- A equipe carioca fez valer o mando de campo e venceu por 2 a 0 no jogo de ida.
- Em sua primeira e histórica participação na CONMEBOL Libertadores, o Platense buscará reverter o placar diante de sua torcida para prolongar sua façanha continental.
Platense know the road ahead because other Argentine teams have already traveled it. Seven times an Argentine club lost the first leg away by two goals or more and managed to turn the tie around in the second leg to advance in the CONMEBOL Libertadores: River on two occasions, Boca, Racing, Atlético Tucumán, Lanús and Estudiantes. The most recent was Racing in the 2023 Round of 16, who lost 4-2 in Colombia to Atlético Nacional and won 3-0 at home. That is the mirror for the 'Calamar' on Tuesday at the Estadio Ciudad de Vicente López.
The first leg at the Maracanã left a clear lesson. Fluminense settled the match in ten minutes of the first half, with Nonato's goal in the 21st minute after a mistake playing out from the back and Hulk's in the 31st, a left-footed finish across goal, and then managed the game. Platense finished with 13 shots to four, but only one was on target, and the 162 passes into the final third they completed were their highest tally in the competition: they got forward a lot and finished little. Martín Palermo's side, who already knocked out Coquimbo Unido on penalties in the Round of 16 and have in Juan Pablo Cozzani one of their key players, now need to turn that volume into goals.
Platense in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: results, squad and schedule
Fluminense, on the other hand, arrive with the precedents in their favor and with a warning. On four previous occasions they won the first leg by two goals in the competition: they went through twice, against Cerro Porteño in 2021 and Olimpia in 2023, on the way to their only title, and were eliminated in the other two, against Libertad in 2011 and against Olimpia again in the 2022 Third Stage. As visitors in second legs, they have progressed in three of their last four, with this year's 1-1 in Mendoza against Independiente Rivadavia as the most recent precedent. Marcão, the coach who took over in August, is still unbeaten after six matches, and Paulo Henrique Ganso, who assisted Hulk, is the outfield player with the most appearances for the 'Flu' in CONMEBOL competitions since 2019, with 50.
Fluminense in the 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores: results, squad and schedule
Match details:
Stadium: Ciudad de Vicente López, Vicente López
Date and time: Tuesday, September 15, 7:00 PM (Argentina time)
Referee: Cristian Garay (Chile)
VAR: Juan Sepúlveda (Chile)
The match in numbers:
- Fluminense won the first leg by a two-goal margin on four previous occasions in the CONMEBOL Libertadores, advancing in two (vs Cerro Porteño in the 2021 Round of 16 and Olimpia in the 2023 quarterfinals) and falling in the other two (vs Libertad in the 2011 Round of 16 and Olimpia in the 2022 Third Stage). The most recent came on the way to their only title in the competition, three years ago.
- Seven times an Argentine team lost the first leg away by two goals or more and managed to come back in the second leg to advance in the CONMEBOL Libertadores (River twice, Boca, Racing, Atlético Tucumán, Lanús and Estudiantes). The most recent instance was Racing in the 2023 Round of 16, losing 4-2 in Colombia to Atlético Nacional and winning 3-0 at home.
- Fluminense progressed in three of their last four second legs played away in the CONMEBOL Libertadores (2W 1D 1L), beating Olimpia and Internacional in 2023 and drawing with Independiente Rivadavia in 2026. Their only defeat was against Atlético Mineiro in the 2024 quarterfinals (0-2).
- Paulo Henrique Ganso provided an assist in the first leg against Platense, his third for Fluminense in the CONMEBOL Libertadores. Since 2019, when he joined the club, he is the outfield player with the most matches for the Flu in CONMEBOL competitions, with 50 appearances: 32 in the CONMEBOL Libertadores, 16 in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana and 2 in the CONMEBOL Recopa.
- Platense completed 162 passes into the final third in the first leg against just 106 by Fluminense. In fact, it was the Calamar's highest figure in that category in a 2026 CONMEBOL Libertadores match.
