Half Time:

My prediction is holding true as Fluminense is back in this series, trailing Liga 2-1. The "Albos" started losing momentum following their only goal of this match.  They had to wait after the Tricolor scored twice on them to put scoring chances together again.

Flu boss Renato Gaúcho wanted to put in striker Dodo to play alongside Washington, but changed his mind after the team scoring a pair of unanswered goals.

Héctor Baldassi, the referee from Argentina, has been easy on the foul calls. He easily should have issued at least five bookings. Instead he showed only one of them, which went to fellow countryman, Liga striker Claudio Bieler.  If he lets this match get out of hand, tempers will flare and we will be shoving matches between the teams.

Here are the confirmed starting lineups for both Fluminense and Liga:

Fluminense: Fernando Henrique, Gabriel, Thiago Silva, Luiz Alberto, Júnior César, Ygor, Arouca, Cicero, Darío Conca, Thiago Neves and Washington

Liga: Francisco Cevallos, Renán Calle, Norberto Araujo, Jairo Campos, Joffre Guerrón, Enrique Vera, Patricio Urrutia, Luis Bolaños, Paul Ambrosi, Damián Manso and Claudio Bieler

Prediction: Fluminense 2, Liga 1 (Liga wins the Copa Libertadores on a 5-4 aggregate)

I said it last night during the Liga-Fluminense match that I narrated for television: The Albos needed to beat Flu by at least three goals to increase their chances of winning their first Copa Libertadores championship while becoming the first Ecuadorian side to take this tournament.

Liga took a 4-1 advantage at the half, but once the second half started, the Albos didn't look as aggresive in their attack. Looking back at the first 90 minutes of this two-leg series, the Ecuadorian squad led by Edgardo Bauza failed to capitalize on important chances that could have gotten them their fifth or even sixth goal. Instead, the defense played lackadaisical, leading to Fluminense's second goal in the closing half.

On the bright side, Liga ended an eight-game winless streak while demonstrating that its attack had some life after all. In various stages of the opening half, even defenders participated in scoring chances. Not only that, but they handed Fluminense their third loss in 12 games in the competition. In fact, the Brazilians had not lost since the first leg of the quarterfinals, when they fell to Sao Paulo 1-0 at the Morumbí.

The best Flu did in the match played at the Estadio Casa Blanca in Quito was tie the score at 1-1, following a goal from the Argentinean Darío Conca. The attacking midfielder executed an impeccable free kick that sailed over the Liga wall and hit the upper-left corner of the goal to beat José Francisco Cevallos. That's one thing to avoid against Brazilian teams-do not commit fouls just outside the penalty area, or even concede corners because you might end up paying a steep price in the end.

For Fluminense, losing by a couple of goals isn't all that bad since it's not an insurmountable deficit. But they cannot sit on their laurels and expect to beat Liga easily since the Albos have lost on only one occasion in the knockout stage. 

Do not be surprised if the return match at the Maracaná yields a result that end up tying the aggregate. This has not happened since the final back in 2004, when Once Caldas upset Boca Juniors by winning on penalties.