Independiente del Valle will have to wait for their title. Macará beat Barcelona SC 3-0 at the Estadio Bellavista in Ambato on Saturday, in matchday 5 of the LigaPro hexagonal, so IDV can no longer clinch the championship against Liga de Quito on Sunday. Franco Posse scored twice and Agustín Campana got the other.
Posse, the league’s top scorer, headed in a Jean Carlos Estacio cross early on to make it 1-0. Campana had a goal ruled out for offside, but he made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time with a long-range shot that bounced and beat Barcelona goalkeeper José David Contreras. In the 62nd minute Estacio crossed again, Contreras saved Posse’s header, and Posse put the rebound in.
StudioFútbol noted that Barcelona did not have a single shot on target. “In this game we weren’t switched on. They scored early, it hit us very hard, and mentally we couldn’t recover,” Barcelona coach Pablo Trobbiani told reporters afterward, according to El Universo. “I have no excuses, the blame is mine.”
What it means
Macará are second on 66 points, 12 behind IDV (78) with five matchdays left. That keeps them well in the race for a 2027 Copa Libertadores place. Barcelona are last in the hexagonal on 48 points, five behind Universidad Católica, who hold third place and the Libertadores qualifying-round spot that goes with it. Barcelona still have a game in hand, at home to IDV on November 25, but Católica play Aucas on Sunday.
Sunday’s games, in ET: Universidad Católica vs Aucas at 11:00 AM and IDV vs Liga de Quito at 1:30 PM in the hexagonal, then Guayaquil City vs Libertad in the Sudamericana playoff group at 4:00 PM. Next weekend Macará host Universidad Católica and Barcelona host Liga de Quito.
La Tri’s staff were watching
The FEF said the senior national team’s coaching staff were at the Bellavista, continuing to scout players from the domestic league in the week before the November international window. Ecuador host Costa Rica in Quito on November 13 and Bolivia in Guayaquil on November 17. Macará’s Mateo Viera and Martín Tello were among the local players El Telégrafo, citing De Una SF, reported to be on Gallardo’s radar last month. The squad has not been announced yet.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Leones FC won 2-0 at Emelec in the Sudamericana playoff group, and Delfín beat Deportivo Cuenca 3-1 in the relegation hexagonal. Full fixtures are on our Schedule page.
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