Once Caldas is back in competition on Sunday night, visiting Junior at the Romelio Martínez at 8:15 p.m. after the 10 August earthquake forced a stop to its league schedule. The game arrives as the club tries to turn a disrupted month into a useful start in the sixth round.
The timing matters because Once Caldas has gone three matches without a win and is outside the top eight, so every point now carries extra weight. The team had drawn 1-1 with Jaguares in Montería in its last official match before the earthquake, then saw the previous weekend’s round postponed by Dimayor when it was set to host Alianza.
That interruption went beyond the calendar. Once Caldas could not play at home during August and will not return to the Palogrande until September, when it meets Deportivo Cali. For supporters and players, Sunday is less a normal away match than the first real step back into league rhythm after weeks in which even preparation had to be reshaped.
Jefry Zapata is among those feeling the impact directly. His apartment in Manizales suffered damage, a reminder that the earthquake was not only a sporting delay but a personal shock for people around the club. Once Caldas returned to training on Monday and played a charity friendly against Atlético Nacional in Medellín on Wednesday, drawing 2-2 with Edwin Torres scoring both goals, but those matches did not change the need to start collecting points again.
Junior adds another layer to the night. The two clubs met in the quarterfinals of Liga BetPlay I, when Junior advanced after a 2-2 draw and a 3-2 aggregate score, and Dayro Moreno missed a penalty in that tie. Junior later became bicampeón after defeating Atlético Nacional, which gives this rematch a sharper edge even without a trophy on the line. For Once Caldas, the task is simpler and harder at the same time: survive the return to official play and leave Barranquilla with something that stops the slide before September brings the next home game.
