Millionaires and Medellin This week their permanence in the pre-Libertadores is at stake against the Ecuadorians Universidad Católica and El Nacional, respectively. Both come from drawing their away games (0-0 and 2-2), but here the fanatical, biased, nationalist, and enlarged critics cried out loud and, Manichaean and almost hysterical, went into a state of shock for ‘the failure’ of the ‘super-Millionaires’ and ‘super-Medellín’. Oh my GOD! (You may be interested: Millonarios stumbles in Manizales and loses against Once Caldas)
As the butcher would say, we go by parts. Let’s start at the beginning: the two teams got the result (they didn’t lose) and have the theoretical advantage of finishing off the home series. What failure? They didn’t start badly, here they are, they are in the middle of a fight and they have everything to resolve their advance to the second key of the pre-Cup. I repeat, from the pre-cup.
hand to hand
Now: it turns out that by the work and grace of national soccer egocentrism, Millonarios and Medellín must dance and beat Ecuadorian teams as visitors, which are just like the ones here. I repeat that: just like the ones here. Millonarios, Medellín, U. Católica and El Nacional go head to head, in equal terms.
If it were against Independiente del ValleWell, the logical thing would be for any of those here to lose. It is that this enlargement that exists in the country of the ball, fanatically and tropically guided by the media and networks, since it seriously distorts reality.
Millionaires, who have not won anything (the Colombia Cup is a consolation prize or a ñapita, as it has been for all those who have won it), it has more fame than results and it is time for it to start doing it. His game sometimes seems ingenious enough to lose a local final against Tolima or get eliminated for losing to Pereira. Why then can’t you draw as a visitor against the Ecuadorian Catholic? (Read also: Nairo Quintana: the incredible statistics that have him against the wall, video)
And Medellin?
Medellín, along the same lines: if they lost a final against Pereira playing the same game, taking a point from El Nacional is fine. Those four teams are like the same pod, and therefore the duels between them are hand to hand, of equal strength, of similar power.
The commentators by trade and ex-soccer players now commentators on the obvious argued that before they qualified for the quarterfinals of the Libertadores with ease. They forget that in their times the tournament system was different, the group stage (the true start of the Cup) was played between champions and runners-up of two countries in the same home run, and that since the team format changed Colombians no matter how many they are called Nacional, Millonarios or América are usually the third pot in the draw. The exact location of our football in the area.
Millonarios and Medellín, who are playing the pre-Libertadores as Red Star, Maccabi Haifa, Viktoria Plzen, Qarabag, Trabzonspor, Copenhague or Bodø/Glimt played the European pre-Champions, have the theoretical advantage to qualify for the second preliminary bracket, they have Similar powers to their rivals to think about defeating them, but if they are eliminated, as can happen, they will only hurt that enlarged ego of national football.
Soccer has such devastating and obvious realities that it can sometimes sound obvious, silly, in the middle of the ocean of overanalysis and chauvinism: Millos and Medellín are so much the same as Católica and El Nacional that their visiting draws were good. Now, hand in hand, they are close to advancing, but since they are identical to their rivals, if they lose, as they may well happen, it will not be a surprise, despite the national grandeur.
MELUK TELLS HIM
GABRIEL MELUK
sports writer
@MelukLeCuenta
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