- The reigning champions, who won convincingly in the first leg, will look to seal their place in the semi-finals at the Maracanã.
- The Ecuadorian side have recorded four away wins in Brazil in CONMEBOL competitions and will look to overturn the tie and secure a place among the continent's last four.
Junior Sornoza is one match away from a round number. If he plays on Thursday at the Maracanã, Independiente del Valle's number 10 will reach 50 matches for the club in the CONMEBOL Libertadores, and he is already the player with the most appearances, goals and assists in the 'Matagigantes'' history in the competition, with 49, 20 and 11, respectively. He will do so two goals down against a defending champion that barely knows what it is to trail.
In the entire edition, Leonardo Jardim's side have been behind for just 13 minutes and 54 seconds, 1.7% of the time played, the lowest percentage in the competition, and it happened only once, away to Cruzeiro in the Round of 16. In Quito they did what no visitor had done in the six previous meetings between the two: win. They did it with two shots on target, Bruno Henrique's, the man Jardim chose over Pedro for the altitude, and Léo Pereira's header, and ended a run of seven knockout matches without a win outside Brazil.
Flamengo in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: results, squad and schedule
The Maracanã, moreover, is their safe place. Flamengo have played 28 knockout matches in the competition at home and in 26 achieved a result that, if repeated against Independiente del Valle, would see them through; they won 12 of their last 13 knockout games at home, with the only defeat against Peñarol in 2024, 0-1. And whenever they won the first leg away, they advanced in six of seven occasions, including the five most recent. The exception is distant: 2008, 4-2 in Mexico against América and 0-3 in Brazil.
Independiente del Valle, however, have reasons not to give up. Joaquín Papa's side dominated the first leg with 18 shots and a Carlos González effort off the post, and in Brazil they have four wins in CONMEBOL competitions: against Corinthians in the 2019 CONMEBOL Sudamericana semifinals, against Grêmio in the 2021 Third Stage, against América Mineiro in 2022 and against Corinthians again in 2023. Since 2019, only Racing and Defensa y Justicia have as many away wins against Brazilian sides in those competitions.
Tie to be decided: Independiente del Valle need to win by two goals to force penalties and by three to qualify; Flamengo go through with any other result. Jardim summed it up in Quito in one sentence: "We took an important step, not a decisive one." On Thursday we will find out whether he was right.
Independiente del Valle in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: results, squad and schedule
Match details:
Stadium: Jornalista Mário Filho (Maracanã), Rio de Janeiro
Date and time: Thursday, September 17, 9:30 PM (Argentina time)
Referee: Andrés Matonte (Uruguay)
VAR: Antonio García (Uruguay)
The match in numbers:
- Flamengo advanced in six of the seven instances in which they won the first leg away in the CONMEBOL Libertadores, including the five most recent. The only exception was against Club América in the 2008 Round of 16 (4-2 in Mexico, 0-3 in Brazil).
- Flamengo have played 28 knockout matches in the CONMEBOL Libertadores at home and in 26 of them achieved a result that, if repeated against Independiente del Valle (a win, a draw or a one-goal defeat), would qualify them for the next round. In addition, they won 12 of their last 13 knockout games at home in the competition (1L, 0-1 to Peñarol in 2024).
- Independiente del Valle have four away wins in Brazil in CONMEBOL competitions: 2-0 against Corinthians in the 2019 CONMEBOL Sudamericana semifinals, 2-1 against Grêmio in the Third Stage of the 2021 CONMEBOL Libertadores, 2-0 against América Mineiro in the group stage of the 2022 CONMEBOL Libertadores and 2-1 against Corinthians in the group stage of the 2023 CONMEBOL Libertadores. Since 2019, only Racing (4W) and Defensa y Justicia (5W) have as many away wins against Brazilian sides in those competitions.
- Flamengo have been behind for just 13 minutes and 54 seconds in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores, 1.7% of the total time played (803:11), the lowest percentage of any team in the competition. The only time they trailed was away to Cruzeiro in the Round of 16.
- If he features in this match, Junior Sornoza will play his 50th game for Independiente del Valle in the CONMEBOL Libertadores. He is the player with the most appearances (49), goals (20) and assists (11) in the Negriazul's history in the competition.
Uniformes de Flamengo vs Independiente del Valle
