Ecuador's Barcelona to play Freedom in Copa Libertadores

Ecuador's football club Barcelona will face Paraguay's Freedom in their Copa Libertadores match at the Monumental Stadium here on Tuesday.

Barcelona's Uruguay-born coach Ruben Israel on Monday said his line-up was ready to show the rivals from Asuncion what it means to have a home-team advantage, reports Xinhua.

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

Meanwhile, Paraguay's Freedom was in Guayaquil from Sunday to prepare for the match. In their 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.

The Copa Libertadores is Latin America's top club competition, comprising teams from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.