Deportivo Cali begins its Copa BetPlay campaign on Monday, May 11, 2025, when it hosts Atlético Bucaramanga at Estadio Palmaseca, after falling out of the Liga and into the tournament’s new preliminary route.
The club released its called-up list for the match and Rafael Dudamel chose to lean on a mix of experience and youth. Juan José Gómez Miranda was promoted from the Sub-19 squad, Santiago Vallecilla moved up to the first team and could make his debut, and Kevin Suárez also earned a place in the group. Avilés Hurtado was left out.
Quique Barón said the most likely lineup would feature Pedro Gallese, Fabián Viáfara, Julián Quiñones, Felipe Aguilar, Keimer Sandoval, Juan José Tello, Ronaldo Pájaro, Matías Orozco, Johan Martínez, Andrés Titi Rodríguez and Juan Ignacio Dinenno. The younger players in the squad are expected to wait for their chance in the second half.
The stakes are larger than a routine cup opener. The Copa BetPlay changed in 2025 and now includes a preliminary phase for 12 Liga clubs eliminated and eight Torneo clubs eliminated, with the winners then facing the 16 clubs that reached the final phases of both local competitions. The champion can also qualify for the Copa Sudamericana 2027, giving the tournament a reward that reaches well beyond this first round.
For Cali, the match is its first major step in the competition after a run that has left it unable to reach the decisive stages of recent tournaments. That is why Monday’s game matters now: not only because it opens a new bracket, but because it offers the club a chance to show it can use this format to move where it has recently stalled.
Bucaramanga is the immediate obstacle, but the longer test is whether Cali can turn this squad list into progress. If it does, the club will stay alive in a competition that now carries a route toward 2027 and a chance to reset the tone of its season.
