Corinthians v Racing.
Sao Paulo giants Corinthians vie with Flamengo for being the most popular club in Brazil and apart from multiple domestic titles they have one Copa Libertadores and a Club World Cup (both in 2012) among their palmares.
And Corinthians have been here before, having reached the last four of the Sudamericana (CS) in 2019, before going out to Ecuador’s Independiente del Valle.
This time around their enormous fan base might be expecting them to go one better, although complicating matters is their precarious league position.
Hence, staying in Serie A could affect their focus and priorities.
Tasked with negotiating this dual challenge is the relatively recently appointed Ramon Diaz., an Argentine who can certainly bring vast experience to the task, including coaching River Plate to their Libertadores triumph in 1996.
His squad includes striker Yuri Alberto who tops the player valuations alongside Rodrigo Garro, Talles Magno, and possibly, the somewhat controversial Memphis Depay.
Corinthians progressed from their group with a single loss, to Argentinos Juniors, before edging a very tight encounter with fellow-Brazilians Bragantino that ended in a tense penalty shootout victory.
They then faced a tie with another Serie A side, Fortaleza, which was negotiated much more comfortably.
Now they will face Racing of Avellaneda over two legs with the first match being staged in Belo Horizonte.
La Academia have a storied history though many of their successes date back some time, including a Copa Libertadores title in 1967.
In this campaign, under their ex-player Gustavo Costas, they topped group H, ahead of Brazilians’ Bragantino to go on to the Round of 16.
Where they had few problems against Chileans’ Huachipato before they convincingly beat Athletico Paranaense at El Cilindro to set up this semi.
Instrumental in their progression has been top scorer Adrian Martinez who has consistently contributed to their victories.
If they can limit any possible deficit from the first encounter in Brazil, Racing might be able to be aggressive enough, backed by a passionate home crowd, to recover and reach the final.
Cruzeiro v Lanus.
Cruzeiro’s fans will definitely be looking to go further in the CS than their great rivals Atletico Mineiro who are competing at the same stage in the Copa Libertadores.
The Raposa might well have the advantage as they are considered marginal favourites to claim this title, against the potential outsiders of the remaining four.
Solid in mid-table in Serie A they can concentrate fully on winning this Copa to add to their pair of CL’s, the last of which was back in 1997.
The man expected to deliver is ex-Selecao interim coach, the recently appointed, Fernando Diniz.
He has at his disposal a solid range of experience in the likes of Matheus Pereira, Matheus Henrique, Walace, and Porto loanee Gabriel Veron.
The Belo Horizonte giants emerged from their group unbeaten after which they edged out Buenos Aires powerhouse Boca Juniors on penalties.
And then eliminated Libertad of Asuncion in the quarter-finals.
Lanus, of Buenos Aires, will be the opponents of Cruzeiro.
The Granate, in their familiar colours, have a relatively recent record of overachievement having reached the CL final in 2017 prior to which they won the Sudamericana in 2013.
This current squad is controlled by Ricardo Zielinski, who has a vast range of Argentinian club coaching experience.
He will need to use that knowledge as his options are the most limited of the four semi-finalists (though striker Walter Bou is among the CS top scorers)
And they could benefit from playing the second leg at their own stadium.
However, Cruzeiro will be favoured to reach Asuncion on 23 November, and a prospective meeting with fellow-Brazilians, Corinthians.
Analysis – John Bethell