Junior comes to this last day of the BetPlay II-2021 League with the peace of mind that comes from having a guaranteed place in the semifinal home runs.
The ‘Tiburon’, with 32 points in the table, will play today a procedural match – because his life is not at stake – against Alianza Petrolera, which only serves to continue adding points in the reclassification, where he has a particular fight for that position – still achievable – that provides a quota for the Copa Libertadores.
The motivation starts from there, to continue adding, to continue to gain confidence and to continue along that winning line that provides an emotional boost in this final stretch, where it will always be good to enter with the high peak of performance.
“Regardless of whether we are already classified, we are going to look for the match. We know that Alianza (Petrolera) is a difficult opponent, so we have to take the game very seriously. We want to continue adding points in the reclassification and we want to continue to gain confidence, finishing this phase in the best way, “said midfielder Homer Martínez, who is in the victory against Equidad, the previous day.
The rival, virtually classified, also arrives at this duel with the tranquility that having 30 points gives him and knowing that the only ones who can hypothetically snatch his place in the ‘end of the year party’ —Jaguares and Bucaramanga, who have 27— It has a much lower goal difference, so only a catastrophe of enormous dimensions would prevent the Aurinegro team from not being in the semifinal home runs of the League.
For everything that surrounds this match, the rojiblanco coach, Arturo Reyes, will surely make rotations, giving rest to the players with more minutes and giving the opportunity to those who have had less prominence during the semester, while remaining competitive, since the desire is to continue adding in the table.
The only forced suspension due to suspension is that of Fredy Hinestroza, who meets a cycle of reprimands and will reappear in the first game of the home runs. Carmelo Valencia, injured, will not be part of the commitment either. Otherwise, everyone has a chance to play.
The balance of the last five duels between Alianza Petrolera and Junior at the Daniel Villa Zapata Stadium in Barrancabermeja is a local win, two draws and two rojiblancas victories.
Junior accumulates two consecutive games without knowing the defeat in the heat of the oil land. In his last presentation he equaled 0-0 (in 2019), while in the penultimate (in 2018) he won with authority 3-0, with a double by Yony González and the same by James Sánchez.
The meeting, which will be led by the referee by Andrés Rojas, can be seen on various platforms. Win Sports + will transmit it to its operators through its digital channel, but it can also be seen through the following channels: Claro (107 and 1007), Movistar (303 and Play) and DirecTV (636 and 1636), all open to the public.
The home run draw
After the last day of the League has been played, which will be unified this Sunday from 3:30 pm, the draw for the semifinal home runs will be held, which is scheduled for 8:30 pm, with transmission from Win Sports and Win Sports +.
The draw will have two heads of series, which for the moment are Atlético Nacional – already sure, for being the unattainable leader – and Millonarios, today second. But this could be modified, if finally Deportes Tolima remains or not with the second place, which today belongs to the team directed by the samarian Alberto Gamero. Then, the clubs occupying positions 3, 5 and 7 will be placed by lot in group A or B and the clubs occupying positions 4, 6 and 8 will be seeded in the opposite group.
What will the system be like? There are two groups of four teams, six games are played (round trip) and the winner of each homer qualifies for the grand final.
.
