Argentinos Juniors will face a tough challenge this Wednesday when they visit Barcelona de Ecuador in the first leg of the second stage of the Copa Libertadores.
The match, scheduled for 21:30 (Argentina time), will be held at the Estadio Monumental Banco Pichincha and will be broadcast live by Agencia Noticias Argentina and can be watched on Fox Sports and Disney+.
Barcelona: José David Contreras; Bryan Carabali, Javier Báez, Luca Sosa, Matías Lugo; Jandry Gómez, Johan García, Milton Céliz; Joao Joshimar Rojas, Sergio Núñez, and Jonathan Perlaza. DT: César Farías.
Argentinos Juniors: Brayan Cortés; Kevin Coronel, Erik Godoy, Francisco Álvarez, Leandro Lozano; Nicolás Oroz, Federico Fattori, Hernán López Muñoz; Emiliano Viveros, Tomás Molina, and Alan Lescano. DT: Nicolás Diez.
The appointed referee is Chilean Fernando Vejar, while his compatriot Nicolás Millas will be in charge of the VAR.
Argentinos, coached by Nicolás Diez, qualified directly for this stage after finishing third in the annual table of the Professional Football League. For the "Bicho", the 2025 season was quite average, as they lacked competitiveness in the playoffs of both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments.
The last time the "Bicho" participated in the most important club tournament in America was in 2023, when they reached the round of 16, where they were eliminated by Fluminense of Brazil.
The team from La Paternal, who won the Copa Libertadores for the only time in their history in 1985, will not have it easy, as they will face Barcelona de Ecuador, a team that in the last decade has proven to be a strong contender in this tournament, reaching the semifinals in 2017 and 2021, losing to Gremio and Flamengo of Brazil, respectively.
