Ecuador's Barcelona to play Paraguay's Freedom in Copa Libertadores

Ecuador's Barcelona gathered in the southwestern coastal city of Guayaquil Monday to prepare for their Copa Libertadores match against Paraguay's Freedom on Tuesday.

The match at Guayaquil's Monumental Stadium, in Group 7, to be held at 17:45 local time (22:45 GMT) Tuesday, is to be refereed by Uruguayan Daniel Fedorczuk.

Barcelona's Uruguay-born coach Ruben Israel said his lineup was ready to show the rivals from Asuncion what it means to have a home-team advantage.

The coach said that the local team "was ready for" the match against the Paraguayans after practice on Monday. Later, he will conduct tactical training for the home team.

Barcelona is the most successful football team in Ecuador, having won the Serie A title a record 14 times, most recently in 2012. The team also was the first Ecuadorian club to make it to the Copa Libertadores finals.

In its first match of the Copa Libertadores, Barcelona was thrashed 3-0 by Argentina team Students at Argentina City stadium in La Plata last week.

Meanwhile, Paraguay's Freedom was in Guayaquil from Sunday to prepare the match, following the recent 3-1 defeat to the league of his country Guarani in Asuncion last week. In its debut in the Copa Libertadores, Freedom tied 2-2 with Atletico Nacional of Colombia.

"Both teams did not start in the best way and we have to win in order to stay in the fight," said Paraguayan midfielder Jorge Gonzalez on Monday. Endi