Gualaceo Sporting Club began its second consecutive season last Saturday in Serie A – the circuit in which it made its absolute debut in 2022 – and added another link to a series of successes that already appear as a record in national football. They defeated the prestigious guest on the first date of Pro League 2023: Barcelona SC and set a record for their currency.

Azuay’s new team beat the team with the most national titles three times, in as many games. In addition, it caused Barcelona SC to fall on the opening day of the competition, something that hasn’t happened since 2016.

The name of the yellow team will always be associated with the short history of Gualaceo SC. Reason? On date number nine of the first phase of the 2022 tournament, the newly promoted team won for the first time as visitors. In Guayaquil, the team led by Leonardo Vanegas won 1-0 with a goal by Joaquín Vergés.

Azuaian hegemony

In the return match, as the owner of the house, what was then called Super Guala or Gualatasaray (a mixture of the name of the southern entity with that of the famous Galatasaray from Turkey) won once again. Henry Patta opened the scoring and Jhon Cifuente equalized for Barcelona in the 89th minute, but Diego Dávila made it 2-1 in added time to seal victory over the Toreadors.

On Saturday, the record was extended to three consecutive matches that Gualaceo SC won against rivals Shipyard, but for the team led by DT Fabián Bustos, it was the first defeat on the opening day of the Ecuadorian championship since 2016. In addition, every time Gualaceo SC dispatched the yellow, the winning coach was Leonardo Vanegas.

since 2016

The last time Barcelona SC lost in a tournament presentation was on February 7, 2016 at the Atahualpa Olympic Stadium against El Nacional. Christian Penilla lifted the porteños after 12 minutes. But Michael Estrada (27) and Christian Lara (82 minutes) turned the score around for the army. DT Creolas was Eduardo Favaro, and Guillermo Almada was on the second bench.

Since that setback seven years ago, Barcelona have not suffered another start to the tournament in Ecuador, until last Saturday. 2017 started with a 1-1 draw away to Deportivo Cuenca; In 2018, he beat Universidad Católica 2-1 at home; In 2019, he beat El Nacional 5-2, also as home owner; In 2020, he could not with Técnico Universitario at the Banco Pichincha Stadium (0-0); in 2021 Barcelona beat Manta FC 3-2 on the opening day, and in 2022 they defeated Delfín 1-0, in the cetacean redoubt.

A bad start to 2016, similar to that of 2023, ended with Barcelona SC’s Olympic comeback. (D)