If the previous classic marked the continuity of David Gonzalez and the dismissal of Hernán Darío Herrera, this could mark the consolidation of the eight or leave one of the two teams on the edge of the classification. So again this Thursday’s duel (8:00 pm) between Nacional and Medellín at the Atanasio has all the ingredients to be another vibrant match.
This time the place will be the purslane group, which was left with the thorn of the 4-3 loss in the previous duel against his rival in the square.
The goalkeeper Kevin Mier, one of the main figures of the green team, assured that the classic is a very big challenge: “We come from five games in which in four we got the goal at zero. That is the idea for this meeting and that is how we are working on it. I think that with the majority support of our people this game will be different to the previous classic. We know that in this final stretch of the tournament there can be no advantages and we will go out and propose to make a good compromise”.
the left side Danovis Banguero, who is pending the renewal of his contract, said that this does not distract him from concentration for this game. “We are at a time when there is not much space, more concerned about the group objective, which is to qualify, very fair in terms of the points and we focus on that”.
For its part, interim coach Pedro Sarmiento Nor did he allow himself to be distracted by the appointment of the Brazilian Paulo Autuori as permanent coach and he is focused on looking for a victory against Medellín.
“At first we want to prevent them from scoring against us, having the ball, making good passes. I respect the rival and we know that he has two important strikers up front with good aerial play. If Nacional is physically and mentally well and we hold the ball, we are going to put the conditions in place”.
Sarmiento added that victory depends on what Nacional does and not the rival.
“To the extent that we are organized and that each one fulfills the function and task entrusted to us, we will depend on the individual and collective capacity of the work that is done and that is what we insist on.”
The coach revealed that he will play against DIM with a tactical figure of 1-4-4-1-1 and that he more or less knows how the rival will play.
“I already know that Medellín is going to play with two forwards and two wingers, in addition to two central midfielders, there are no mysteries there.”
In this way, Nacional will seek to extend its unbeaten record to six dates without defeats and knock down DIM’s, which has five consecutive wins.
DIM, emboldened
In the midst of the confidence that the results of the last matches have generated in the team, Medellín will face the regional classic.
March fourth in the table with 25 points, he has six games undefeated, including one from the Colombia Cup. He has not known defeat since August 28, when he was beaten by Águilas Doradas (3-0) at the Alberto Grisales stadium, on the ninth date of the championship.
That result left David González on the rope, but it precisely became the turning point for the team to rebuild the path. From that meeting to date, the DIM has won all the games it has played, with an average of more than two goals per game.
His scoring frequency, which has him as the second highest scoring team in the championship, with 23 goals, is a strength. Although that same item invites him to take precautions in defense, since the only one that surpasses him in the number of goals scored is Nacional, which accumulates 25.
The DIM also highlights the leadership of players like Andres Cadavid, who was absent due to injury between the fourth and the eighth date. For the ninth he was summoned, but he only reappeared until the tenth, in which with an early goal he opened the way to victory for his team, which finally won the classic 4-3.
The Return of Cadavid was decisive at the beginning of the positive streak that the red team has, which it intends to extend to ensure itself within the eight.
“What I could see off the court was that with a little bit of communication I could contribute a lot. That is my job, because at this age (36 years old) I can no longer speculate, I had to contribute in order to improve,” he said.
“El Loco”, as his teammates know him, downplays the recent changes that have taken place in the opponent’s coaching staff.
“The most important thing is to impose our idea of the game, understand their gameknow what its advantages and weaknesses are in order to take advantage of them”, he added.
Cadavid believes that, although the evolution of the team is visible, it cannot be hidden that the process can still evolve in search of the maturity that everyone expects.
“We hope to be up to the task, trying to understand everything David wantswhat we want to achieve as a group, the dynamics of each one of us is important”.
Andrés is a key player for DIM in terms of mood, defense and even attack, as he has four goals in League 2 and a total of eleven in the year.
3
draws and two victories, one by one for each cast go in the last 5 games.
