With six teams already qualified, Colombian fans will soon know the final two teams that will make up the top eight and end the regular Dimayor season.
With Tolima, Millonarios, Nacional, Independiente Medellin, and Envigado already qualified, six more teams will try to take advantage of their final chance to qualify this coming weekend.
Alianza Petrolera (29 points), Equidad (27), Santa Fe (26), Bucaramanga (26) and Once Caldas (25) have the opportunity to qualify for the next round. Just two of them will make it.
Tolima: Unstoppable form heading into the Quadrangular
The fight between Millonarios and Tolima doesn’t end. Both teams maintain their positions at the top of the table on 39 points, but Tolima is having a great season competing simultaneously in three tournaments. In the Copa Libertadores, the “vinotinto y oro” is holding the second place in their group. In the Copa Betplay, they just qualified for the next round of the competition.
In their last outing, Tolima played out a goalless tie away to Millonarios. It means they’ve won 21 from a possible 30 points in their last 10 games. They’ve lost just one game in their last 28 games in all competitions – with 12 wins and 15 draws.
Chasing a record…
In 2018 (under the current Millonarios coach Alberto Gamero), Tolima registered 39 points in 19 games – the same amount as the current season. It means that one more win would be the highest points tally they’ve ever achieved in a single season of 20 games. They have a home game to do it.
Six teams, Two spots
The final day will see these teams battle it out. Here’s how the Liga Dimayor table currently looks:
🏆 ¿Quienes serán los ocho clasificados?
Esta es la tabla de la #LigaBetPlayDIMAYOR I – 2022, tras finalizar la fecha 19. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/LgwwO447FQ— DIMAYOR (@Dimayor) May 9, 2022
Alianza Petrolera – 29 pts
After beating Once Caldas last time out, the best candidate to qualify of the six is Alianza. They sit in 7th with 29 points. They just need to take away a point from Millonarios to be unreachable. If Millonarios beat Alianza, either Independiente Santa Fe or Bucaramanga will still need to win by a three-goal margin to knock them out. They’re in touching distance.
Equidad – 27 pts
Equidad occupy the final spot in the top eight at the moment with 27 points. A victory over Nacional de Medellín will secure the qualification. In case of a draw or defeat, they will hope that Bucaramanga or Once Caldas don’t get 3 points.
Independiente Santa Fe – 26 pts
“El Rojo” need an away victory over Once Caldas and at the same time need for an Atlético Nacional victory over Equidad. A draw or defeat will end their hopes of the quadrangular.
Atletico Bucaramanga – 26 pts
Bucaramanga don’t just need an away victory over Deportivo Pereira They also will hope that neither Equidad nor Santa Fe get victories. A tough ask, but a definitely possibility.
Once Caldas – 25 pts
They’ve lost their last two games, and sit in 11th. They need to beat Santa Fe, and hope that each of Bucaramanga and Equidad lose their games.
Here’s how you can watch the games from this dramatic weekend ahead:
⚽📺¡ATENCIÓN! ⚽📺
¡ @DIRECTVCo activo señales adicionales para la fecha 20 de #LALIAGxWIN!
➡ 💻 Partidos en https://t.co/T7sKhoUVme y en https://t.co/bbm2JVhRfd son de acceso Libre.
➡ 📱 En la APP los puedes ver todos https://t.co/o4zVchVVMg pic.twitter.com/E0B5qJ02M0— Win Sports TV (@WinSportsTV) May 13, 2022
What comes next in the Liga Betplay Dimayor?
After discovering who will make up the entirety of the top eight, we head to the quadrangular stage. This splits the eight teams into two groups of four, with the top two teams (currently that would be Millonarios and Tolima, for example), being split up into group A and group B. The remaining spots will be decided by a lottery, then the next stage of the Liga Dimayor will begin.