Botafogo vs Racing, for the Recopa Sudamericana: lineups, what time is the match, where and how to watch it on TV

To understand the sweet moment that Racing is going through, it is enough to review a statistic: it took the Academy 32 years to play an international final again - since losing the Super Cup to Cruzeiro in 1992 until last year lifting the Copa Sudamericana in Asunción against the same Brazilian rival - and now it had to wait just three months to be on the verge of a new victory lap. This Thursday, with the broadcast on ESPN and the Disney+ platform from 9:30 p.m., the team led by Gustavo Costas will play against Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro and will seek to maintain the two-goal advantage it achieved in Avellaneda. Venezuelan Jesús Valenzuela will be the referee, while his compatriot Juan Soto will be in charge of the VAR.

There will be four thousand academic fans who will be at the Nilton Santos hoping to continue writing the great history of the club. The hopes of lifting the eighth international title are placed on the players, who have always responded in heated matches, and on the idol coach Gustavo Costas, who could equal Juan José Pizzuti as the most successful coach at the international level, with two stars. Tito was crowned in the 1967 Copa Libertadores and in the 1967 Intercontinental Cup , while Costas celebrated the Sudamericana in Paraguay.

“Nothing is resolved. If you talk to the players, they will tell you. There are still many minutes left. This group will not believe it, we have to go to war in Brazil , we will have to fight it and play the match,” warned Costas beforehand.

The Argentine coach intends to repeat the same team that won the first leg. Luciano Vietto worked alongside the group during the week and will be available. If he is retained, his place will be taken by Matías Zaracho. Those who traveled to Brazil but are ruled out are Santiago Sosa and Agustín García Basso.

“It will be a great show for everyone. They will try to impose their game with the support of their fans and we will have to be alert to take advantage of the spaces they leave. The most important thing is to be focused for the 100 minutes that the match lasts,” Maximiliano Salas analyzed in DSports.

The good thing for Racing, in addition, is that it will face a team that is going through a severe crisis. After having had the best season in its history last year, Botafogo seems to be falling apart more and more every day: it has not had a coach for two months, some footballers have criticised the planning of the Rio de Janeiro club and it has let two titles slip away so far in 2025. “Disaster” and “disorder” are the two words that are most repeated in the Brazilian press to define the current situation of the team that made a strong impact in 2024 by winning, no more and no less, the Copa Libertadores and the Brasileirao.

Fogao has been without a coach since the Portuguese Artur Jorge , the architect of the two conquests mentioned above, terminated his contract at the beginning of January to sign with Qatari side Al-Rayyan. Since then, the Cariocas have had two interim coaches: Carlos Leiria , who led them in the 3-1 defeat against Flamengo in the Brazilian Super Cup, and the current Claudio Cacapa .

According to local press, American John Textor , the club's owner and the main target of the debacle, will be at the stadium tonight. Yesterday, the businessman had a virtual meeting with Hernán Crespo, who could be announced in the next few hours.