7M - Copa Sudamericana Preview: Santa Fe vs Caracas - prediction, team news, lineups

For the first time since 2010, Santa Fe and Caracas will face each other in the Copa Sudamericana, with the first leg of their knockout round clash taking place at Estadio El Campin in Bogota on Thursday.

The Colombians were relegated into this competition after finishing third in their Copa Libertadores group, while Caracas qualified via their second-place finish in Group E of this tournament.

After another early exit from the Libertadores, Santa Fe will hope this competition can offer a redemption story this time around. They have not made it beyond the group stage of the Libertadores in five of their last six appearances but have enjoyed much more success in the Sudamericana.

Santa Fe have reached the last 16 or further in five of their last six Sudamericana campaigns, lifting the trophy in 2015. Pablo Repetto's side head into this contest unbeaten in seven of their last eight matches across all competitions. They have also picked up points in their last seven competitive home fixtures, winning two of their last three outings at El Campin.

Los Cardenales are undefeated against Caracas in this competition, having come from behind to beat them 2-1 in the Colombian capital back in 2010.

After a series of solid performances in the group stage, Caracas may be feeling optimistic about making a deeper run in this tournament. Fernando Aristeguieta's men picked up points in five of their six group matches, with the club seeking their first appearance in the round of 16 since 2019.

The Venezuelans have collected points in six of their last seven matches across all competitions but lost their final group game of the Sudamericana, 3-1 at home to Botafogo. That said, they did not lose a group match away from home in this tournament, scoring six of their nine goals outside of Caracas.

In this season's competition, they have opened the scoring in all but one of their encounters but failed to win on three of those occasions. Los Rojos del Avila have never beaten a Colombian team in the Sudamericana, having drawn 0-0 with Santa Fe in Venezuela in 2010.