Atletico Nacional vs Estudiantes: Preview and Prediction

Atletico Nacional vs Estudiantes
Copa Libertadores 2017, Group Stage
Date: Wednesday, 3rd May 2017
Kick-off at 1:00 UK / 2:00 CET
Venue: Estadio Atanasio Girardot (Medellin).

Atletico Nacional couldn’t have wished for a worse start to their 2017 Copa Libertadores campaign. The defending champions are at the verge of elimination after losing in each of their three groups games so far.

The Colombians are in an excellent run of form in their domestic league. They are yet to lose a match after 15 match weeks and picked up 13 wins and 2 draws. Moreover, they let in just 5 goals during the period. It remained to be seen if Reinaldo Rueda’s men can transfer their league form to the continental competition.

Meanwhile, Estudiantes are just a position above Nacional by virtue of the win in the reverse leg of this tie on 20th April. At the same time, they lost to Botafogo and Barcelona SC.

The team from Argentina have a poor away record in the competition. Since entering the qualification round in 2015, they managed to win just once in 6 road games, drew 1 and lost 4.

Atletico Nacional vs Estudiantes: Head-to-head

The reverse leg was won by Estudiantes by a narrow 1-0 margin, with the lone goal falling in the first-half.

The team’s met in the last season’s competition as well, Nacional remained unbeaten with a 1-0 win away win before settling for a 1-1 draw at home.

Atletico Nacional vs Estudiantes: Prediction

Nacional must win here and dropping points here could eliminate them from the competition. Their league form is all good, but now they need to carry the momentum into the continental competition. Estudiantes do not have a good away record in the competition. Therefore, the Colombians will not get a better chance than this to generate some momentum.