La illusion of Melgar to reach the final of the Copa Sudamericana 2022 suffered a hard blow in the first match against Independiente del Valle. In Ecuador, Dominó fell 3-0 in one of its worst performances in the tournament so far, a result that forces them to seek a historic victory by four or more goals in the return leg to avoid elimination.
In favor of the rojinegro club, in addition to their good performance as a home team this season (only lost once in Arequipa between Copa and Liga 1), there is a precedent that is quite similar to their situation: almost 30 years ago, a Peruvian team already overturned a 3-0 deficit against an Ecuadorian team in a 'do-or-die' international tournament.
The story goes back to 1993. In the round of 16 of that year's Copa Libertadores, Sporting Cristal faced El Nacional from Quito in search of a place in the quarterfinals. The first leg, played on April 7th at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, was a resounding victory for the home team with a brace from Luis Chérrez and another goal from Sergio Ballesteros.
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For the rematch, one week later at the Estadio Nacional in Lima, the rimenses went all out from the initial whistle to turn the tie around. Just six minutes into the game, Pablo Zegarra scored the 1-0 for the blues, who found the 2-0 through Percy Olivares shortly before halftime.
In the second half, the cerveceros continued to exert intense pressure on the northern team, which bore fruit nine minutes into that half, when Flavio Maestri scored the 3-0 and the temporary parity in the aggregate. Two minutes from the final whistle, a penalty converted by Marquinho for the 4-0 allowed Cristal to seal one of their happiest nights.
When does Melgar vs. Independiente del Valle play?
Melgar will have to perform an equal feat if they want to reach the final on Wednesday, September 7th, at 7:30 p.m. (Peruvian and Ecuadorian time), at the Estadio Monumental de la UNSA. The only time they hosted Independiente del Valle in the Ciudad Blanca, in 2016, they lost 1-0.