Three days remain until the end of the first phase of the
Professional Football League Cup
and none of the 28 participating teams have yet secured their place in the
playoffs
, although
Godoy Cruz
, leader of group B, could do so at the end of this date. For four of the five clubs traditionally called “big”, the outlook does not look easy: so far, only
River
in zone A seems to have a paved path to the direct elimination stages. The rest will have to add strongly the next three weekends and look out of the corner of their eye to see what their competitors will do.
Four teams from each group will enter the
playoffs
when the 14 rounds of the first stage of the competition are completed. With extremely tight standings,
the tiebreaker criteria for the case of equal points between two or more teams will probably end up playing an important role:
in order, they will be the goal difference, the number of goals scored, the results in the matches between the teams that are equal in a position and finally their location on the
fair play
table .
Zone A now has Argentinos Juniors as the leader with 24 points after the victory over Insituto in Córdona and Barracas Central in second place, with 22 points as a result of the victory over Rosario Central. Afterwards, River and Vélez are equal on 21 points, although there the goal difference establishes hierarchies:
El Millonario, the highest scoring team in the tournament, is one step above because it has +14 income
, followed by Vélez (+1). As the outcome approaches, a good goal difference can represent an extra equivalent to half a point compared to direct rivals in the fight to advance to the round.
Below these teams, which cannot boast of having their ticket secured but have an advantage, Talleres appears in fifth place: the Cordobans have 19 points with a goal difference of +7. Independiente, which has 18 units and +3, and Instituto -despite the defeat-, which totals 17 and +4, are also bidding.
Although its situation is not simple,
Independiente has its destiny practically in its hands:
three victories will catapult it to the playoffs unless a very complicated combination of results occurs. The team led by
Carlos Tevez
will host Atlético Tucumán on Sunday and will then visit Banfield (two rivals that are out of the fight) before closing their participation in the Libertadores de América against Talleres.
Independiente has much of its luck in the League Cup in its hands. Photo: Marcelo Carroll.
That clash in Avellaneda on the last day could be a head-to-head for the classification, although it will not be the only match in which the points will have a special value because they will not only be added to one's own bag, but will also be subtracted from the potential foreign harvest:
in the last three dates, there will be seven direct duels between the seven teams that are fighting for the four places in the playoffs
(another four have mathematical chances, although they are remote).
In group B,
Lanús and Godoy Cruz had a good lead:
both have 23 points and +9 goal difference. Those led by
Ricardo Zielinski
have scored more goals (10 against 4), although they have also played one more match: they already tied 2 to 2 with Unión on Wednesday in the duel that opened the 12th round, so the Mendoza team will jump to the top if on Monday they add against Platense in their visit to Vicente López.
Behind them runs a platoon of seven teams packed into three units.
For now, those who occupy the other two classification positions are Estudiantes (18 and +4) and Newell's (18 and 0), although the people from La Plata have one less game: they must complete the duel on the 11th date against Jorge Luis Hirschi at the Jorge Luis Hirschi. Boca that was suspended 27 minutes into the first half due to Chilean midfielder Javier Altamirano fainting in the middle of the playing field.
Racing can still advance to the quarterfinals, although it is not easy for them. Photo: Marcelo Carroll.
At the door of the qualifying zone was Unión
, which on Thursday squandered a two-goal lead against Lanús, ended up equalizing and now has 17 points and +2. The same number of units, although with a worse difference (0), totals Defensa y Justicia, for now sixth in this group.
Boca is seventh
, with 16 points and +5, but it depends on itself: if it adds 10 of the 12 beans it will have at stake, it will get into the quarterfinals. He will also do so if he gets 9 and Defensa y Justicia (17 and 0) does not win the three remaining games, all against direct rivals:
Estudiantes, San Lorenzo and Newell's.
Of course: the team led by
Diego Martínez
will have a very complicated fixture. He will host San Lorenzo on Saturday, visit Newell's in Rosario and close his participation in this phase against Godoy Cruz in La Bombonera. Before the last date,
he must play the 63 minutes against Estudiantes in La Plata
.
San Lorenzo can be left out of the playoffs even by winning the three remaining games. Photo: Fotobaires.
Much more complicated is the outlook for Racing (15 and +5) and San Lorenzo (15 and -1)
. Both could advance by achieving six points, although to do so they would need a phenomenal series of results. But they could also be left out of the decisive stages even if they obtain the nine points in dispute if Godoy Cruz and Lanús get 3, and Estudiantes and Newell's gather 7.
Those led by
Gustavo Costas
will face Central Córdoba in Santiago del Estero on Saturday and then host Lanús and visit Belgrano. Those led by Ruben Darío Insua will appear at Bombonera on Saturday (a setback there would shatter their hopes), they will be home against Defensa y Justicia and will close against Central Córdoba in Santiago del Estero.