Liga de Quito will take on Aucas on Saturday, 17 October at 16:30 Ecuador time, and the match will be played at the Gonzalo Pozo Ripalda. For Gustavo Álvarez, it is the next game that matters most because it is the one he can still shape.
The Liga coach said a classic is won by playing well and being better than the rival, and he wants his team to impose itself in every phase. That means defending better, handling the ball with more precision and being sharper in attack, after a 2-1 comeback over Barcelona SC at the Rodrigo Paz Delgado kept the group moving forward.
The timing gives this Aucas vs LDU Quito meeting immediate weight. It is the third time Álvarez has directed this duel since arriving at Liga, and it lands in a fight for the first places of the hexagonal, where points are tight and every result changes the picture at the top.
That is also why the coach’s confidence comes with a caveat. He says the team is growing and stabilizing, with a functioning style that has allowed Liga to impose its idea for much of recent matches, but the sample is still small and the pressure is real. A classic does not care about momentum for long; it asks whether that improvement holds when the opponent is across the line.
Alexander Alvarado’s voice added another layer to that story. He said he had not managed to score this year and that the drought had become a frustration for him, before breaking it against Barcelona SC. He called that goal important for his confidence and said he hopes to keep scoring in the remaining matches, while also praising Aucas for a strong season and for the development of important players.
So the immediate answer is simple: Aucas and Liga de Quito meet on Saturday at 16:30, and the next question is whether Liga’s recent lift can survive a classic that carries more than local pride. For Álvarez, the test is already clear. It has to show up in the way his side plays from the first whistle.
