After the setback against Cruzeiro in Brazil by drawing 3-3, Alianza returned to Valledupar to face Universidad Católica de Ecuador on date 3 of group B of Sudamericana, a rival with whom it aspired to win its first three points in this competition, but It was not like that, as they ended up falling 3-1 after starting out winning.
The team led by Hubert Bodhert started in command on their territory and in just eight minutes of play they managed to open the scoring through Emerson Batalla, who inside the area put the ball on one side of the goal and those from Valledupar began to dream of a victory.
That goal made the Ecuadorians go on the attack, but they did not find a clear opportunity and the shots were missed, but they were making it clear that they were not going to be an easy opponent.
The minimum difference was maintained for the Colombians and the first half ended with that result that was full of illusions.
However, in the second half everything became complicated for Alianza, as Universidad Católica far surpassed the locals with goals at crucial moments and they came back.
In the 56th minute, Pedro Franco had the misfortune of scoring an own goal and created a complicated situation for Alianza, as the Ecuadorians became motivated, managing to get closer to Pier Graziani’s goal with more intensity.
In a matter of minutes, Alianza received another blow and this time Jhon Cifuente was the one who finished in the area with power after taking advantage of an imbalance by the player José Fajardo, who cleared the way and ended up enabling his teammate to define the 2-1.
With the comeback in their pocket, Universidad Católica showed themselves superior and in the 78th minute Ismael Díaz was in charge of starting to seal the victory in Valledupar. 3-1 and Alianza couldn’t believe it, because a victory they were achieving was being taken out of their pocket.
The Ecuadorians maintained their advantage in those remaining minutes and Alianza was obliged to go on the attack, but did not find many spaces to tighten the score.
No matter how hard they tried, Alianza ended up falling 3-1 in Valledupar and begins to complicate their classification, as they are last with one point, while Universidad Católica de Ecuador reached seven points and are leaders of group B.