Atlético Nacional hosts Deportes Tolima on Saturday, May 23, at 6:00 p.m. at the Atanasio Girardot stadium in the second leg of their Liga BetPlay semifinal, with the green-and-white side protecting a 1-0 lead from the first match in Ibagué. The game will be shown on Win Sports+.
Tolima arrived in Medellín with a list of 20 called-up players and the challenge of overturning a deficit that came after Anderson Ángulo was sent off in the opening leg at the Manuel Murillo Toro stadium. The club’s coach, Lucas González, tried to keep the focus on the return match after Tolima’s 3-0 loss to Coquimbo Unido of Chile in the Copa Libertadores, saying the priority was Nacional and the semifinal itself.
The match has also drawn attention because Dimayor named Carlos Betancur of Valle del Cauca as the central referee and Wilmar Roldán of Antioquia as the fourth official. That has fed a sharper edge to a series already marked by frustration, with González questioning a similar officiating assignment from last semester and Sebastián Guzmán adding that he knew this situation would come and that there were things the squad could not comment on further.
On the pitch, Tolima is expected to lean on a probable lineup that included Volpi, López, Jhan Ángulo, Rovira, Arrieta, Nieto, Guzmán, Torres, Flórez, Parra and Sandoval. The task is simple to describe and difficult to carry out: Tolima must score while keeping Nacional from extending the advantage it earned in Ibagué. For a three-time champion of Colombian soccer, the margin for error is already thin.
The semifinal comes at a demanding moment for Tolima. The defeat to Coquimbo Unido cost it control of its Copa Libertadores group, and the quick turnaround leaves little room to absorb another setback. Nacional, meanwhile, enters with the cleaner position after winning the first leg 1-0 and now gets to manage the return at home, where a single goal from Tolima would change the feel of the night immediately.
The other Liga BetPlay semifinal, between Junior de Barranquilla and Independiente Santa Fe, frames the size of the stage. But in Medellín the equation is more immediate: Tolima needs the kind of road performance that turns a damaged tie back into a contest, while Nacional can close the door with discipline and one more controlled match in front of its crowd.
