Colombian Rodrigo Rivas scored all three goals in the 3-1 victory for the University Technician over Deportivo Cuenca, at the close of the penultimate day of the second phase of the tournament in Ecuador.
Rivas He took advantage of his speed and physical power to score every so often (36, 44 and 68 minutes), thanks to the lethal counterattacks that the team led by his compatriot José “Cheché” Hernández tried, who struggled throughout the season to save the category, and He did it by accumulating 35 points. Cuenca’s discount was from its top scorer (with 13 goals), the Argentine Diego Dorregaray, so his team also avoided relegation, as they accumulated 31 points, four more than the penultimate, Guayaquil City, in the absence of a day to conclude the tournament.
Everything indicates that the title of the current season will be disputed Emelec, winner of the first phase, and most likely the Independent of the Valley, who should only avoid being thrashed in his last game against Deportivo Cuenca, next Saturday. If this does not happen, Independiente del Valle will win the second phase and will go for the title against Emelec, in round-trip matches. However, with a minimal chance to win this phase, on October 9, with 30 points, he will have to score in his visit to Universidad Católica and also expect a large score in favor of Deportivo Cuenca over Independiente, because between the two there is a great goal difference, because the October club has 11 and the Valley club has 20.
If Independiente effectively ratifies their classification as first, they will receive a second ticket for the Group stage of the next Copa Libertadores, as Emelec has already won the first. Universidad Católica, which accumulated 51 points and over 18 goal difference in the accumulated table of the two phases, will receive on October 9, which has 50 (+12); while Barcelona, which also has 50 points (+18), will visit Macará.
The first three teams will compete for the two places in the 2022 Libertadores play-off qualifying phase. For the Copa Sudamericana, Liga de Quito and Mushuc Runa have qualified. The loser of the bid between Católica, Barcelona and October 9, will receive another ticket for the South American Cup, and a fourth place will come from between Aucas and Delfín. On the last day, Aucas will visit Guayaquil City and Delfín will receive an already classified Mushuc Runa.
