Junior will go to Palmaseca on Sunday at 8:10 p.m. with Mauro Silveira back in the squad, a return that changes the picture for a team that needs a win to keep its qualification hopes alive. The goalkeeper missed the last four matches after a facial fracture, and he will wear a protective mask when he comes back.
Silveira’s absence began after a clash with Carlos Lucumí on September 26 at the Romelio Martínez, when he suffered a fracture of several bones in his face. His return arrives at a critical moment because Junior is 16th with 11 points, and anything short of victory would close the door on its chances of reaching the cuadrangulares semifinales.
That is why the search around Deportivo Cali vs Junior points first to the stakes, not the table. Junior also brought Jean Pestaña, Harold Rivera, Yeison Suárez, Jannenson Sarmiento and Déiber Caicedo back into the call-up, but Jermein Peña will miss the match because of a one-match suspension for his fifth yellow card. Edwin Herrera and Bryan Castrillón are also out, leaving the visiting side with a thinner margin for error.
Deportivo Cali, by contrast, is third with 25 points and has gone seven matches without losing. Its last defeat came against Nacional on August 26, by 2-1, and that run gives Sunday’s game a very different edge from Junior’s last visit to Palmaseca, which ended in a 2-0 win for the visitors on July 12 of the previous year. Steven ‘Titi’ Rodríguez and Guillermo Paiva scored that day, a reminder that Junior can still find a result there when the match tilts its way.
But the larger truth is harder to ignore. Junior drew with Pereira 1-1 at home in its previous match, and its current form leaves little room for optimism even if the math is still alive. A win would keep the chase going; a loss would end it. For Silveira, the return is immediate and personal. For Junior, Sunday night may decide whether the season still has a route left open.
