The Copa Sudamericana champions will begin their Copa Libertadores campaign on Tuesday evening when they travel to the north of the continent to battle Caracas in the first round of group stage at Estadio Olimpico de la UCV with kickoff at 1:15 am.
Alberto Valentim’s men will come into the tie on a low after suffering a disappointing elimination in the Campeonato Paranaense 1 semifinal.
Athletico PR fell 1-2 at home in the first leg of the semifinal tie to Coritiba and they failed to improve things in the return fixture, playing only a 1-1 stalemate on the occasion.
Moving forward, we have to say that Athletico Paranaense have historically struggled against Venezuelan opposition in CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores. They have lost eight out of nine away fixtures in the elite continental competition.
Of course, the Brazilians are always favorites against the Venezuelan opposition, but we all know how hard it is to play against the Venezuelan teams away from home due to the high altitude.
Caracas is off to a slow start in the latest season of Venezuelan Primera Division. They have won only one of the six games they have played, scoring no more than four goals in the process.
Despite their recent poor form and concerns about traveling to high altitude, I expect Athletico Paranaense to take all three points against Guaros de Lara at the Estadio Luis Chirinos.
Caracas vs Athletico Paranaense Head to Head
Both sides have two games against each other with visitors taking two wins while hosts winless. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Academia 0-0 Caracas
- Caracas 1-1 Portuguese
- Metropolitanos 3-0 Caracas
- Caracas 1-1 Zamora
- Deportivo Lara 1-1 Caracas
Away
- Coritiba 1-1 Athletico Paranaense
- Athletico 1-2 Coritiba
- Paranaense 2-1 Londrina
- Londrina 1-0 Athletico
- FC Cascavel 3-4 Paranaense
Caracas Team News
Caracas have no injury worries heading into this match, giving manager Alberto Valentim a full set of players to choose from.
Athletico Paranaense Team News
The Athletico Paranaense manager will have a full squad to choose from for this game, and he is not worried about any injury problems distracting his team.
Prediction and Odds
At 1.95, backing the visitors to win makes sense. Also, since Caracas scored only four goals in six Venezuelan Primera Division matches at the start of the season, backing Athletico Paranaense to keep a clean sheet could pay off.
- Athletico Paranaense Win
- No Score: Home
- Goals Under 2.5
