Aldosivi and Defensa y Justicia kick off the Apertura tournament | OneFootball

The Shark and the Hawk face off this Thursday at 17:00 at the José María Minella.

Aldosivi and Defensa y Justicia will meet this Thursday at 17:00, at the José María Minella Stadium, in both teams' debut in the 2026 Apertura Tournament of the Professional League. The team from Mar del Plata arrives with the need to leave behind the fight against relegation, while the Hawk will look to change its image after a weak end to last season.

The team led by Guillermo Farré managed to stay in the category on the last date of 2025, when they defeated San Martín de San Juan 3-2 and condemned the Santo to return to the Primera Nacional. With that background still fresh, Aldosivi made a strong bet in the transfer market and added 13 reinforcements, with Mauro da Luz and Junior Arias being the latest additions to strengthen the attack.

In the preseason, the Shark played two friendlies. First, they faced Atlanta, with a 0-0 draw and a 1-0 victory, and then faced Platense, where they drew 0-0 and won 2-1, leaving good impressions ahead of the start of the tournament.

On the other hand, Defensa y Justicia closed a 2025 to forget, missing out on both the playoffs and the Sudamericana Cup, so in 2026 they will only have local competition. With that scenario, the management decided to renew hopes with high-profile names and secured the arrivals of Ever Banega and Rubén Botta, with the clear intention to fight at the top and dream of the first title in their history in Argentine football.

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