Preview: Tigre vs Nacional – prediction, team news, lineup

Tigre and Nacional return to action in the Copa Sudamericana when they face each other in the second leg of the playoffs at the Estadio Jose Dellagiovanna on Tuesday night.

Following last week’s first leg collapse in Uruguay, Jorge Bava’s men travel to Buenos Aires with an uphill battle as they attempt to overturn a three-goal deficit and continue their continental campaign.

Game preview

After finding a narrow success in the finals of Sudamericana, Tigre put one foot in the round of 16 of the continent with the appearance of the first leg against Nacional last Tuesday.

The Argentine side managed to finish with one point from their first two games in Group A, but two wins and two draws in their next four games saw them finish second on nine points, ahead of third-placed America de Cali on goal difference.

Tigre continued where they left off in the group stage at Gran Parque Central, with Jalil Elias, Ignacio Russo and Elias Cabrera all on target to seal a 3-0 first-leg win over Nacional.

While Diego Dabove’s side have put together a good continental run, they were denied a start to Argentina’s new Primera Division Clausura campaign on Saturday, when they lost 1-0 against Estudiantes de Rio Cuarto at the start of the season.

The result against Estudiantes marked the latest in a long run of bad results, where El Matador have failed to win their last 13 home games, drawing seven and losing six, including a 1-0 loss against Independiente Rivadavia in the Copa Argentina round of 32 on July 12.

After three away games, Tigre will be backing themselves to bounce back and finish the job on Tuesday when they return to Buenos Aires, where they are unbeaten in 15 of 17 games in all competitions since September 2025.

On the other hand, following a poor exit from the 2026 Copa Libertadores group stage, where they narrowly missed out on a playoff qualification ticket, Nacional find themselves on the brink of bowing out of continental football.

The Uruguayan side won two of their six Libertadores games, lost twice and drew twice to collect eight points and finish third in Group B, behind second-placed Deportes Tolima on goal difference.

After their exit from the Libertadores, Nacional made their first Sudamericana appearance since 2022, where they reached the quarter-finals before being beaten by Atletico Goianiense in a 4-0 aggregate defeat.

Although the Bava boys will try to make a historic comeback on Tuesday, their current situation is not encouraging, as they have failed to win four of their last five matches in all competitions, as they have won four matches and one of their previous five matches.

Results on the road also point to another difficult challenge at the Estadio Jose Dellagiovanna, where Nacional have managed just three wins in their 12 away games in all competitions since the start of March.

Tigre Copa Sudamericana form:

Tigre form (all competitions):

Form of the Nacional Copa Sudamericana:

Form Nacional (all competitions):

Team News

Tigre are without the services of 24-year-old midfielder Bruno Leyes, who will be sidelined for a long time after dislocating his shoulder in the first leg against Nacional last week.

In his absence, Martin Garay should agree on Tuesday, joining Santiago Lopez, Jalil Elias and Jabes Saralegui on loan from Boca Juniors in the center of the park, while Gonzalo Martinez and Russo should once again lead the attack.

Veteran defender Ramon Arias has also missed the last four games since injuring his knee in May, while the 34-year-old has also been ruled out of contention for the Argentina outfit.

As for Nacional, Manchester City midfielder Bruno Zuculini received a red card in last week’s first leg defeat and will miss Tuesday’s match due to a one-match suspension.

In Zuculini’s absence, Lucas Rodriguez should be given the starting spot, forming a midfield trio with Baltasar Barcia and Agustin Dos Santos, while Luciano Boggio, Maximiliano Gomez and Maximiliano Silvera should lead the attack.

Possible list of Tigre:

Zenobio; Banegas, Barrionuevo, Laso, Moreno; Garay, Lopez, Elias, Saralegui; Martinez, Russia

A possible national list:

Arias; Ancheta, Coates, Calvo, Candido; Dellagiovanna, Barcia, Dos Santos; Boggio, Gomez, Silvera

We say: Tigre 2-0 Nacional

Following their first-leg display, Tigre are in the driver’s seat when they face off on Tuesday, and given their form at home, we expect them to overcome a Nacional side who have struggled in attack, failing to score in three of their last five games.

For data analysis of the most likely results, score lines and more for this game please click here.