There is no doubt that the draw for the 2023 Copa Sudamericana worried some fans and excited others. In that sense, Universitario de Deportes finally learned about the first opponent they will face in the international tournament.
YOU CAN SEE Copa Libertadores 2023: minute by minute of the previous phase draw
As you may recall, except for Brazil and Argentina, which have more slots, all nations have four participating clubs and they face each other in the preliminary round. The two winning teams from each nation end up advancing to the group stage and there Universitario aims to reach at least.
This is how the 'U' will have to face Cienciano in Lima in order to qualify for the group stage. In the draw, the name of the merengue team came out first, so they are the home team and will play at the Estadio Monumental, which means a huge advantage considering that they are not two-legged matches.
On the other hand, Universidad César Vallejo was paired with Deportivo Binacional, and they will be the home team in Trujillo for this exciting match. Remember that, being a single match, if they are tied after 90 minutes, they will go directly to the penalty shootout, without extra time.
It should be noted that unlike the previous edition of the tournament, in which only one team qualified for the group stage, now the first place will go directly to the round of 16 while the second place will have the possibility to face the third-placed teams in the Copa Libertadores group stage, similar to the round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League.