Melgar have a tall task ahead of them as they trail Independiente del Valle 3-0 heading into the second leg of their semi-final at the Copa Sudamericana on Wednesday.
El Domino are unbeaten at Estadio Monumental Virgen de Chapi in this year's competition, while the reigning champions of Ecuador have not lost on the road at the 2022 Sudamericana.
Match preview
Their first semi-final appearance at this tournament went about as poorly as the Peruvians could have imagined, as the visitors looked overwhelmed and out of sorts last Wednesday, conceding 10 shots on target while rarely looking dangerous themselves.
The three goals Melgar conceded to the Ecuadorians was as many tallies as they had given up in their previous six Sudamericana fixtures, while the club from Arequipa have only allowed two goals at home in five matches at the 2022 tournament.
That defeat in the opening leg ended an impressive unbeaten run of seven consecutive matches in all competitions for this team, who are currently tied with Sporting Cristal in the aggregate table with 59 points so far in the Peruvian Primera Division.
In five previous encounters versus Ecuadorian opponents at the Copa Sudamericana, Melgar only hold one victory, though they have never lost or conceded a goal at home against any of those teams, beating SD Aucas in the group stage last year (2-0).
While his side have only trailed in one of their last seven matches in all competitions before their encounter versus Independiente del Valle a week ago, manager Pablo Lavallen knows a thing or two about turning around cup ties.
During his playing days at River Plate, the Argentine defender saw his team come from behind twice in the knockout stage of the 1996 Copa Libertadores after losing the opening leg, winning the title over America de Cali, 2-1 on aggregate despite losing the first match 1-0.
A disappointing exit in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores has been alleviated by some solid performances by Independiente del Valle in the knockout stage of this tournament.
Los Negriazules survived a physical round of 16 affair versus Lanus, advancing 2-1 on aggregate, and this team have only grown since then, taking out Deportivo Tachira in the last eight, while putting together perhaps their best all-around performance of the competition last Wednesday.
Martin Anselmi served as an assistant for this team in 2019 when they became just the second club from Ecuador to lift the Copa Sudamericana trophy.
Since replacing Renato Paiva as manager at the end of May, the 42-year-old boss has this team in fine form, dropping only three of their last 15 matches in all competitions under his leadership.
While they look to be in a solid position to qualify for the final for the second time in their previous three appearances at this competition, they will be weary of not being too complacent in this encounter.
That is because they have previously suffered a lopsided defeat with Anselmi at the helm, losing 5-0 domestically on the road versus Aucas in July.
It is only the fourth time historically that Independiente del Valle hold a lead after the first leg of a knockout stage affair in this competition, and they have never gone on to lose a Sudamericana tie in that scenario.
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Team News
Melgar goalkeeper Carlos Caceda conceded last Wednesday for the first time in this competition since his side defeated Deportivo Cali 2-1 in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie, Bernardo Cuesta leads this tournament with eight goals so far, while Luis Iberico and Jean Pierre Archimbaud each have two.
Archimbaud and Martin Perez Guedes both scored in a 2-1 win over San Martin in their previous domestic fixture at the end of August, with Cuesta collecting two assists.
Iberico, Cuesta and Kenji Cabrera were the only players to score from the spot in their 3-1 penalty shootout triumph in the last eight of this competition over Internacional.
We saw several new faces to the Melgar starting 11 last Wednesday compared to the side which began in their victory over San Martin.
Leonel Galeano, Alejandro Ramos, Horacio Orzan, Alexis Arias, Cabrera and Cuesta all started in the opening leg of this tie.
Richard Schunke scored his second of the competition last week for the Ecuadorians, with the other tallies coming courtesy of Lorenzo Faravelli and Lautaro Diaz, and Moises Ramirez collected his third clean sheet at the 2022 tournament.
Junior Sornoza and Marco Angulo each assisted in their opening leg victory, while Fernando Gaibor had their only tally in their 2-1 domestic defeat to Deportivo Cuenca on Saturday.
Only two players who started against Melgar last Wednesday were in the starting 11 this past weekend as Luis Segovia, and Mateo Carabajal started in a back three versus Deportivo alongside Garis Mina.
Melgar possible starting lineup:
Caceda; Lazo, Galeano, Deneumostier, Ramos; Orzan; Iberico, Sanchez, Arias, Archimbaud; Cuesta
Independiente del Valle possible starting lineup:
Ramirez; Vargas, Carabajal, Schunke, Segovia, Chavez; Minda, Pellerano, Faravelli; Diaz, Ayovi
We say: Melgar 1-2 Independiente del Valle (Independiente del Valle advances 5-1 on aggregate)
Experience seemed to be a significant advantage for the Ecuadorians in the opening leg, and while Melgar have been potent at times on home soil, we are backing the visitors to advance as they have rarely played poor defensively of late.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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