In Medellin
At the close of matchday 16 of the Finalización Tournament, Santa Fe defends its third place on its visit to Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot stadium.
The match is scheduled to start at 8:15 pm, with refereeing by David Espinosa, and pits two teams, on paper, evenly matched.
Verdolagas and Cardenales are tied with 29 points out of 45 possible. The difference is that the Antioqueños have lost four games and the capital’s only two and in the number of victories, 9 versus 8.
In terms of offense, Nacional is more effective, having scored 24 goals compared to 20 for its rival, but in defense the visit is more solid, with only 10 goals conceded in 15 games, compared to 16 for its opponent.
The winner, if there is one, will jump to second position, displacing Once Caldas, which has just lost to Fortaleza 0-2.
Those led by Pablo Peirano seek to be top of the group in the home runs, alongside América, which seems to have the other spot assured.
For their part, those led by Efraín Juárez want to continue their recovery and show that they are ready to fight for the title in the current tournament.
The descent
The results of matchday 16 further complicate Jaguares’ situation in the relegation table and, like Patriotas, it seems condemned to return to B.
The Montería cats fell 1-2 in their stadium against Deportivo Pereira and were left with an average of 0.98, surpassing Envigado who, with a 0-0 draw against Junior, was left with 1.00.
The date was not favorable for Once Caldas either, they lost 0-2 against Fortaleza, a team that remains in the fight for a place in the home runs.
Another that took a breath was La Equidad with its 3-2 victory against Alianza, but to qualify practically requires a miracle.
Likewise, Águilas Doradas continued to be in the red since the change of coach. They lost again, this time 0-1 against Deportes Tolima, a team that maintains its aspiration to be in the home runs.
In turn, Patriotas achieved an important victory against Boyacá Chicó 3-0 and improved its average, 0.91, but continues as the main option to go to relegation.
Meanwhile, Cali took an important step in its intention to save itself from relegation by winning the classic against América 1-0.
The ‘Diablos Rojos’, despite the defeat, remain leaders, while the Azucareros are still far from eighth place, but on average they moved away from Patriotas, Jaguares, Envigado and Boyacá Chicó.