🏆 The omens giving Nacional hope of a 19th title | OneFootball

Excitement over the 2026-I Liga BetPlay final between Atlético Nacional and Junior de Barranquilla has sent the Verdolaga fanbase into a frenzy. In recent hours, social media has been flooded with stats and historical coincidences that are giving fans of the Antioquia side reason to dream of the first-half title.

The mirror of the 2014 and 2015 stars

Journalist Óscar Yamit Quiroz highlighted a series of astonishing similarities between Nacional’s current campaign and the 2014-I and 2015-II titles, tournaments in which the green side were crowned champions by defeating, precisely, the shark side.

Just like in those golden years, in this 2026-I Atlético Nacional finished top of the all-play-all stage, beat Deportes Tolima, won the derby against Independiente Medellín, and stumbled against Once Caldas. In addition, identical patterns were repeated, such as beating Junior in the regular phase and suffering a defeat at El Campín stadium.

Was the ending already written?

In both 2014 and 2015, the tournament was decided under a playoff format, Nacional won all of their home matches, and ended up lifting the trophy through a penalty shootout. With history on their side, the Verdolaga faithful are wondering whether destiny has already been written.

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

📸 Gabriel Aponte - 2026 Getty Images