The hottest tournament of the Uruguayan soccer season begins. The Clausura is not just another championship. It is the last opportunity to reach the finals. To make matters worse, the points determine the position in the Annual Table and with it the qualifications for international cups, as well as relegation.
Peñarol, leader of the Annual Table, starts the tournament with the tranquility of knowing that winning the Apertura allows them to have a guaranteed spot in the final. But the team led by Darío Rodríguez aspires to win both short tournaments to be crowned as the best of the season without having to resort to finals.
The aurinegros strengthened their team with the signings of Maximiliano Olivera (Juárez), Ignacio Sosa (Fénix), Guillermo De Amores (Sporting Gijón), Ángel González (Liga de Quito), José Neris (Colón de Santa Fe).
While also maintaining the backbone of the squad that won the Apertura, ensuring the continuity of Matías Arezo and Abel Hernández.
Nacional, who is second in the Annual Table, needs to win the Clausura to reach the final.
The tricolores suffered losses such as Sergio Rochet (Inter de Porto Alegre), Camilo Cándido (Bahía), Fabián Noguera (Abha in Saudi Arabia), and Alfonso Trezza (Arouca in Portugal). Previously, Gastón Pereiro had left for Cagliari. On the other hand, their best signing is Gonzalo Carneiro, who got injured and could not debut in the CONMEBOL Libertadores.
Nacional has little room for error. In the first half of the year, they missed three opportunities to reach first place in the Annual Table.
Defensor Sporting has joined the fight. With a well-built team and betting on talents from its youth academy, the team from Parque Rodó is another contender for the Clausura.
Another team that has shown they will be in the fight is Liverpool, who, with the three points they recovered in the league, is in the same position as Defensor in the Annual Table, five points behind Peñarol. The Belvedere side was crowned champion of the Intermedio.
QUALIFICATION FOR CUPS
When analyzing the teams that are fighting for qualification to international tournaments, the mentioned teams must be taken into account: Peñarol, Nacional, Defensor, and Liverpool, along with a group of teams that are separated by few points in the Annual Table.
In that sense, Wanderers (35) is four points behind Defensor and Liverpool. Behind the bohemians is Cerro Largo with 33 points, and one step below are: River Plate (29), Cerro (28), and Danubio (26).
RELEGATION
Regarding the relegation table, there are currently three teams in danger of losing their category: Plaza Colonia, La Luz, and Montevideo City Torque.
The Colonia team is in a highly compromised position and should accumulate an ideal score to save themselves. La Luz's score is doubled, so while they are at risk, they do not lose hope.
Meanwhile, MC Torque's objectives are to reach the same score as Racing -which also doubled- and Fénix, which surpasses them by 10 points.