James Rodríguez's Fitness Doubt Looms Over Nacional-Millonarios Preview

The big question mark of the week in Medellín has a name: James Rodríguez. The playmaker showed up to training feeling unwell, and whether he'll be available Thursday against Millonarios is hanging by a thread, right ahead of one of the most anticipated matches of matchday 12 in the Liga BetPlay.

The game will be played at Atanasio Girardot Stadium on Thursday, September 24 at 7:30 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on WIN. The matchup on paper suggests a clash of star signings, with James on the green side and Juan Guillermo Cuadrado on the blue side, but the reality is that one of the two headliners might not even take the field.

Head coach Lucas González himself was the one to stir up the uncertainty. He spoke candidly about his star player's physical condition and left the call-up decision contingent on how James progresses in the coming hours.

I still have doubts about James for Thursday against Millonarios. He's not feeling well. I don't know if it's a virus, but at Tuesday's training session he wasn't at one hundred percent.Lucas González

On the other side, Cuadrado does look set to be available. The suspension he was serving from the Coppa Italia will be served across two Copa Colombia matches, so he'll be free to travel with Millonarios for this league clash.

The names who could make the difference

Beyond the two question marks at the top, other players are arriving in good form. Marlos Moreno is Nacional's top scorer this season with four goals and has been rediscovering the kind of dangerous play down the flanks that made his name. On the blue side, Andrey Estupiñán made his mark with a brace in the last win over Chicó, played in Bogotá.

Nacional hasn't been getting the results it wants lately: it fell 2-0 to Llaneros in Villavicencio, a stumble that brought criticism of Lucas González's squad rotation. The coach came out to explain his approach to managing the roster.

Rotation isn't an end in itself for us, we don't rotate for the sake of rotating, it's a means to try to get players to arrive fresher for the next match and to minimize injury risk as much as possible. As matches go by and we sense there's fatigue and buildup with certain players, we want to avoid what happened to Alfredo.Lucas González

Adding to those troubles is the absence of Morelos, who will be out for at least three weeks due to a physical issue.

Millonarios, meanwhile, arrives in a different mood. The team has 19 points after beating Boyacá Chicó at El Campín and is unbeaten in four straight matches since Alberto Gamero took over as coach. The only confirmed absence is forward Rodrigo Contreras, who is injured, while the coaching staff monitors Leonardo Castro's recovery day by day to see if he'll be ready in time.

There's no way Contreras will be ready for Thursday. We're waiting to see how Leo Castro progresses, he's the closest to being back. We'll watch over the next three or four days to see how he comes along, especially Leo, because I don't think Contreras will make it in time.Alberto Gamero

The most recent meeting between the two sides favors the Bogotá club: they won 3-0 on March 17, 2026, with goals from Rodrigo Contreras, Mateo García and Leonardo Castro. With that result still fresh and the last minute uncertainty surrounding James, Thursday's match at the Atanasio promises tension right up until the final training session.