Liga BetPlay II round 18: Nacional win 4–3 on 90+4 and six teams chase three places

Atlético Nacional beat Deportivo Pereira 4–3 with a goal on 90+4, moved to 39 points and can no longer drop out of the top two, the group seeds for the cuadrangulares. América de Cali and Deportivo Cali drew 0–0 in the derby and stay second and third. Further down, Once Caldas beat Águilas Doradas with a goal on 90 and Deportes Tolima beat Millonarios 2–1: with one round left, five teams are sure of a place and three more are still up for grabs. Round 18 brought 31 goals in ten matches, six home wins, three away wins and one draw, seven penalties scored and two missed, and five own goals.

Friday 6 November

Chicó 2–1 Internacional de Bogotá: an own goal by Cristian Blanco put Internacional de Bogotá ahead on 33, and Juan Díaz turned it round for Chicó with two penalties, on 44 and 59. Internacional had a goal ruled out by VAR on 54. They also won ten corners to Chicó's seven.

Fortaleza 0–3 Independiente Medellín: Yony González opened the scoring for Independiente Medellín on 16 from D. Cataño's pass, an own goal by D. Ramírez made it two on 56 and E. Mena Perea, from J. Martínez's pass, completed the scoring on 88. Fortaleza had 62 per cent of the ball and two shots on target.

Saturday 7 November

Once Caldas 1–0 Águilas Doradas: Pipe Gómez missed a penalty for Once Caldas on 51, and the winner came on 90 from D. Moreno, who had come on in the second half and scored from a free kick, according to Infobae. Once Caldas had 21 shots, seven on target; Águilas had one on target. "It's been ages since a goal moved me this much", Dayro Moreno said at the press conference, according to Infobae. Once Caldas move into the top eight on 27 points.

Atlético Nacional 4–3 Deportivo Pereira had seven goals and the lead changed hands three times. F. Delgado put Pereira ahead on 10 from A. Plata's pass, and A. Morelos turned it round before half-time with two goals, on 36 and 43, both from J. Rengifo's passes. M. Pérez equalised from the spot on 63 and J. A. Bermúdez Correa, from E. A. Moreno Gómez's pass, made it 2–3 on 87. W. Tesillo equalised on 89 from J. Campuzano's pass, and the 4–3 winner came on 90+4, an own goal by the goalkeeper, Y. A. Gómez Palacio: according to Noticias RCN, a shot by César Haydar hit the post and went in off his back. Nacional had 73 per cent of the ball and 25 shots. It is their first win over Pereira since February 2025: Pereira had won the two previous meetings. On 39 points, Nacional have already secured the seeds' advantage for the cuadrangulares, as Win Sports explains, and Pereira are out, according to Noticias RCN.

América de Cali 0–0 Deportivo Cali: América had a goal by T. Ángel ruled out for offside by VAR on 16. América had 54 per cent of the ball and three shots on target; Cali had one. Infobae singled out Cali's goalkeeper, Pedro Gallese, who saved shots from Luis Quiñones and Omar Bertel before half-time. América stay second on 36 points and Cali third on 34.

Sunday 8 November

Santa Fe 5–0 Deportivo Pasto: according to Noticias RCN, Deportivo Pasto's first-team players did not travel to Bogotá in protest over late wages, and the club fielded its youth players. F. Fagúndez put Santa Fe ahead on 11 from C. Mafla's pass, an own goal by L. Medina made it 2–0 on 34 and H. Rodallega scored three in the second half: a penalty on 60, then on 62 and on 71, the last from J. Obrian's pass. It is the widest margin in the 27 meetings between the two since 2016, and on 31 points Santa Fe have made sure of a place in the cuadrangulares.

Jaguares 0–4 Bucaramanga: Franklin Mosquera of Jaguares was sent off on 9, and B. Caicedo scored the penalty on 12. An own goal by R. Bustamante made it two on 15, Caicedo scored again on 76 from F. Hinestroza's pass and F. Sambueza completed the scoring on 79. Bucaramanga had 19 shots, seven on target, and are fourth on 32 points.

