After a tough road of more than 30 games, Independiente Rivadavia de Mendoza and Almirante Brown will face each other this Sunday in Córdoba in a Primera Nacional final that will give them the historic opportunity to ascend to the highest division of Argentine soccer.
The most anticipated match since February of this year, when the season began, will be played at the Mario Alberto Kempes World Cup stadium from 6:00 p.m. with both sides and a live broadcast from TyC Sports.
The person in charge of the final will be Nicolás Ramírez, accompanied by Maximiliano Del Yesso as first assistant, Sebastián Raineri (second) and Pablo Echavarría (fourth referee). The definition of the first promotion to the Professional League will not have assistance from the VAR.
In the event of equality in regulation time, an extra period of 30 minutes will be added, divided into two periods of 15 minutes, and if necessary, kicks will be taken from the penalty spot.
The loser of this cross between the winners of Zones A and B of the First National will join the second round of the Reduced for a new chance of promotion.
The fans of Independiente Rivadavia and Almirante Brown will have 20,000 seats each in the Córdoba stadium, which will open its doors from 3:00 p.m.
The Mendoza supporters will be located in the popular Artime and the Gasparini stalls; while the partial units of the “Fragata” will occupy the Willington (head) and Ardiles (side) sectors.
The security operation ordered by the Córdoba authorities will affect more than 1,100 provincial police officers, private security, firefighters, health, Safe Tribune, Civil Defense, Traffic and Judicial Unit.
Both will go for their first promotion to the highest category in history. The Mendoza “Leprosy” participated in the old National tournaments on six occasions (1968, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1982); While Isidro Casanova’s team never played a match in the elite, their entire sporting life was spent in Ascenso.
This great opportunity comes to them with technicians from Marcelo Bielsa’s Newell’s school: Alfredo Berti at Independiente Rivadavia and Darío Franco at Almirante, who took over during the campaign.
La Fragata won Zone A with 61 points in 36 games (17-10-9), after fighting head-to-head with Agropecuario de Carlos Casares and San Martín de Tucumán on the last date of the regular stage.
The Mendoza team won Zone B by an onslaught (68 points in 34 games, 20-8-6), winning the classic against Deportivo Maipú and benefiting from Chacarita Juniors’ draw (67) against Atlético de Rafaela.
Independiente Rivadavia has the season’s top scorer, Paraguayan Alex Arce (26 goals in 31 games), whom Berti hopes to count on after the grade 1 muscle tear he suffered two weeks ago in the match with Maipú.
Meanwhile, former Argentinos Juniors Ezequiel Ham would be the replacement for the suspended Matías Reali.
On Almirante Brown’s side, Franco will most likely have the same formation that achieved its passage to the final on the last date with a controversial victory against Temperley (2-0) at Isidro Casanova.
= Probable formations =
Independent Rivadavia (Mendoza): Maximiliano Gagliardo; Luciano Abecasis, Francisco Petrasso, Mauro Maidana and Juan Elordi; Ezequiel Ham, Franco Romero, Maximiliano González and Diego Tonetto; Alejo Distaulo and Alex Arce. DT: Alfredo Berti.
Admiral Brown: Ramiro Martínez; Ulises Abreliano, Agustín Dáttola, Alan Barrionuevo and Jonathan Zacaría; Leandro Guzmán, Marcos Enrique, Juan Manuel Vázquez and Mariano Santiago; Martín Batallini and Nazareno Bazán. DT: Dario Franco.
Referee: Nicolás Ramírez.
Stadium: Mario Alberto Kempes (Córdoba).
Start time: 18:00.
TV: TyC Sports.
Source: Ambito
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