Unión and the chance to start making history against Mendoza's Lepra | OneFootball

The regular phase of the Apertura Tournament is over: Defensa lost to Gimnasia de Mendoza and Unión qualified for the playoff round. Now it’s win or go home, and the first stop is against a fired-up Mendoza-based Lepra.

The match that could have sent Unión through without having to worry about what happened in Mendoza ended in a dramatic draw against Talleres. That point forced them to wait and hope that the “Falcon” wouldn’t win, since Unión was only two points ahead and both were fighting for the last qualifying spot. In the end, Mariano Soso’s team lost, and now Unión’s hopes have grown more than ever.

Madelón’s team didn’t finish the final stretch of the tournament in the best way, but it achieved its objective of reaching the playoffs. Now it’s win or go home, a one-off 50-50, and why not a moment for the Tate to rise to the occasion and start dreaming big. A recent example of a champion sneaking into the knockout stage through the back door and having to play every match away from home until the final is Estudiantes. Eduardo Domínguez’s team ended up winning that Clausura last year against Racing in Santiago del Estero. Now Unión, which practically scraped into the playoffs, will have to play away in every round it reaches.

Now they have to travel to Mendoza to visit what is, without a doubt, the revelation and the best team of the tournament. Alfredo Berti’s side finished on top, won 10, lost only 2, and drew 4; they won the clásico against Gimnasia de Mendoza 5-1 (fair enough, Unión put 4 past them in Santa Fe) and are riding a dream run: unbeaten in the Libertadores, they pulled off a “Maracanazo” against Fluminense, making major history. The issue is that the schedule is starting to squeeze them: they play Fluminense this Wednesday in the cup, and on Saturday they face Unión in the round of 16 at 9:30 p.m. A huge match for Unión, who will travel with the hope of taking down Independiente Rivadavia and using that game as a springboard to start dreaming big, something Leo Madelón himself has been stressing in press conferences.

Head-to-head: A record that smiles on the Tate

Although Independiente Rivadavia’s current form is intimidating, the historical numbers say Unión knows how to play them. Since 2007, they have faced each other 16 times:

This is how the round of 16 will be played.

The road to the final on May 24 in Córdoba is already mapped out. All ties are single-match games at the ground of the higher-seeded team (except the final, which is at a neutral venue):

Top half of the bracket

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