Deportivo Tolima will play Coquimbo Unido this Tuesday at 22.00 hours at the Manuel Murillo Toro stadium in Ibagué, in a Copa Libertadores Group B match that could define its survival in the tournament. With only one point, Tolima needs a victory to stay alive.
Anderson Angulo, 29, did not hide the weight of the fixture. “Para nosotros es una final. Tenemos una gran responsabilidad porque dependemos de este partido. Puede ser el final de esto si no logramos nuestro objetivo, por eso esperamos recuperar nuestro nivel,” he said. He also warned about the threat posed by the Chilean side: “Coquimbo es un equipo intenso, tiene extremos muy rápidos y un centrodelantero fuerte.”
The warning is backed by results. Coquimbo Unido reached the top of Group B after an agónico empate against Nacional and a convincing away win over Universitario. Those two results changed the shape of the group and turned Tuesday’s match into a test Tolima cannot afford to lose.
The stakes go beyond Tolima alone. A win for Hernán Caputto's team could leave qualification to the round of 16 very well on track, depending on what happens between Nacional and Universitario. That is why this match arrives not as a routine group game, but as the kind of night that can redraw an entire campaign in a single result.
For Tolima, the task is straightforward and unforgiving. Beat the group leader, or risk seeing its Libertadores run end before the knockout stage is within reach.