Palestino will have to find a stadium to play against Millonarios in the Libertadores

Palestino had a terrible debut in the group stage of the 2024 Copa Libertadores. The Chilean team, one of Millonarios' rivals in Group E of the tournament, began its participation with a painful defeat at home.

The Chilean team, led by Pablo 'Vitamina' Sánchez, fell without mitigation against an inspired Bolívar from La Paz, who won 0-4 and thus, he became the leader of the area, which completes one of the favorites for the Libertadores title, Flamengo.

Now, Palestino received bad news, which forces him to take a drastic measure: This Friday, the South American Football Confederation disabled the El Teniente stadium in Rancagua, where it played its first home game.

Why doesn't Palestino have a stadium to play against Millonarios?

Palestino, in the Chilean tournament matches, acts as a local on a stage it owns, the La Cisterna municipal stadium, with capacity for just 12,000 spectators.

That stadium is not enabled for international tournaments, which is why the club has had to look for a home in its most recent participation in Conmebol tournaments, to which it returned in 2015, after 36 years of absence.

He has played in stadiums such as the Nacional de Santiago, the Monumental (owned by Colo Colo), Santa Laura (the home of Unión Española) and San Carlos de Apoquindo (owned by Universidad Católica).

When Conmebol announced the schedule for the Libertadores group stage, it left the field of the stadium where Palestino was going to play on the bench. For the first game he played in Rancagua.

However, the poor condition of the field made Conmebol give the El Teniente stadium a thumbs down and that forces Palestino to look for another venue.

Although the match against Millonarios is scheduled for April 25, the club has until Monday to decide in which stadium it will play. Three options are managed: Calama, Coquimbo and Concepción. The game against Flamengo, a week later, would be played at the National Stadium in Santiago.

It should be remembered that the Monumental stadium had serious problems with its grass and in those conditions, Chile was home against Colombia in the qualifier for the 2026 World Cup. In that game, due to the grass, Arturo Vidal suffered a serious injury.

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