Title races heat up in Central American domestic play this weekend, as the playoffs continue in Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras, while regular seasons come to a close in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.
GUATEMALA
Going into the last round of the regular season on Sunday, seven of the eight playoff spots are written in ink, but there's still plenty to play for headed into the weekend.
Marquense took a huge step towards the post-season during the week, defeating Malacateco 2-0 in a make-up match that had been postponed due to the earthquake that shook the Western part of the country two weeks ago. The victory, Marquense's first in eleven matches, moved the San Marcos club into the eighth and final playoff position, two ahead of Petapa and three up on Universidad with just one match to play.
The Marquense win also eliminated Deportivo Mictlan and Juventud Escuintla, leaving just three teams in the chase for the eighth spot. Universidad visits second-place Municipal this weekend, while Petapa hosts Halcones.
Heredia will travel to Marquense on Sunday, but first the Jaguars will drop in on Xelaju on Friday to make up a Round 20 match, also delayed by the earthquake. Xelaju then hosts overall leader Comunicaciones on a quick Sunday turnaround.
Elsewhere, Mictlan welcomes Malacateco to close out its season, while Suchitepequez looks to hold firm to the seventh spot when already-eliminated Escuintla comes to town.
PANAMA
Chepo takes a two-goal advantage over Rio Abajo into Friday night's return leg of the Panamanian semifinals, to be played at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez at 9:00 PM local time. Bernardo Palma and Romario Piggott scored for Los Tigrillos in their victory Monday night over Rio Abajo, which finished the Panamanian regular season in first place.
A win or a loss by less than two goals would assure Chepo of a second-straight appearance in the final, after the Orange dropped the Clausura final earlier this year to Tauro. Rio Abajo is looking for a first-ever finals appearance in its first season in the top flight Liga Panamena.
At the other end of the Panama Canal, host Arabe Unido will look to maintain its advantage after topping Plaza Amador on the road last weekend, 3-1. The Colon side hopes to continue a streak of never having lost to Plaza Amador in LFP play, a record that dates back to 2009. That match is set to kick off at 3:00 PM on Saturday at Armando Dely Valdes Stadium.
HONDURAS
After a pair of thrilling play-in finales on Wednesday night, the Honduran semifinals kick-off Sunday afternoon.
Surprise package Atletico Choloma, which secured a 2-2 tie at Marathon on Wednesday to advance on away goals, will host regular-season runaway leader Olimpia at the Estadio Ruben Deras.
In the capital an hour earlier, Motagua, which beat Real España Wednesday night, 3-2, to take a 7-3 aggregate win in that series, will face visiting Victoria in the first of two matches for the right to a finals spot.
NICARAGUA
Defending champion Real Esteli could come out of the weekend with a finals place assured, while either Walter Ferretti or Managua FC could also find itself on the inside track to the finals of the Nicaraguan Apertura.
The Tren del Norte hosts Juventus, which has yet to secure a point from four matches in the semifinal round, in Esteli. A win for the defending champion, along with a winner from the other match of the day -- Walter Ferretti versus Managua FC in Managua -- would mean another finals berth for the northern team.
Neither team can clinch a place in the final from the other match, but the Blue Lions, with a complicated date at Real Esteli to close the round set for next week, are the more pressured of the two capital sides.
COSTA RICA
Alajuelense's midweek win over Perez Zeledon, in a match that had been postponed during La Liga's participation in the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League group stage, left the semifinalist spots defined headed into the last day of the regular season in Costa Rica.
La Liga, Saprissa, Herediano and Limon will be the four semifinalists, since fourth place Limon is four points ahead of fifth-place Santos. But positioning is still up in the air, as either Alajuelense, which travels to Cartagines, or Saprissa, which hosts Limon, could still finish atop the table.
In the other match involving a playoff-bound team, third place Herediano hosts San Carlos.
EL SALAVDOR
The semifinalists are also set in El Salvador with one match to play. Leader Isidro Metapan, along with Aguila, Alianza and FAS, is through to the playoff round, though seeding is yet to be decided with all four teams within three points of each other.
Fourth place FAS could move up with a home win against Santa Tecla, as Alianza, tied for second with Aguila, must go on the road to close at Atletico Marte. For its part, Aguila has a tricky home showdown on tap against none other than Metapan in San Miguel.
