South America review: Three teams left in Argentina’s Superliga race

With three matchdays left, the Superliga in Argentina is now a three-horse race. Who can still catch Racing Club as the season winds down?

This week has featured a lot of soccer action from across South America. The Copa Libertadores kicked off the group stage with an exciting batch of contests over the week, and the action turned to domestic leagues once the weekend rolled around.

That leaves plenty of exciting news to cover from every region of the continent. Depending on the country, some seasons are winding down. Others are beginning to reach the midpoint of Apertura campaigns, while those with later season starts are really just beginning to see the pecking order shake out in their respective league tables.

In all cases there is something exciting to be found. This week let’s begin with a title race that is narrowing down in the final few weeks as we review the soccer action from South America.

Racing, Defensa y Justicia, and Boca still alive in Superliga

For the bulk of the season, Racing Club have dominated the Superliga table in Argentina. The Avellaneda giants have blossomed with Eduardo Coudet at the helm. Coudet, who formerly led Rosario Central to a third-place finish in 2015, has been a revelation since taking over at Racing in December 2017.

No club in the Superliga has potted more goals than the 40 put up so far by the potent Racing attack. And the defense has been equally sound, allowing the second-fewest goals in the league through their first 22 matches.

At various points of the year, different teams have looked capable of challenging Racing’s spot atop the table. Atletico Tucuman looked like the team best positioned to make the charge. But losing their last match before the summer break led to an early-February swoon where Atletico took only one point and scored no goals in three matches against Patronato, Talleres Cordoba and Union. Even with a match in hand, Atletico don’t have enough points still available in their final four matches to catch Racing.

Thus the door opened for Defensa y Justicia, the Florencio Varela-based club that have never won the top flight of Argentine soccer, to take on the role of Racing’s biggest threat. Currently sitting only four points back of Racing with a match in hand, Defensa y Justicia could pull within one point if they beat Banfield at home later on Monday. If both clubs keep winning, their April 7 showdown at El Cilindro in Avellaneda will end up a winner-takes-all showdown for the Superliga crown.

The only other contender still mathematically in the race is Boca Juniors. Because Racing Club drew 1-1 against Colon and Boca took down San Lorenzo 3-0 later on Saturday, eight points separate the two clubs with three matches left to play.

It is definitely a longshot bid for Boca Juniors. Boca obviously must win their final three matches at San Martin Tucuman, at home in La Bombonera versus Banfield, and in their finale at Aldosivi. They also need help from both Racing and Defensa y Justicia. Racing would have to lose all three matches of their remaining matches, while Defensa y Justicia would need to take no more than one point from their matches against Patronato and Unión before beating Racing in the season finale.

Colo-Colo takes charge in Chile’s Primera despite draw

Across the Andes in Chile, the season is much younger than it is in Argentina. Starting only in February, the Primera campaign is still young as it completed its fourth matchday over the weekend. Even though the season is still young, though, we are already starting to see one club emerge as the early favorite to add another piece of hardware to its storied collection.

Colo-Colo, the club with more Chilean league titles than any other, already look like the favorite to claim their 33rd Primera crown. Their bid took a slight hit on Sunday when they played out a scoreless draw at Cobresal, the recently-promoted club from the Atacama region.

Though they dominated the match, Colo-Colo just could not find the goal that would get the club three points. The league leaders dominated possession, holding the ball for 61 percent of the match, and they earned eight corner kicks. But no goal was forthcoming, and they were forced to split the difference with the league newcomers.

Even so, Colo-Colo sit a point ahead of a quartet of clubs. O’Higgins, Union La Calera, Universidad Catolica, and Union Espanola have all earned nine points through the first four matches, with each club losing once

At this point Colo-Colo are the only club still undefeated in league play in Chile after just four matches, and despite the draw they once again look like the team to beat in the Primera. Given that they are not among the best teams in South America contesting the Copa Libertadores this year, Colo-Colo don’t have to worry about Copa Sudamericana play until April. They have the opportunity to build up a bigger lead if they can prove this draw was a blip in a road paved with victories.

Early returns from the Copa Libertadores

The first 16 matches of the 2019 Copa Libertadores group stage are complete, as the new round kicked off between Tuesday and Friday across South America. Four of the matches resulted in goalless draws as teams still begin to find a balance between domestic play and the continental competition. Six others featured a single goal, and there were also a pair of 1-1 draws in the mix.

The most lopsided match of the first round took place on the opening day, as Paraguay’s Libertad took down Chile’s Universidad Catolica in Asuncion 4-1 on Tuesday. Libertad’s Adrian Emmanuel Martinez scored twice inside the first five minutes of the match to give the hosts an early lead. A penalty allowed Universidad Catolica to pull one back on Luciano Aued’s successful spot kick, but Antonio Bareiro bought insurance for Libertad in the 74th minute and Carlos Ayrton Cougo added a fourth in second-half stoppage time.

The following day, another Chilean side came out on top in a goalfest. Universidad de Concepcion hosted Peru’s Sporting Cristal on Wednesday, and the two teams put up nine combined goals in the thriller. Universidad drew first blood as Patricio Rubio scored the first of his four goals in first-half stoppage time. Rubio added three more in the 51st, 81st and 93rd minutes. Nicolas Orellana added a fifth goal for the hosts that proved decisive, his 72nd-minute strike allowing Universidad to prevail over a potent Sporting Cristal attack in the 5-4 battle.

Palmeiras and LDU Quito both claimed 2-0 victories, over Junior FC and Penarol respectively. In six of the eight groups, there is one clear leader after the other match resulted in a draw. Like the Champions League, the top continental competition in South America cannot be won in the first round — but it could be lost.

The upcoming week features another round of group-stage matches as the Copa Libertadores begins to separate the pretenders from the contenders for this year’s title of the best team in South America. Stay tuned as we follow the proceedings each week.