The defensive wall and the state of grace in attack: The reasons to believe in the triumph of Universitario in the classic

There is a classic and, although there are rumors of revenge in the halls of Nacional, this match must be seen as a unique experience without the precedent of the final won by Universitario last November. If the compadres want to settle accounts, let it be in another definition at the end of the year.

Why will Universitario win it?

1. A better squad

In the year of its centenary, the Universitario fan wanted good news since January 1. The merengue leadership played with the patience of his followers and did not stir up the League 1 transfer market, I bet you until the end.

They moved forward calmly with the signings of Christopher Olivares. They responded in time to the departure of José Carvallo and hired Sebastián Britos, the Uruguayan champion in December 2023 with his country’s Liverpool. They looked for the foreign center forward of 2024 in the Cyprus league: Diego Dorregaray. And then they waited.

Raúl Ruidíaz did not come and Miguel Trauco was not called. They deflated Yoshimar Yotún’s song with grace. Of course, it took them longer than they should to give the technical director’s jacket to Fabián Bustos, an Argentine with success in the neighboring Ecuadorian league.

When the transfer market couldn’t stand one more rumor, the ‘U’ unlocked two names and signed them in the same week. Jairo Concha and Christofer Gonzales. The former blue and white and self-confessed fan to reinforce the midfielder and give it the dynamism that Bustos wants in his team, and Canchita to be the creative one in the team, a place that Piero Quispe left after leaving for Mexico.

The fruits have been noticed in the first two dates of League 1 I Bet You. Two victories and five goals scored. The ‘U’ did not let them disarm the champion team. On the contrary, it has reinforced it to seek the two-time championship on the 100th anniversary of its institutional life.

2. The strongest defense

Although only two Apertura games have been played, there is one conclusion that is incontestable: Universitario’s defense. Read by heart the names of Aldo Corzo, Williams Riveros and Matías Di Benedetto. And we must add that in five games (three friendly and two official), the ‘U’ has only conceded two goals (Atlético Nacional and own goal against Coquimbo). In League 1, Te Apuesta has 180 minutes with a clean sheet.

Another revealing fact is that, adding to the 2023 campaign, the ‘U’ has not lost since August of last year: 0-2 against ADT in Tarma. They have gone a total of 13 games without losing in the local tournament. Bustos has not moved the best of the squad. He knows that from a solid and secure base in defense, champion and effective teams in attack are achieved.

3. The Shell factor

Being blue and white he already celebrated against the ‘U’. The fair thing for him, a cream fan since he was a child, is that he now celebrates with his love team against his compadre. All the spotlights will be on Jairo Concha, who is a permanent starter for Fabián Bustos above Martín Pérez Guedes.

What is different about Jairo? He is more dynamic than Pérez Guedes. He breaks lines, throws deep passes, associates more easily with Edison Flores and Diego Dorregaray. He will not have Rodrigo Ureña this time, but he will know how to get along with the support of Jorge Murrugarra.

If there is a match to know the level of a footballer, that is a classic. It’s today for Jairo Concha. What comes later in the year can be a starting point for what happens against the eternal rival.

4. Friends, goals

Edison Flores had not scored so many goals in so few months since his last semester (2016) at Universitario when he scored 8 times. Not even in Aalborg, Morelia or DC United could he repeat that club performance. Since returning to the ‘U’ he scored six goals in the Clausura 2023, one in the Copa Sudamericana, one more in a friendly (Atlético Nacional) and the last in the Apertura 2024. In terms of assists, he already has 3 (two this year ). The cream is his place in the world.

Andy Polo is accused of having a debt with the goal in Universitario. Since he returned in 2022, he has only added 3 scores. However, he was the main assister of the 2023 champion team with 11 assists. In total, since he returned to League 1 I bet you, he has 14 assists. This year, in two dates he has 1 goal and 1 assist.

Of the five goals that Universitario scored in Liga 1 Te Apuesta 2024, Edison and Andy have directly participated in four of them. If we count Dorregaray’s penalty, then, we would talk about them being involved in all of Merengues’ many goals in the campaign, whether scoring or assisting.

When friend Christofer Gonzáles joins the dance of goals and assists, the dream of many fans of the ‘U’ will have been fulfilled seeing how the promises of the quarry today lead the team towards another title.

5. The hand of Bustos

If the 4-0 to Carlos Mannucci confused thousands of Universitario fans, it was opportune to have a rival like Atlético Grau to step on the ground. Rough, fast and feisty. This is how the Piurans showed up at the Monumental, which saw Rodrigo Ureña being expelled at 40′. What seemed like a formal match became the first big test for Fabián Bustos.

The Argentine, who had sent the best of his squad from the start (Ureña, Concha and Canchita), used his substitute bench to reformulate the match with a few less. He did not hesitate to send Portocarrero onto the field as soon as the second half began. He did not hesitate to take out Concha and Gonzáles in the steering wheel. Nor when he decided on José Rivera with the game demanding a more mobile forward than Dorregaray.

The results came from the bank. Murrugarra fought in the midfield, Pérez Guedes came in fresh to complicate things from the right and Calcaterra made space to have more possession of the ball. That agonizing 1-0 at the Monumental was the first warning that Bustos also knows how to rethink complicated games. In the classic, every tactical decision you make will be evaluated.