Costa Rica’s two most popular soccer clubs, Alajuelense and Saprissa, play each other Saturday night in Alajuela. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuelense’s home ground. Costa Ricans call this game the Clásico Nacional. It happens a handful of times a year, and it stops the country in a way no other match does.
Saprissa comes in first place. They have won five of their six games so far and lost one, which gives them 15 points. They have also scored more goals than anyone else in the league. Their most recent game was a 2-1 win over Escorpiones, and they have had five days off since.
Alajuelense sits fourth with 11 points, from three wins, two draws and one loss. They haven’t won in their last two games — both were draws, not losses — and that’s why Saprissa has pulled ahead. Here’s why Saturday matters more than a normal game. Four teams are bunched within four points of each other at the top. Cartaginés is second with 12 points and Sporting FC is third with 11, level with Alajuelense.
So, the result swings things a long way. If Alajuelense wins, they close to within a single point of first place. If the game ends in a draw, nothing changes. If Saprissa wins, their lead grows to seven points, which is a real cushion this early on. That matters because of how the season is set up. Each team plays 18 games, and only the top four go through to the semifinals at the end. Herediano, who won the last title back in the first half of the year, is also in the mix.
Alajuelense should take some confidence from playing at home. They have won four of their last five games at the Morera Soto, and three of the last four times they hosted Saprissa there. The wider record between the two is closer than that suggests. Their last five meetings produced two draws and three wins split between them, most recently a 1-1 draw in April.
Neither coach is missing a player through suspension, so Hernán Medford at Saprissa and Ismael Rescalvo at Alajuelense can both pick the team they want. Juan Gabriel Calderón will referee, with Juan Carlos Mora and Andrés Arrieta as his assistants and Brayan Cruz as the fourth official.
Saprissa has another big game coming quickly after this one. They are still in the Copa Centroamericana, a regional club tournament, and they play Cartaginés on Wednesday at their own stadium in Tibás. Medford may hold something back on Saturday with that in mind. The game is on FUTV and TDMAX in Costa Rica. If you are watching from the United States, that’s 10 p.m. Eastern, 9 p.m. Central, 8 p.m. Mountain and 7 p.m. Pacific.
The two clubs meet again on November 1, that time at Saprissa’s stadium. Depending on how Saturday goes, that one could matter even more.
