Junior, led by Venezuelan César Farías, will seek to get closer to qualifying for the semi-finals of the Colombian league on Thursday when they host a motivated Millonarios in Barranquilla, who climbed to second place thanks to their three consecutive victories.
At the Metropolitan Stadium in Barranquilla, where the matchday 17 match will be played, Tiburón will try to sharpen its aim after drawing 0-0 in its visit to Envigado, which is last in the tournament.
A victory for Junior is important, as it currently occupies seventh place with 26 points.
Farías pointed out that to classify the homers, his team has to know “defend well“, withdraw “arcs at zero“, achieve “visitor“, to be “disciplined about cards” and not commit “fouls close to the area.”
For this reason, he said that against Envigado they fulfilled “with most of that“but they lacked it”score goal“.
“However, we have been continually adding points and this is one more point that puts us with a closer chance of qualifying,” added the Venezuelan.
It is expected that in the game against Millonarios, experienced players such as attacker Carlos Bacca, midfielder Yimmi Chará, midfielder Didier Moreno and Argentine center back Emanuel Olivera will appear as starters, as well as goalkeeper Santiago Mele, who is part of the Uruguayan team. .
The people of Bogotá, meanwhile, arrive calmly for this match after having secured their qualification with the 1-0 victory over Deportivo Pasto, a game that marked the return to the field of striker Falcao García, absent in nine matches due to an injury.
Coach Alberto Gamero will have the bulk of his roster, which includes goalkeeper Álvaro Montero, Venezuelan winger Delvin Alfonzo, Costa Rican center back Juan Pablo Vargas, midfielder Jhon Córdoba and scorer Leonardo Castro.
However, the strategist will still not be able to count on the creative Daniel Cataño due to injury, a player who is being replaced by the promising Juan Ramírez.
Read also: Santa Marta consolidates itself as a sports epicenter with national and international events
To continue dreaming
Deportivo Independiente Medellín (DIM) will host Patriotas on Wednesday in a key duel for both teams.
The hosts aim to take three points to dream of qualifying for the home runs, as they are tenth with 22 points, and the visitors are fighting to avoid relegation, so anything other than a victory will not do them much good.
El Poderoso stayed alive in the league by beating champion Atlético Bucaramanga 2-3 in a comeback, a result that brought them closer to Fortaleza, which is currently eighth with 24 points.
The DIM coach, Alejandro Restrepo, will have the attacker Brayan León, who appears in the last duel by scoring a double; forward Luis ‘Chino’ Sandoval, and veteran center back Fainer Torijano, who has been one of the team’s best players this season.
Read also: Rigoberto Urán gets off his bicycle in an emotional farewell event in Medellín
Matchday 17 matches
05.11: Strength-Equity.
06.11: Boyacá Chicó-Atlético Bucaramanga, Alianza-Águilas Doradas, Deportes Tolima-Envigado, DIM-Patriotas and Deportivo Cali-Jaguares.
07.11: Junior-Millonarios, Deportivo Pasto-América de Cali and Deportivo Pereira-Atlético Nacional.
08.11: Independiente Santa Fe-Once Caldas. EFE