Deportes Tolima 2–1 Millonarios: J. Cuadrado put Millonarios ahead on 8, from a free kick, according to El Tiempo, which reports it was his first goal for the club. Tolima turned it round with an E. Valencia penalty on 25 and a K. Flórez goal on 36, from H. E. Martínez Yepez's pass. VAR ruled out a third Tolima goal on 74, for an earlier handball according to Infobae, and Sergio Armando Aguayo Castillo of Tolima was sent off on 90+5 for violent conduct. Tolima have won their last three home matches against Millonarios. Millonarios are seventh on 27 points and Tolima ninth on 26, one behind eighth place.

Alianza Valledupar 1–2 Llaneros: J. Castilla put Llaneros ahead on 16 from J. Escobar Salcedo's pass, M. Martínez equalised for Alianza Valledupar on 21 from F. Pardo's pass and Jhon Vásquez won it from the spot on 35. Llaneros had six shots on target to Alianza's three. On 23 points, they can no longer reach the top eight.

Monday 9 November

Junior 2–0 Cúcuta: G. Paiva put Junior ahead on 35 from J. Peña's pass and T. Gutiérrez, from B. Castrillón's, made it two on 50. J. Peralta missed a penalty for Cúcuta on 88; according to Deportes RCN, the goalkeeper Silveira saved it. Junior had 18 shots. Cúcuta stay on 24 points and can reach 27 at most.

The table after round 18

Points, all with 18 matches played. The top eight go to the cuadrangulares and the top two are group seeds; the bar marks the cut.

Atlético Nacional 39; América de Cali 36; Deportivo Cali 34; Bucaramanga 32; Santa Fe 31; Independiente Medellín 29; Millonarios 27; Once Caldas 27 | Deportes Tolima 26; Águilas Doradas 25; Cúcuta 24; Llaneros 23; Internacional de Bogotá 20; Junior 19; Chicó 19; Alianza Valledupar 18; Deportivo Pereira 17; Deportivo Pasto 15; Jaguares 13; Fortaleza 12.

Nacional, América, Cali, Bucaramanga and Santa Fe are already in the cuadrangulares, and Nacional, on 39 points, can no longer finish below second. América are two points ahead of Cali in the race for the other seeded place. The three remaining places are contested by Medellín on 29, Millonarios and Once Caldas on 27 (Millonarios ahead on goal difference, +9 to +4), Tolima on 26, Águilas on 25 and Cúcuta on 24. The race chart shows how Medellín took six points from the last two rounds, while Once Caldas caught Millonarios on 27 and Tolima moved to within a point of eighth place.

Numbers to know

• 31 goals in ten matches: six home wins, three away wins and one draw.
• Seven penalties scored (two by Juan Díaz) and two missed, by Pipe Gómez and J. Peralta.
• Five own goals, one of them Nacional's 4–3 winner on 90+4.
• Two players sent off: Franklin Mosquera (Jaguares) on 9 and S. Aguayo (Tolima) on 90+5.
• Rodallega and Moreno reach 17 goals; ahead of them are Y. Guzmán of América on 20 and A. Estupiñán of Millonarios on 19.

Next up

Round 19, the last of the regular phase, is played on Thursday 12 November, with every match at 16:00 Colombia time: Águilas Doradas v Independiente Medellín, Atlético Nacional v Once Caldas, Bucaramanga v Fortaleza, Cúcuta v Jaguares, Deportivo Cali v Deportes Tolima, Deportivo Pasto v Junior, Internacional de Bogotá v Santa Fe, Llaneros v Chicó, Millonarios v Alianza Valledupar and Deportivo Pereira v América de Cali. The table and kick-off times are on the Liga BetPlay page.

Sources for the context: Win Sports, Noticias RCN, Noticias RCN, El Tiempo, Infobae, Infobae, Infobae, Deportes RCN.