Universidad Catolica beats Palestino 3-2 to move into second, but Garnero is left worried about Zampedri

Four straight wins, and yet Daniel Garnero's face at the final whistle wasn't that of a coach who had just picked up three more points. Universidad Catolica beat Palestino 3-2 in La Cisterna, a result that puts them in second place in the Liga de Primera and firmly in the fight for Chile's second spot in the 2027 Copa Libertadores. But the Cruzados' celebration carried a bitter edge that had Garnero venting to reporters the moment the match ended. The reason was a play in which Fernando Zampedri ended up on the ground after defender Enzo Roco stepped on him. The referee, Cristian Garay, didn't call a foul on the play, and the forward had to leave the field injured, setting off alarm bells at Universidad Catolica right as the team is going through its best stretch of the season. Zampedri is, without much need for explanation, the club's top scoring threat. Any knock to his ankle or leg sets off concern in Independencia, and Garnero didn't hide his frustration when he faced the microphones.

What happened to Fernando is crazy. The sound you heard... I hope it's not serious. I got scared, and I'm still scared, because you could hear a really ugly sound on that play and nothing was called.Daniel Garnero

Medical exams will determine how long the forward could be sidelined, something Universidad Catolica is treating with caution right as the championship heads into its final stretch, when every match counts double. Beyond the scare over Zampedri, though, the match offered Garnero another takeaway: a team that's finding consistency. That's no small thing coming from a cycle that hasn't always shown steady form, and the coach himself made a point of highlighting it in the mixed zone.

Today there was a significant improvement compared to the last game. Hopefully this final stretch of the tournament finds us the same way, trying to compete in every match with this same commitment and the same intensity.Daniel Garnero

A win that matters in the standings

The 3-2 win over Palestino wasn't a comfortable one. The Cruzados had to hold onto the lead until the final whistle in a match that got complicated on the scoreboard, which tends to happen in these kinds of contests where the opponent doesn't back down. But the result ended up mattering less than the genuine concern over their scorer's health. With this fourth consecutive win, Universidad Catolica settles into the upper half of the table and remains firmly in the hunt for one of the spots that guarantee direct qualification for next year's Libertadores. Palestino, meanwhile, heads back to Chile feeling like they left points behind in La Cisterna. What's left now is to wait for the medical report on Zampedri. If the diagnosis is encouraging, Universidad Catolica will be able to focus fully on the football. If not, they'll have to deal with the absence of their top scorer right when the schedule shows no mercy.