Cerro Largo hosts Nacional needing to snap ten-game winless run

Nacional shows up with a fresh smile, while Cerro Largo just wants this weight-of-a-run to finally be over. This Saturday, September 26, starting at 3:00 PM (ARG, CHI and URU time) and 1:00 PM (COL, PER and ECU time), Estadio Ubilla hosts a matchday eight clash in the 2026 Clausura Tournament, with coverage available through the Disney+ Premium plan for South America.

Nacional's result last weekend was exactly what it needed: a last-gasp win over Defensor Sporting that, style points aside (it wasn't pretty, truth be told), eased some of the tension that had built up between the team and its fans. Before that came two stoppage-time draws against Juventud and Wanderers, the kind that leave a bad taste even when they add points. Winning at the death, even through a grind, changes the mood.

On the other side sits a Cerro Largo squad going through a genuinely rough patch: ten straight games without a win across all competitions. That number stings, and it explains the change on the bench: Ignacio Ordóñez has taken over the team from Danielo Núñez, and his first real test is nothing less than hosting the Bolso.

The names who could make the difference

Up front for the home side, keep an eye on Alfonso de Luca, Diego Daguerre and Axel Pandiani, the trio most likely to trouble the visitors. Nacional, for its part, leans on the scoring instincts of Maxi Gómez to break things open, while Gastón Martirena and Rubén Botta stand out as the key pieces building toward goal.

The standings tell the recent story for both clubs. Cerro Largo comes off a 2-0 loss to Deportivo Maldonado in matchday seven and is stuck on five points. Nacional, meanwhile, arrives in form after that 3-2 win over Defensor Sporting, which left it with 11 points, a gap that is already starting to show in the table.

Looking at the recent head-to-head, history clearly favors the Bolso: on March 24, at Gran Parque Central and also in the 2026 Clausura Tournament, Nacional won 3-0 with goals from Tomás Verón Lupi, Juan Cruz De Los Santos and Baltasar Barcia. That afternoon made clear who was in better form at the time, though soccer has a way of proving such patterns wrong just when you least expect it.

For Ordóñez, the debut on the Cerro Largo bench could hardly be more demanding. Snapping a ten-game winless run against a rival that just won and is feeling its fans' support again is no simple task, but it's not impossible either, if Cerro Largo can make home advantage count at the Ubilla.