High altitude start for Boca Juniors in Libertadores
( 2003-12-31 09:51) (Agencies)
Defending champions Boca
Juniors will kick off their defence of the Libertadores Cup with a difficult
match away to Bolivar at 3,600 metres above sea level.
Boca, who have won South America's equivalent of the Champions League three
times in the last four seasons, meet the Bolivians in La Paz on February 18,
according to the fixture list posted on the South American Football
Confederation's website on Tuesday.
Boca, who were drawn in group eight, play their first home match against
Chile's Colo Colo on March 3 before travelling to Colombia to face Deportivo
Cali one week later.
The competition starts on February 3 with Colo Colo at home to Deportivo
Cali, Mexico's first representatives - still to be decided - entertaining
Universidad de Concepcion of Chile in group three and Paraguayan champions
Libertad at home to Colombia's Tolima in Asuncion in group six.
Brazilian champions Cruzeiro, who are attempting to win the competition for
the third time, enter the fray on February 4 with an apparently straightforward
match at home to Venezuelan champions Caracas FC in group three.
Pele's former club Santos, runners-up this year in both the Brazilian
championship and Libertadores Cup, travel to Cochabamba for their first match
away to Bolivia's Wilstermann on February 5 in group seven.
The first round, in which the 36 teams are divided into nine groups of four,
finishes on April 22.
The winners of each group qualify for the second round along with the seven
best second-placed teams.
|
