The results of the Round of 16
The CONMEBOL Sudamericana™ Round of 16 was held in a home away format, leaving six days of exciting competition with at least two matches in each of them. Once they were settled, eight teams advanced to the next round, the Quarterfinals: Sporting Cristal, Peñarol, Rosario Central, RB Bragantino, LDU Quito, Athletico PR, Santos and Libertad.
The only two remaining winning teams in the tournament are Atlético PR (champions in 2018) and LDU Quito (2009). In the Round of 16, Athletico PR won by a clear 5-1 margin against América Cali. LDU Quito needed some luck, as the final score against Grêmio was 2-2, but they scored more away goals and have therefore been able to reach the Quarterfinals. Grêmio and LDU Quito were among the favourites, and we could treat to two spectacular matches with a deserved winner.
Next matches in the Quarterfinals are Sporting Cristal against Peñerol, Rosario Central against RB Bragantino, LDU Quito against Athletico PR and Santos against Libertad. The most anticipated match is LDU Quito against Athletico PR – both have already won the trophy in the past, while still being favorite teams this year.
The shining players
Before the Round of 16, Grêmio’s Brazilian Ferreira was one of the tournament’s top players. Now, after the Brazilian team’s elimination, it is Rosario Central’s Emiliano Vecchio who emerges as the most outstanding player. His team beat Dep. Táchira and he has already scored three goals in the tournament, helping his team with his exceptional consistency. His work in midfield saw him make 24 successful dribbles and one assist, with a passing accuracy of over 89%.
Placed 2nd to 4th are other midfielders, by the names of Vina (BRA), Óscar Romero (PAR) and Víctor Figueroa (ARG). All of them scored fewer goals, achieved fewer successful dribbles and had worse pass accuracy than Vecchio, but Romero and Figueroa had more assists than him.
In terms of goalkeepers, we see Pedro Ortíz of Ecuador in first place with 38 appearances and 21 saves inside the box. Second-placed Alejandro Medina (ARG) made 36 interventions (18 inside the box), and Christopher Toselli, 3rd, 32 (17 inside the box). However, all three of these goalkeepers’ teams have been eliminated, leaving Martin Silva of Club Libertad (URU) to move up in the statistics, as his team has qualified for the Quarterfinals.
Who will proceed to the Semifinals?
The first match will take place between Sporting Cristal and Penarol. The Peruvians have a 1.5 goals per game statistic, while the Uruguayans reach 2.3, and in general, the latter are considered favorites for this tie. The second match is Rosario Central vs RB Bragantino. According to the statistics, Central should be the winning team, as they score 1.6 goals per game while Bragantino score 1.3. The third match is Athletico Paranaense versus LDU Quito. Although LDU Quito might be the underdog, statistics show that Athletico should be the winning team, with more goals scored per game and more clean sheets. The last match of the Quarter-Finals is Santos vs Libertad. The Paraguayans have more goals per game and more clean sheets.
Measures PayRetailers takes to spread its word
During this season of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana™, PayRetailers has been busy with spreading its word. The sponsorship allows for many types of advertisements like videos for social media or the screens in the stadiums. An important measure is logo animations for the LED boards that fence the pitch. That way, all football fans scattered over the world and watching their favorite team know about PayRetailers as the payment service provider for Latin America.
The most prominent way of spreading the word might be the assist of the week. It’s a format that is sponsored solely by PayRetailers. Every week, the best assist out of all matches is chosen with a good amount of PayRetailers screen-time.
