Peruvian football club Cienciano will broadcast their Copa Sudamericana match against Botafogo for free on a giant screen in Cusco on Thursday.
The club announced on social media that supporters can gather at the Plaza Mayor from 5.30 p.m. local time, two hours ahead of the 7.30 p.m. kickoff Peruvian time.
Organisers expect a large crowd of fans to assemble in the main square of Cusco, the Andean city in southeastern Peru where Cienciano are based. Access to the Plaza Mayor will be completely free for supporters of the team, who are widely known by their nickname El Papa.
The decisive second leg of the round of 16 in South America's secondary international club tournament will take place at the Estadio Olimpico Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For fans who cannot attend the public screening in Cusco, the match will be broadcast live on television via the DSports channel and streamed on the DGO and Paramount+ platforms.
The match holds major significance for Cienciano as they aim to seal their qualification and secure a place among the top eight teams in the competition.
First leg advantage and qualification scenarios
Cienciano head into the second leg with a commanding lead after securing a 6-1 victory over Botafogo in the first leg at the Estadio Inca Garcilaso de la Vega in Cusco.
That decisive first leg result gives the Peruvian side a five-goal aggregate advantage as they travel to Brazil. Cienciano will guarantee their passage to the quarter-finals with a win, a draw, or any defeat by four goals or fewer.
Botafogo face a formidable task on home soil if they are to turn the tie around. The Brazilian team must win by five goals to force a penalty shootout, while a victory by six goals or more would eliminate Cienciano and send Botafogo through.
Background to the South American tie
The Copa Sudamericana is the annual South American club competition organised by CONMEBOL, the continent's football governing body. The winner of the tournament earns a place in the following season's Copa Libertadores, South America's premier club championship.
Cienciano are based in Cusco, a city situated high in the Andes mountains. The club achieved international fame in 2003 when they won the Copa Sudamericana, becoming the first Peruvian team to claim a major South American trophy.
Botafogo are one of the traditional powerhouse clubs of Rio de Janeiro, playing their home matches at the Estadio Olimpico Nilton Santos, a stadium originally built for the 2007 Pan American Games and used during the 2016 Summer Olympics.
