“There is still a way through”

“There is still a way through,” a Melgar supporter might say, looking towards a meeting that leaves little room for delay. On Tuesday, 6 May, Football Club Melgar host Defensor Sporting Club in the Copa Libertadores with one league-phase game left: Defensor are second on nine points, three ahead of third-placed Melgar.

Melgar’s six points have come from two wins; their form across the five matches is WLLLW. Defensor have won three of their five, with a W-W-L-W-L sequence. On 11 March, Defensor beat Melgar 2-0 in the Copa Libertadores.

For Melgar, Alvaro Villalobos is among the players to watch, though his recent returns have been modest: no goals, one assist and no shots across two matches. Nicolás De Los Santos has two goals and an assist in his past four appearances, while Joaquín Machín has contributed a goal and two assists in five. Santiago Llabrés, meanwhile, has been consistently rated well from the left.

Defensor are expected to keep faith with a 4-4-2, used in each of their last five matches. Their likely eleven includes Llabrés and De Los Santos, but there are fitness concerns: Joel Méndez is listed at 37 per cent condition, with Hebert Silvera and Federico González also short of full condition. Emiliano Muníz, a regular on the right, has left the club.

The earlier 2-0 defeat gives the hosts a specific debt to answer, but this is a different evening and a different test.