The six reasons that have Millonarios practically eliminated from the semifinals

In just 35 days, Millonarios went from beating two of its biggest rivals, América and Nacional, to suffering an incredible downturn, which has it on the brink of elimination in the 2024-I League.

This Sunday, Millos lost his fifth consecutive game, this time, against another of the relegation candidates, Jaguares, who beat him 2-0 in Montería. They had already lost three home games (0-1 with Águilas Doradas, 1-2 against Once Caldas and 0-2 against La Equidad).

Furthermore, Millos had incredibly lost against the last of the two tables, Patriotas, who, until that match, had not scored a goal and has not done so since then.

You have to go until the campaign of the second half of 2004 to find Millonarios losing five games in a row. The difference is that that team was in the worst institutional crisis in the club's history, to the point that it had to turn to players from the lower divisions and receive players on loan at no cost.

The current one, on the other hand, came from a process that managed to sell players abroad and win a League title, a Cup title, a Super League title and being classified for the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, something that, with the current performance, it is more of a problem than a reward.

Why did Millonarios sink? These are five possible reasons.

Lack of goal: a serious problem

The Super League that Millonarios won against Junior and the 5-0 on the first date against Medellín turned out to be a mirage. From that moment on, in nine games, Alberto Gamero's team has only scored five goals, one of them a penalty, scored by Beckham Castro against Jaguares.

In the previous games, the coach had highlighted that the team arrived and generated options, but did not put them in. Now, two very organized teams in defense, Equidad and Jaguares, exposed all of his offensive flaws and did not allow him to generate scoring opportunities.

They reach Millos little, but they mark him a lot

Since the victories against Nacional and América, Millonarios never kept a clean sheet again. For some, one or two arrivals were enough to hurt them, like Patriotas, Águilas, Once Caldas and Jaguares, but others, like Equidad, did hurt them.

Injuries, a repeated problem

In Montería, Millonarios could not count on any of its experienced forwards, Leonardo Castro and Santiago Giordana. He had to appeal to a player with little experience, Juan Esteban Carvajal. Nor with his captain, Mackalister Silva, and Gamero had to leave Andrés Llinás on the bench. Furthermore, Juan Carlos Pereira was injured in that game.

The list of casualties due to injury is enormous: apart from those mentioned, Danovis Banguero, Ómar Bertel, Óscar Vanegas, Luis Paredes, Jader Valencia and Diego Abadía are out. The medical department has more work than the coaching staff itself.

Very low individual levels

Several of the key players from recent campaigns are far from their level. Álvaro Montero, who was coming off three suspension dates after his expulsion against Nacional, was very involved in the two Jaguares goals. Daniel Cataño has not had good performances since he returned from his injury. Daniel Ruiz, who had already left doubts during his time with the U-23 National Team, has not performed either. And others with equal performance have dropped, such as Daniel Giraldo, Stiven Vega, Larry Vásquez and Juan Pablo Vargas.

The reinforcements have not been able to perform

Millonarios did not make many hires, but tried to add pie
ces to a base that was solid. However, none of those who arrived have been able to make a difference. Santiago Giordana started well in the Super League, but then it cost him, in part, due to his location on the field, far from the rival goal. Danovis Banguero has hardly played due to injury. Delvin Alfonzo has been on and off. Diego Novoa did not make any big mistakes, but he was unlucky that with him in goal the bad streak began. And Émerson Rivaldo Rodríguez has not been close to the player who went to the MLS either.

The technician's lack of self-criticism

Alberto Gamero has come out to protect his group of players in press conferences after previous defeats. He has simply hidden behind the lack of a goal. His statements, however, have left two doubts: either he sticks to the idea of ​​leaving a good environment or he cannot find a way around the situation.

Jose Orlando Ascencio

Sports Deputy Editor

@josasc

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