Despite being second best on the pitch for most of the game, Independiente de Campo Grande touched a mini miracle last Monday, losing to Olimpia 2-1. They reacted to going 1-0 down, equalized, didn’t give up after going down again, 2-1, and until the last minutes they were trying to score that second goal that would have given them an unexpected point. They did lose, but… if you are Independiente de Campo Grande and play against Olimpia, you have to be left satisfied if you manage to look competitive and stay in the game until the dying minutes. That’s exactly what they did at Defensores del Chaco on Monday, and that decent performance is something they can build on, playing at their real home this time (against Olimpia they played at the much bigger national stadium, to sell as many tickets as possible to Olimpia fans, as their own fanbase is… close to non-existent).
Couldn’t have hoped for anything better on their Apertura debut. Nacional beat reigning champions Cerro Porteño 2-1 at Defensores del Chaco, in front of just a few of their fans, and thousands of opponents, despite playing as hosts – only typically. No one can say Nacional didn’t deserve the three points. They started the game better, took advantage of Cerro’s weaknesses, kept their opponents outside their box (most of Cerro’s chances came from long-distance shots), plus, they had Adam Bareiro on a fantastic afternoon. The 21-year-old striker scored seven goals in 29 appearances last season, and has already two goals to his name in this Apertura. Both his finishes were… top class, and the second goal was 100% his, from start to finish, stealing the ball in the middle of the field, and finishing it off in style. A very interesting player to watch, a guy who if he plays at 50% of what he played last weekend, won’t stay at Nacional for long.
Against Independiente they will have to be more dominant, ball possession-wise, a very different challenge to that of last weekend. I think they can still pull it off and earn all three points. Nacional’s win pays 2.20 nice value