Racing no longer controls its fate: what it needs for Apertura play-offs | OneFootball

Belgrano’s defeat to Gimnasia complicated the situation for the Academy, which now needs to win its postponed match and hope for favorable results elsewhere. The game against Huracán is key, and before that they have to keep an eye on what happens this Monday in Parque Patricios.

Racing heads into the final stretch of the Apertura Tournament with its back against the wall. Belgrano’s defeat to Gimnasia, which Gustavo Costas’s team needed to avoid, left the Academy without the chance to rely solely on itself to reach the playoffs. El Lobo won 1-0 away and moved into the top eight, forcing the Avellaneda side to try to change its fate in the matches ahead: win its game in hand against Huracán and pray for other results to go its way.

Saturday had brought good news. Tigre lost to Sarmiento and left the Academy holding on to eighth place. The scenario was clear: if Belgrano had beaten Gimnasia, the Avellaneda club would still have depended only on itself. But the La Plata side won away and changed everything.

Now, before thinking about the final matchday, they have to watch what happens in Parque Patricios. Huracán, who are above the Academy in the standings, will host Argentinos Juniors. If El Globo doesn’t win, qualification will be back in the Academy’s hands. With a draw, they will be only two points behind. That’s why, more than ever, they have to root for El Bicho from La Paternal.

The Córdoba-based Pirata is three points ahead of the team chaired by Diego Milito and will host the already mentioned Sarmiento at its stadium. Barracas, one point above the Academy, will be at home against Banfield, who no longer have any chance. Meanwhile, Gimnasia will also play at home against Argentinos Juniors, who have already qualified.

For Costas’s men, only a win will do. With a draw there is still hope, but the conditions are demanding: they would need Barracas to lose and neither Tigre nor Sarmiento to win, both of whom ended up one point below after matchday 19. The outlook is complicated, but not impossible. Everything will be decided in the postponed match from round nine, which Racing must win no matter what.

The postponed round has a story behind it. It was suspended when Argentine football’s leadership decided to show solidarity with AFA president Claudio Tapia and treasurer Pablo Toviggino, who had been summoned to give testimony by the courts in a case involving evasion of contributions. Both officials are currently under indictment. That decision, controversial at the time,

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