América de Cali and Independiente Santa Fe opened their Liga BetPlay quarterfinal series on May 9, 2026, at Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero in Cali, with the return match set for Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. at Estadio Nemesio Camacho El Campín in Bogotá.
For David González, the first leg mattered because it was the start of the knockout phase and because he wanted his side to take an edge into the trip to the capital. “Jugaremos contra un rival que lo conocemos bien, que lo enfrentamos acá en casa en un marco espectacular el día de cumpleaños del club; es un equipo que compite, que no será fácil superarlo y va a estar con intenciones competitivas durante los 90 minutos, y por eso es muy importante el apoyo de la gente,” he said. He added that it was “un inicio de fase final que es importante.”
América reached the tie after playing Alianza Atlético in the Sudamericana earlier in the week, and González said that both clubs had gone through competition between matches, putting them on equal footing in recovery time and rest days. He said his players arrived with the confidence of having won and with renewed belief after staying in the fight in the Sudamericana group stage, which had lifted the squad’s mood entering the knockout rounds.
That context mattered because the quarterfinal does not end in Cali. The tie begins at Pascual Guerrero and is decided a week later in Bogotá, so the opening result shapes how much pressure América carries into the return leg. González also said he expected his team to counter Santa Fe’s strengths over the 90 minutes, while Marlon Torres came back into the squad after missing the previous match because of accumulated yellow cards. Brayan Correa, Dylan Borrero, Darwin Machis and Yojan Garcés were removed from the concentration for the match.
The first test of the series was about more than home advantage. América needed a result that would make the second leg manageable, and González was clear that the atmosphere, the form and the timing all pointed to the same demand: start the quarterfinals well, or spend Tuesday night trying to repair the damage.
