Santa Fe vs. Millionaires: analysis of the Bogotá classic in El Campín – Colombian Soccer – Sports

Separated by just one point in the standings, with the need to ensure qualification for the semifinal home runs and with an identical goal in sight: an international tournament, Santa Fe and Millonarios will meet again at El Campín, this Sunday, in the 311th edition of the Bogota classic. The game will be seen on Win Sports +, starting at 7:45 p.m.

Reds and blues arrive at the game in an apparent calm, but there are some clouds that worry in their respective panoramas. In the case of Santa Fe, the waters have calmed down with respect to coach Harold Rivera, who was about to pack his bags to leave, but who chained a series of very favorable results that straightened the path.

First, the cardinals secured their presence in the group stage of the Copa Sudamericana, with an away win against Águilas Doradas in a nearly deserted Atanasio Girardot stadium. And then, Santa Fe preceded two key results in the League, a great victory against América and a draw in Barranquilla that deepened the Junior crisis. And he also defeated the colero, Deportivo Cali.

Rivera, after a series of injuries and suspensions, appears to have found a steady roster, although he continues with some casualties for the classic against Millonarios, such as Jhojan Torres, who is with the Colombian U-20 team.

Harold Rivera’s tranquility before the classic

“It is a game different from all, against the rival of the patio, a team that is doing well, that their last game was won in a good way against Deportivo Pasto. It’s a match that takes us at a better level than we started and that makes us continue to believe in being able to achieve important things, that the team continues to grow», declared Rivera.

«As has always been said, the classics are not played, but rather won, and we are with the motto of adding the three points that allow us to continue climbing the table,» added the Santa Fe coach.

Rivera has had to make some changes in style and in the way he stops the team in search of progress in attack. In the first dates he had played with a defense of three: he had ups and downs behind and he lacked punch up front. The change to the line of four defenders coincided with the improvement in results. The DT expects to maintain the same line.

“The same idea continues, I am not going to change overnight what I have been doing. In addition, I have tried to imbue the game idea with the players, improve it day by day, thus changing the structure. I did not change the idea, of being an intense team, of putting pressure, of trying to make long possessions ”, said the León coach.

Millionaires still in trouble: many casualties

While Santa Fe little by little begins to stabilize its formation, in Millonarios things are very different. Alberto Gamero, the coach of the blues, has had to rebuild his payroll on several occasions, between injuries and the calls of important players from the headline to various teams.

Thus, Gamero already had to cross out seven names to enlist his list of summoned for the classic. He does not have two bastions of his defensive system, the goalkeeper Álvaro Montero and the defender Juan Pablo Vargas, who, due to the Fifa date, are with the Colombian and Costa Rican teams, respectively. And to that list is added Óscar Cortés, who works alongside Jhojan Torres in the sub-20.

Just as Gamero and his coaching staff are working at full speed to rebuild the squad, Millonarios’ medical department is also in full swing. They are out, for various reasons, Óscar Vanegas, Ómar Bertel, Leonardo Castro, Jáder Valencia, Stiven Vega and Luis Carlos Ruiz, although the last two are already doing field work and are undergoing physical reconditioning.

In the announcement of the summoned for the classic, in addition, another name was missing, that of the side Israel Alba, author of one of the goals with which Millos beat Pasto on Wednesday pending the first date.

Millonarios, in addition, has not been able to replace the departure of two of last year’s starters, Carlos Andrés Gómez and Daniel Ruiz, which has even forced the coach to try other game variants. One of them has already been taken out in previous games and it would be an option in this classic: populate half of the field with a line of three, join Mackalister Silva and Daniel Cataño and leave only one forward, Fernando Uribe.

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The victory against Pasto somewhat calmed the spirits of some fans who began to question Gamero’s work, after three and a half years. Millonarios will also be in the group stage of the South American, but unlike Santa Fe, which came from the bottom up, the blues fell from the Libertadores.

“We have had games in which we have made mistakes, in which the side has beaten us, but we have played those games. I see the group as strong, despite the injuries we have,» Gamero said at a press conference.

This is how the two technicians see their rivals

Both on the part of Rivera and Gamero, the respect for the rival is enormous. «Despite the loss of Millonarios, it is a team that has a process, Alberto Gamero will be with Millonarios for four years and that makes him know his team,» said Rivera.

“I believe that Santa Fe is on the rise. The classification in the Copa Sudamericana gave him a very good mood and he has gained confidence”, said Gamero, for his part, hours before a very attractive classic for the stands.

Jose Orlando Ascencio
sports deputy editor
@josasc

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