Argentinos and Lanús aim to make a statement in the Apertura play-offs | OneFootball

El Bicho wants to make the most of home advantage to stay in the title race, while El Granate is looking to pull off an upset after an inconsistent regular season. The winner will face Boca or Huracán.

Argentinos Juniors and Lanús will face off this Saturday from 9:30 p.m. at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, in the round of 16 of the Apertura Tournament.

The La Paternal side was one of the most consistent teams throughout the first phase of the championship. Argentinos Juniors won eight matches, drew five, and lost only three, although one of those defeats came last weekend against Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, when they had already secured their place in the playoffs.

With 29 points, El Bicho finished third in Zone B and will have the advantage of playing this round at home. In addition, the domestic tournament stands as the team’s main objective of the semester after being eliminated in the Round of 64 of the Copa Argentina by Midland and making an early exit from the Copa Libertadores after losing in Phase 2 to Barcelona Sporting Club.

As for Lanús, Mauricio Pellegrino’s team reached the round of 16 by finishing sixth in Zone A with 24 points. However, El Granate dropped important points in the final rounds and picked up only two of the last nine available, which kept them from finishing higher in the standings.

Even so, the Southern side arrives backed by a historic semester. In February, they won the Recopa Sudamericana after defeating Flamengo at the Maracanã Stadium. In addition, as champions of the 2025 Copa Sudamericana, they are competing in the current edition of the Libertadores, where they sit second in Group G despite the heavy 4-0 defeat suffered against Always Ready in Bolivia.

Although they were in different groups, the draw determined that both teams would meet during the regular phase in an interzonal clash. On that occasion, Argentinos Juniors claimed a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Hernán López Muñoz and Nicolás Oroz, while Ramiro Carrera pulled one back for El Granate.

The winner of this matchup will advance to the quarterfinals of the Apertura Tournament.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.