Medellín started off suffering and ended up excited about continuing to fight in the Copa Sudamericana. The only Colombian team to survive in Conmebol men’s club tournaments this year got a great result against Lanús away, a 0-0 draw that gives them hope of reaching the semi-finals of the tournament.
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Medellín is still trying to find its best form and that is why it suffered a lot in the first half. A coach who is only playing his eighth game, a tactical idea to defend that requires work, going from a four-man defense to a three-man line, and, in addition, with two of the starters in those positions out of the game due to injury, José Ortiz and Joaquín Varela.
Restrepo wanted to stick to his idea and ended up accompanying Fainer Torijano with Homer Martínez, who has played as a centre-back but has recently been playing more in the middle, and Daniel Londoño, who is usually a left-back. And that made DIM look vulnerable.
Two key plays in the first half in which DIM was saved
Éder Chaux saved two goal-scoring balls and Lanús also hit the crossbar, in a play in which the striker, Walter Bou, claimed that the ball had gone in when it bounced on the ground. The cameras proved otherwise.
Lanús even scored a goal, scored by Abel Luciatti, but it was not included on the scoreboard due to a previous offside detected by the VAR.
In addition, with the help of the screens, referee Wilton Sampaio reversed a penalty he had called for a foul by Francisco Chaverra that did not exist.
After the last five minutes, in which they were a bit more daring, and Restrepo’s talk in the locker room, Medellín realized that they could attack and the team began to gain confidence.
But when DIM was doing better, at 24 minutes of the second half, a shot by Walter Bou ended in a goal, but before that he committed a foul on Pablo Lima, who had entered minutes earlier for Chaverra to reinforce the marking in the middle.
Medellín had, in the midst of everything, a calm finish and even had the chance to keep the ball far from its goal and generate a few approaches to Nahuel Losada’s goal. It was a great point for the Colombian team, which next Wednesday, at 7:30 in the evening, on its way back to its home, the Atanasio Girardot, hopes to get into the top four of this edition of the tournament.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
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