Millionarios vs Independiente Santa Fe Predictions

Wednesday’s Copa Sudamericana round of 16, second leg action sees arch rivals Millonarios and Independiente Santa Fe locking horns once again. Another tight game is expected to be in order after a 0-0 stalemate in the first leg.

Millonarios will be pleased to have left the first leg with parity in tact, with home advantage now to come. While both sides share the Estadio El Campin, it’s now Azul fans who will pack out the stadium, rather than the majority of the crowd being made up by Santa Fe fans, as in the first leg. Nonetheless, Millonarios do not arrive in the best of shape, which has to be a big worry going into Wednesday’s match.

Indeed, Miguel Angel Russo’s troops fell to a 2-1 defeat to Atletico Bucaramanga over the weekend, leaving them well outside the play-off spots in the closing phase of the domestic season, currently placed 12th. All in all, the hosts have won just 1 of their last 9 outings and pressure is really beginning to mount on them, something that would only increase should they fall to defeat here.

However, luckily for the hosts, visitors Santa Fe hardly arrive in fine condition themselves, also outside of the domestic play-off spots, albeit only by 1 point and 1 place and in poor form, with fans becoming frustrated with the team’s far from inspiring style of football that is not yielding the best of results.

Having lost 2-0 at home to Deportivo Cali at the weekend, following a domestic cup exit at the hands of Once Caldas, spirits are very low in Santa Fe ranks at the moment. All in all, Los Cardenales have not won any of their last 4 matches and find themselves in a comparable situation to the hosts, in the sense that pressure could really cave in should they be eliminated in this tie.

Ultimately, the first leg was a very turgid watch with little happening and with both parties in poor shape and the stakes so high, another dull game is expected to be in order, with the fear of losing outweighing the bravery needed to win.

At current prices, backing the draw looks an excellent way to play and if it does indeed end all square, it’s likely to do so without goals. Millonarios’ last 4 home games have ended in draws, as have 11 of Santa Fe’s last 15 away games and we can’t see either sequence ending here. 2 of the 3 meetings contested between the two this year have ended goalless and it’s difficult to envisage anything more exciting being on show on Wednesday, with the tie and bragging rights likely to be settled from the spot.