Atlético Nacional lost to Deportivo Cali and broke their unbeaten streak of five games in the Liga Águila 2017. The Cali team ended their nightmare of not winning for seven matches. Nicolas Benedetti scored the only goal of the game that unleashed madness in the Deportivo Cali stadium.
The 'Verdolaga' team started the match trying to impose their game; however, they were surprised by a Cali team that never backed down and tried to play on equal terms. The first shot on goal came from Alex Castro, who wanted to surprise Franco Armani, but he was well positioned.
The first half ended with a goalless draw.
The second half followed a similar path. Both teams entered each other's areas, but couldn't convert. The figure of Franco Armani started to grow as he once again saved Nacional after a close-range shot from Andrés Roa.
Deportivo Cali's main weapon was to wait for Nacional to attack and then attempt a counter-attack with Castro or Benedetti.
In the 80th minute, Sergio "Checho" Angulo's plan worked. A long ball found Armani out of position and without reference to the ball. Benedetti, with his goal-scoring instinct, took advantage of the confusion to find the ball and beat the 'Verdolaga' goal. It was 1-0.
With this result, Atlético Nacional is in second place in the Liga Águila, behind Independiente de Santa Fe, with 37 points. Medellín's team hadn't lost since September 20 against Deportivo Pasto.
Meanwhile, Deportivo Cali, with 23 points, earned three crucial points and hopes to reach eighth place, which qualifies them for an international tournament.
Atlético Nacional vs. Deportivo Cali: Lineups
Atlético Nacional: Armani; Cuesta, Aguilar, Henríquez, Mosquera, Arias, Ramírez, Macnelly Torres, Lucumí, Rentería, and Moreno.
Deportivo Cali: Jeréz; Delgado, Balanta, Lucumí, Andrade; Giraldo, Rivera, Castro, Benedetti, Roa, and Sabbag. VS Nacional
| COUNTRY | TIME |
| Mexico | 7:00 p.m. |
| Peru | 8:00 p.m. |
| Colombia | 8:00 p.m. |
| Chile | 10:00 p.m. |
| Argentina | 10:00 p.m. |
| Brazil | 10:00 p.m. |
PRE-MATCH
The 'Verdolaga' has shown a real exhibition in the last five rounds, finally being able to reflect the work and game plan of Spanish coach Juan Manuel Lillo.
"In the early rounds, we were heavily criticized because we couldn't keep a clean sheet, but we're adapting to the system," said Felipe Aguilar.
On the other hand, Deportivo Cali is going through a completely different situation. Already resigned to not qualifying for the quarterfinals, the green team from the Valle region has not won in six rounds. In fact, their last victory was in mid-September when they defeated Rionegro.
Three matches ago, the sugar team changed their coach, but 'Checho' Angulo has not achieved the desired impact or results, and has only earned one point, a draw against América.
"We have to try to get a victory, we can't keep losing, because otherwise we'll have no chance of an international tournament in 2018," said the green team's coach.
Atlético Nacional vs. Deportivo Cali: Probable lineups
Atlético Nacional: Franco Armani; Carlos Cuesta, Felipe Aguilar, Alexis Henríquez; Diego Arias, Aldo Leao Ramírez; Jeison Lucumí, Macnelly Torres, Juan Pablo Nieto; Andrés Rentería, and Dayro Moreno.
Deportivo Cali: Pablo Mina; Didier Delgado, Kevin Balanta, John Lucumi, Darwin Andrade; Cristian Rivera, Daniel Giraldo, Fabián Sambueza, Andrés Roa, Nicolás Benedetti; Pablo Sabbag.