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The most awaited duel of the 2024 Clausura Tournament is coming. Universitario de Deportes and Alianza Lima will meet again at the Monumental stadium after five months in a critical match for both clubs’ ambitions in the Liga 1. ‘Cremas’ and ‘blanquiazules’ will fight for three points, and amidst the expectations generated by this special confrontation, the fans of La Victoria’s team express a lot of positivity ahead of the match.
Last weekend, the Alianza Lima team achieved a significant home victory at the Alejandro Villanueva stadium, winning 2-0 against Alianza Atlético. A double from Hernán Barcos was crucial for the ‘íntimos’ to continue accumulating points and fight at the top of the standings, which has given a lot of confidence to Alianza supporters.
In fact, after the match against the Sullana team, ATV Deportes interviewed different fans leaving the La Victoria venue to learn their expectations ahead of the classic that will be played on Friday, July 26 against Universitario in Ate. The vast majority expressed optimism, believing that a victory for Alianza Lima is the most feasible scenario at this point.
“On Friday, you are going to fall, eh, chicken,” is heard from one fan. “Let ‘U’ come. We beat them 2-0 at the Monumental,” predicted another. “The classic has to be for Alianza,” “let ‘U’ come and you will see how we win. We will make chicken broth once and for all,” “we will wipe the floor with the ‘U’ with (Jairo) Concha and (Gabriel) Costa,” “this is Alianza. You cannot compare Matute with the Monumental. This gives us an advantage,” “see you in the final,” are other phrases heard in the clip.
The match will take place on Friday at the Monumental stadium in Ate, where Universitario will have the advantage of being the home team. The contest is scheduled to kick off at 20:30 hours Peru time and will be broadcasted through GOLPERU, which holds the exclusive rights to air the matches of the ‘merengue’ team in their venue.
The last time Universitario and Alianza Lima faced each other in an official match was on February 10 of this year during the Apertura Tournament. On that occasion, they met at Matute, and the ‘cremas’ secured all three points. A goal from Andy Polo in the 18th minute was enough for the team from Ate to win 1-0 away.
Regarding the last match they played at the Monumental, the ‘U’ and the ‘íntimo’ shared the points. It was in November 2023, precisely for the first leg of the final for the national title of the previous season. The match ended in a 1-1 draw with a penalty goal from Alex Valera and a last-minute goal from Gabriel Costa, who has now switched sides.
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It is important to mention that Universitario managed to win the Apertura in the first half of the year, securing their presence in the Liga 1 playoffs. However, the ‘crema’ team wants to become national champions directly in their centennial year, and for that, they need to replicate the same success in the Clausura.
On the other hand, Alianza Lima finished in fourth place in the first tournament of the season with 33 points, below ‘U’, Sporting Cristal, and Melgar. Their mission is to dominate this second tournament to not make things easy for their opponents, and so far they are on a good path: they defeated César Vallejo 3-2 and Alianza Atlético 2-0 in the first two rounds.