Junior will close its 2026 second semester on Thursday against Deportivo Pasto, with the match set for 5:00 p.m. at estadio Libertad in Pasto. It is the last round of the all-play-all phase of the Liga Colombiana, and it comes with Junior already out of contention.
The timing is why the game is still drawing attention. Junior arrives after a 2-0 win over Cúcuta Deportivo on Monday that lifted it to 14th place with 19 points, but that result did not change the reality created by the 1-1 draw with Boyacá Chicó in Tunja, which ended the team’s chances. Jesús Rivas was injured in the Cúcuta match, adding another setback to a squad that is trying to finish the semester with some order.
Deportivo Pasto, meanwhile, is antepenultimate with 15 points after a 5-0 loss to Santa Fe. That defeat also came after the club used an under-20 lineup, because its professional squad had stopped activities over unpaid back wages. So the match in Pasto brings together two teams that reach the finish line short on momentum, even if for different reasons.
Junior’s trip also carries a selection change that matters on the field and beyond it. Teófilo Gutiérrez was left out of the traveling squad, while Sebastián Viera will serve the third match of his suspension after the red card against Boyacá Chicó. Viera remains under contract until December, but his future for 2027 is still unresolved, which gives this final match a layer of uncertainty that goes well past the standings.
That is the friction at the center of Thursday’s visit: Junior is already eliminated, yet the club still has to play out the end of a season that exposed injuries, suspensions and an unsettled coaching picture. Mario Viera has said the plan is to continue in 2027 because of what is coming for the club, and he has backed Sebastián Viera to lead the team. Whether that idea survives the winter will not be answered in Pasto, but Thursday’s match will be the last proof point before decisions have to be made.
