05/06/2024
The early elimination of Independiente Medellín in the Colombian league gives even more responsibility to the squad ahead of the Copa Sudamericana. With only this international tournament in mind, it is almost an obligation for Alfredo Arias’ team to advance to the next phase.
The first step will be this Tuesday at the Mansiche stadium in Trujillo, Peru, to face César Vallejo for date 4 of the Sudamericana, at 7:00 pm El Poderoso had a full week to prepare for the duel and physically recover its players in the final stretch of the local championship.
DIM has only visited Peru twice, won on one occasion and lost on another. They lost to Universitario 2-1 in the round of 16 of the 1994 Libertadores, and beat Melgar 1-2 in the group stage of the same tournament in 2017.
At the moment, César Vallejo is in 13th place out of 18 that make up the Inca League. In 14 rounds of the tournament, he only won 3 games and conceded 22 goals, while In the Sudamericana they lost the first three games.
Besides, will not have his figure Paolo Guerrero, who will miss the match due to injury. This is a good opportunity for red to place ahead in Group A.
Will he return to the round of 16?
Since 2016, Medellín has not reached the round of 16 in an international tournament. On that occasion they beat Santa Cruz of Brazil, and lost in the quarterfinals against Cerro Porteño in the Copa Sudamericana.
Only 4 times in history did Rojo go through the round of 16 in Conmebol competitions. In addition to the aforementioned, they surpassed the group stage in three editions of Libertadores: 2005, when they lost in the round of 16 against Banfield; in 2003, a remembered edition in which they reached the semifinals but could not beat Santos, and in 1994 when they succumbed in the quarterfinals to Junior who had figures such as Iván René Valenciano and Carlos Valderrama.
Now, the group’s good outlook encourages us to believe that it is possible to reach the round of 16 in an international event for the fifth time in history.
It must be taken into account that in the Copa Sudamericana only the first advances to the round of 16, the second remains in a previous round where it will clash with those who fall from third place in the Libertadores.
Therefore, the objective is finish as leader to avoid a headache against a possible difficult rivaland advance directly into a group where there are good possibilities.
El Poderoso has already shown that he can beat Defense and Justice (2-1 at Atanasio) and a draw in Argentina on May 14, on the fifth date, would be enough to keep it below in the group, since it currently has 4 points and DIM has 6. The above if the Paisa club beats César Vallejo, an obligation if they want to continue in the race.
On the other hand, the rival who defeated him on the first date and is the leader with 7 units, Always Ready, was eliminated last in its group in the Bolivian league. With this opponent on the last date at the Atanasio, and the outlook of the group, In the red squad, that first place in Sudamericana must be marked as the way to save the semester.
The protagonists spoke
Before the trip, midfielder Jaime Alvarado stated that they must be very patient and calm: “We know the game will be tough. That’s why we traveled days before to arrive rested and focused on the game.”
Medellín will have a mini-tour of South America: it landed in Peru and they will not return to Colombia, but will continue to Argentina for the match against Defensa y Justicia.
Uruguayan coach Alfredo Arias spoke about what’s next in the Cup. “Two difficult rivals, they are in Sudamericana for a reason, they deserved to be there. We are going to go, as always, with the goal of winning.”
