On Wednesday afternoon, CONMEBOL drew the fixtures for the first round [CORRECTION: this is the second preliminary round, not the first] – the preliminaries – of the 2013 Copa Sudamericana, with the biggest news from an Argentine point of view being River Plate’s return to continental competition four years after their last appearance (it’s also Belgrano’s debut at this level, but no-one cares as much about that). The six Argentine sides – the five who qualified via the 2012-13 league table, plus Vélez Sarsfield who are allowed in thanks to winning the Superfinal – will play each other for a place in the first round proper. The ties, with the first side named being the ones who get to play the second leg at home, are:
River v San Lorenzo; Vélez v Belgrano; Lanús v Racing. First legs will be played at the end of July.
Hasta El Gol Siempre 