The Colón mark Estudiantes and Independiente Rivadavia will match | OneFootball

The Round of 16 bracket of the 2026 Apertura Tournament not only opens the battle for the title, but also poses a statistical challenge that has a clear owner: Colón. Both Estudiantes de La Plata and Independiente Rivadavia of Mendoza, leaders of their respective groups, will try to break a streak that has remained unchanged for several years.

Colón, the last to make it happen

You have to go back to the 2021 Copa de la Liga to find the last team that topped its group and ended up being crowned champion. That Colón side, coached by Eduardo Domínguez, was not only the best in Zone A, but also maintained its level in the playoffs.

In that historic campaign, the Sabalero knocked out Talleres de Córdoba in the quarterfinals, got past Independiente in the semifinals, and finished the job with a convincing 3-0 win over Racing in the final played in San Juan.

Since then, no group leader has been able to repeat the formula.

A trend that became the rule

In the following seasons, the pattern repeated itself again and again. Teams that dominated the regular stage ended up falling in the decisive knockout rounds.

In 2022, for example, Racing and Estudiantes themselves topped their groups, but the champion was Boca Juniors, which had qualified in second place. In 2023, Rosario Central pulled off the surprise after advancing as fourth in its group, while in 2024 the title once again went to Estudiantes, which also had not finished first.

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