San Jose vs Flamengo Predictions

Tuesday’s Copa Libertadores group stage clash sees Bolivians San Jose doing battle with Brazilians Flamengo. The visitors face a huge task as they travel to the high altitude city of Oruro.

Whilst San Jose may not be a household name in South American football, they’ll certainly be giving opponents plenty to think about in the Copa Libertadores in the coming months. Based in the city of Oruro, the reigning Bolivian champion’s Estadio Jesús Bermúdez home is situated a huge 3,700 metres above sea level, creating gruelling conditions that non-domestic opponents are simply not used to playing in and will find next to impossible to adapt to.

For that very reason, San Jose can be confident in at least being competitive in the competition this year, despite their relatively small size. They may not have the same resources or strength as the sides they are going to face, but the altitude gives them a huge advantage and unbeaten in 13 home games, of which they’ve won 8, the hosts look well paced to fully capitalise.

Meanwhile, Flamengo arrive in decent enough shape under the watch of boss Abel Braga but there’s no doubting this is a real test for them. Mengao are far more of a continental powerhouse and are expecting to make a deep run in the competition but in this match alone, it remains to be seen how they cope.

Flamengo do arrive having won 5 of their last 6 matches but all but one of said wins have been against lower league domestic opponents. Nothing can prepare a side for the type of conditions that await Flamengo in Bolivia and having lost 11 of their last 17 Libertadores away games, the visitors prospects hardly look the brightest coming into it.

Ultimately, if this match was being played in regular conditions, Flamengo would be huge favourites but you just cannot underestimate the significance of the altitude. Flamengo’s players may be more talented than San Jose’s but they’ll struggle to breathe at such high heights and won’t be able to impose their regular style of play.

All things considered, we’re more than happy to back a San Jose win here and feel they’ll do enough to get off the mark in the competition. They’re fairly strong on home soil and should be able to make Flamengo suffer in the intense climates, with a 1-0 margin of home victory on the cards.