The World Cup is at the end of the year and the calendar is tight across the planet, but fundamentally it is heavy on teams from this continent. And in Argentina, where the pressure is constant, it has a double need. The teams They’re not just playing for glory; also for money.

The dollars, exactly, to be decided as a goal in their treasuries. As our currency increasingly depreciates and the need for additional income, international competitions become the primary goal for everyone.

Participants in the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana are aiming to win them. Competing in the domestic tournament, to reach qualifying positions to oxygenate the finances.

Just check the benefits. At the end of the day, the champion of the maximum continental tournament will pocket 16 million dollars and 25% of the collection of the final to be played in Guayaquil. And a plus, of course: participation in the Club World Cup and Recopa Sudamericana, which will allow for more dividends.

The winner of the second order contest will be credited with 5 million of North American currency. It will also go for Recopa and the Levain Cup, a tournament suspended due to pandemic and will be returned to the game against the J-League champion.

In this context, therefore, May has been presented as a month of high action and high tension for local clubs. Within 20 days, no more or less, the fate of the group stage will be determined. Consequently, the benefit of each. And even the future of some coaches who began to walk in the coals of elusive results. Among them were Sebastián Battaglia and Eduardo Domínguez, men who run two institutions with a rich cup history, Boca and Independiente.

Boca had to travel to La Paz to face Always Ready with the rope around his technician’s neck. When it seems tighter than before, it loosens. Before the duel with Estudiantes and River, the team won at La Plata and at the Monumental and Battaglia held. Before Central Córdoba and Corinthians, victory over Santiago del Estero gave him wind and defeat to Brazil did not resonate with him, but he knew that, regardless of the victory against Barracas Central, a fall against Bolivians are almost intolerable, no matter what. how high is that It’s true that he had two home games (Corinthian on the 17th and Cali on the 26th), but not just one piece of cake will be left on the group stage; also, it will end his trainer’s cycle and bring him a loss of $ 1,050,000, the prize awarded to those who qualify for round of 16 by the Libertadores. And of course the money you can pocket in the following stages.

Independiente, going through an institutional and sporting crisis, needs three points against General Caballero, tonight in Asunción. This way, you can aim to keep your South American hopes up. There will be 500 thousand dollars if it can pass the stage of the group that Ceará leads today. Like Boca, it also has two home games (La Guaira on the 19th and the Brazilians on the 25th). Unlike Battaglia, Domínguez has leadership approval. But it is not clear whether this will continue in an elimination scenario. He has already warned that he wants reinforcements in the future.

Defense and Justice are also in this compromised situation, winning the South American debut against Antofagasta in Chile, but losing two in a row at home against Goianiense and Liga de Quito. It won’t be easy for Halcón, who will play in Brazil tomorrow, will climb to Ecuador on the 18th and close out on the 24th with trans-Andeans in Florencio Varela. Banfield also has no easy path. Late in his group, he welcomes La Calera on Thursday, the Catholic University of Quito on the 17th and will finish on the 24th with Santos at Villa Belmiro.

The remaining teams have chances to pass the round. Karera, who will now play against Cuiabá and will have two duel at Avellaneda (Melgar on the 18th and River de Montevideo on the 26th); Unión, who will host Oriente Petrolero on Thursday, Fluminense on 19th and will have a one-on-one with Junior on 26th in Barranquilla; and Lanús, who if he wins tomorrow in Guayaquil against Barcelona, ​​will almost certainly secure the classification as he will have two games in the South against the Wanderers and Metropolitanos (19 and 25).

The value proportions are as follows: $ 500,000 (eighth), $ 600,000 (fourth), $ 800,000 (semi) and $ 2 million (runner-up). If 900 thousand dollars for participation in the group stage is considered, the clubs that reach the final will collect, minimum, 4.3 million. Maximum, 7,300,000. And if from phase 1, 225 thousand more.

The river will appear almost certainly in the second round. Tomorrow he will get the pass against Fortaleza in the absence of two dates at Monumental against Colo Colo and Alianza (19 and 25). Colón fights three giants: Cerro Porteño (rival tomorrow in Santa Fe), Olimpia (18th, also in Brigadier López) and Peñarol (25th in Montevideo). Talleres dreams of continuing the race against three greats: Flamengo (open in Córdoba), Sporting Cristal (17th in Lima) and Universidad Católica (24th in Chile).

By accessing the eighth, i.e., 1,050,000 dollars were collected. Later, 1,500,000 (fourth), 2,000,000 (semi) and 6 million (runner-up). Of the 3 million earned by the group stage, it is possible to get at least 13,550,000. Maximum, 23,550,000. And the champion came from phase 2, as did the Estudiantes, who tonight could get their pass to the next round with Nacional, an additional $ 1,100,000.