The thrilling last date of it all against all of Colombian professional football – played almost entirely on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. – reserves two places in the final stages of the championship for five teams.
With Atlético Nacional, Deportivo Cali, Santa Fe, Deportes Tolima, Millonarios and La Equidad guaranteed place, Junior, América de Cali, Deportivo Independiente Medellín, Jaguares and Deportivo Pasto still have the illusion of appearing in the playoffs.
What are the options for each team?
Junior, seventh today with 29 units and a goal difference of 8, he has one foot in the final and only catastrophe could knock him out, despite resting on this date.
To be left out, America and DIM, eighth and ninth respectively, with 26 points and differences of 5 and 4, must score with four or more goals for Tolima and Once Caldas. If you don’t do both, the Atlantic will qualify in eight.
America, currently eighth With 26 units, you can consider different scenarios to get into the party.
The first is to beat Tolima at Pascual Guerrero with at least the same goal difference as Medellín against Once Caldas.
Another is to beat the ‘pijao’ club by four or more goals, which would make it outperform Junior in the standings and not depend on any other result.
A draw would be enough for the red of the Valley, as long as neither of these two things happen: Medellín beats Once Caldas in Manizales and Jaguares wins with five or more goals against Chicó.
Even if he loses, the current two-time Colombian soccer champion can qualify. That would require Medellín to also lose in Manizales, Jaguares not winning in Tunja and Pasto (23 points, 1 in goal difference) not triumphing in Pereira because of an advantage that allowed him to overcome red in goal difference. .
Andrés Cadavid, captain of Deportivo Independiente Medellín.
Photo: Dimayor
Medellín, ninth with 26 points, is one of the other teams that depend on itself to qualify.
By winning four or more goals at Palogrande de Manizales, he will outperform Junior at the table and secure his place. If not, he will have to win by at least one goal more in the capital of Caldense than America at Tolima. Of course score at least the same goals as the red one from Cali.
If this does not happen – for example that America wins 3-2 and DIM wins 0-2 – then those of ‘Bolillo’ Gómez must win by two or more points.
With the tie, Antioqueños can dream of qualifying as long as America loses in Pascual and Jaguares doesn’t win in Tunja with four or more scores.
Although it is a chimera, the ‘Powerful’ can also classify losses. If he does, he should try to score and wait for the ‘devil’ to fail and lose more than his team by at least one goal.
In addition, it would be necessary for Jaguares not to beat Chicó in Tunja and for Pasto not to come out victorious from Pereira with a distance that would allow them to beat him in goal difference – today there are three goals between the two teams.
Jaguares and Pasto, for the epic
Jaguares de Córdoba, tenth With 24 units, he wants to return to a final stage of the League after four years, and he has very difficult options to specify for that.
First, he must defeat Chicó, a team struggling not to descend, in Tunja. Otherwise you will not get a chance to qualify.
Winning depends on the loss of America and Medellín. If they are tied, you have to win with five or more goals to overcome them.
On the other hand, Deportivo Pasto, who canceled most of his chances by scoring a goal with Bucaramanga last Thursday, assesses the relegation for Pereira and clings to a utopia to qualify.
To do so, he must win in Hernán Ramírez Villegas, hope that Jaguares will fail in Tunja and that América and Medellín will lose their respective matches.
There the goal difference starts to take center stage. The Nariñenses, with 1 in relation to 4 and 5 having the two reds respectively, will have to overcome those records by the combination of results.
Tiebreak Methods: In case of equality in points, these are the tie-breaking items, in order of application: goal difference, greater number of goals in front, greater number of goals in favor as a visitor, less number of goals against him as a visitor and time games in cash.