Gimnasia de Mendoza – Platense
Last Saturday, Gimnasia Mendoza once again put up a fight against one of the league’s strongest teams, but conceded five minutes from the end and eventually lost 1-0 away at Vélez Sarsfield. Despite a good campaign, El Lobo Pituco have won just one of their last six league matches, drawing two and losing three. They remain on 20 points in Group A of the Clausura, which is still enough to keep them in the playoff places with three rounds remaining. That is a notable achievement in their first top-flight season in 41 years. In the annual table, Darío Franco’s men sit 19th, eight points behind the final Copa Sudamericana qualifying spot. They will have to wait for more places to open up if they are to keep pursuing what would be a historic achievement for the club. Gimnasia look almost unbeatable at home, having gone nine matches without defeat, with seven wins and two draws. Platense suffered another disappointment on Sunday afternoon. They struggled to cope with a superior opponent and lost 1-0 at home to Lanús. The result extended their winless run to seven matches, with three draws and four defeats, and left them with just 11 points after 13 rounds, ahead of only CA Central Córdoba and Talleres in Group A. El Calamar remain 26th in the annual table and have already secured their top-flight status, although this campaign will undoubtedly cause them problems in the average-points table in 2027. Away, Platense have collected just one point from the last nine available. Platense are already out of the playoffs race and next Wednesday they have a huge game in the Copa Argentina semifinals so their minds and effort will be on that game. Gimnasia can almost secure a totally unexpected playoffs spot with a win here and even though they’ve been quite irregular lately I expect them to win and take the 3 points they need to continue on this historic season for them.