Platense chase more history, away to Santa Fe for a place in next round | OneFootball

The Squid will visit the Colombian side this Tuesday for Matchday 5 of Group E. If they win in Bogotá, they will reach the round of 16 for the first time in their history.

Platense will face a night this Tuesday that could go down in its history. Starting at 9, it will visit Independiente Santa Fe at the Nemesio Camacho El Campín stadium for Matchday 5 of the Copa Libertadores Group E.

El Calamar comes into the match second in its group with 7 points, and knows that a win in Bogotá will allow it to qualify for the round of 16 of the continental tournament for the first time in its history. The match will be officiated by Chilean referee Cristian Garay and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 2.

The Vicente López side is enjoying an unprecedented international campaign. Winning last year’s Apertura gave it the chance to play in the Libertadores for the first time and, in a demanding group, it came very close to pulling off another historic feat.

Beyond a win, a draw could also bring it closer to qualification. In that case, Platense would automatically eliminate Independiente Santa Fe and would depend on the result between Peñarol and Corinthians: if the Uruguayan team does not win, El Calamar would also advance to the round of 16.

A defeat, on the other hand, would keep it in second place in Group E, although it would leave everything to be decided on the final matchday, when it will have to visit Corinthians in São Paulo.

Independiente Santa Fe, meanwhile, comes in needing a win to stay alive. The Colombian side has only 2 points out of a possible 12 and must beat Platense to avoid elimination. Even if it gets the win, it would still need to beat Peñarol in Uruguay and hope for help from Corinthians against El Calamar on the final matchday.

Despite its difficult situation in the Copa, the Lion is going through a good spell in the Colombian league. It is in the semifinals of the 2026 Apertura, a stage it reached after finishing seventh in the regular phase and eliminating América de Cali with a commanding 5-1 aggregate. In the next round, it will face Junior de Barranquilla.

Platense’s domestic form, by contrast, has been inconsistent. In this season’s Apertura, it finished 12th in Zone A, with 16 points from the same number of matches, and failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Where it did manage to advance was in the Copa Argentina, a competition in which it has already reached the round of 16. First it beat Argentino de Monte Maíz 1-0 in the round of 64, and then got past San Martín de San Juan 4-3 on penalties in the round of 32.

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