Plata and Fluminense against Olimpia, and on Thursday, with the duel between Universidad Católica and The Strongest.
The four classified in this round will join the other 28 teams that already have their presence guaranteed in the group stage of the maximum continental tournament, whose draw will take place on Friday, March 25, to define the composition of the eight groups in which they will be will play the next stage of the competition.
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