Jhonny Vidales shut down talk of a fight inside the Melgar dressing room and said the squad is not split as it prepares for one of its biggest remaining tests, the matchup against Universitario at UNSA.
“Nunca hubo una pelea. El grupo nunca está dividido como se dice,” Vidales said, brushing aside the rumors before turning his focus to the pitch. He said the win against Boys can serve as a strong lift before facing Universitario, and added that Melgar wants to keep what it showed on Tuesday and leave supporters happy.
The forward, 33, said the team knows what is at stake in the Apertura and that the club remains in debt in Arequipa. He said Melgar will try to keep growing as a side, maintain its style of play and keep climbing in the table, while also stressing that the team has to answer for its home crowd.
“Buscaremos seguir creciendo como equipo, mantener el estilo de juego y seguir escalando en el Apertura, sabemos que estamos en deuda en Arequipa,” Vidales said. That need to back up words now runs straight into a difficult opponent. Melgar faces Universitario after the visitors lost their latest Copa Libertadores match, but Vidales said that result does not make the trip to Arequipa any easier.
“Contra la ‘U’ vamos a afrontar el duelo con todas las ganas,” he said. “Sabemos que será un partido difícil, así la ‘U’ haya perdido el último partido en la Copa, sabemos los jugadores que tienen.”
Melgar will also have to deal with absences in the UNSA match. Jesús Alcantar was ruled out after a direct red card in the previous game, and Jeriel De Santis will not be available after his second yellow card. Those losses matter because Melgar is trying to build on Tuesday’s performance while protecting the momentum it believes can carry the team through the Apertura.
The tension for Melgar is simple: the squad says there is no fracture inside the locker room, but it now has to prove that on the field against an opponent with enough quality to punish any slip. For Vidales, the coming match is less about calming rumors than about turning one good night into a run that finally starts to repair Melgar’s record in Arequipa.
