Vélez eyeing Copa Libertadores, visit San Martín in Clausura | OneFootball

Considering that on Tuesday they will play the second leg against Racing, Vélez will visit San Martín de San Juan this Friday with an alternative lineup.

San Martín de San Juan and Vélez will clash at the Hilario Sánchez Rodríguez from 19:15, for the ninth round of Group B of the 2025 Professional League Clausura Tournament. The Santo and the Fortín arrive with different needs: Pipi Romagnoli's team remains hopeful of staying in the division, while the Fortín wants to secure its position in the qualifying spots for the next phase.

How San Martín (SJ) and Vélez arrive at the duel for the Clausura Tournament

San Martín depends on a miracle to stay in the division. The Santo is fighting, along with Aldosivi, in the last position of the annual table and the averages. They need to earn three points to escape the relegation battle and hope their direct rivals, the Mar del Plata Shark and Talleres, drop points along the way. They recently drew 0-0 with Belgrano in Barrio Alberdi, and have earned 5 out of the last 15 points available. Horacio Tijanovich will be out due to a serious injury in Córdoba.

On the other hand, Vélez will arrive in San Juan with a bitter taste: they lost 1-0 to Racing in Liniers, in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals, in a match where they played with 10 men from the 30th minute of the first half, after Lisandro Magallán was sent off.

The Fortín is third in Zone B and a victory would give them the comfort of having one foot in the next league phase. The loss to the Academia ended a positive streak of 7 matches without losing; in their last Clausura match, they drew 0-0 with Huracán in Parque Patricios.

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