Santa Fe, imposing! Millonarios, impotent! The lion roared and the Tiger Falcao growled (Meluk tells him, opinion)

There are games that make history. Some heal scars, others open them up. Santa Fe's triumph last night in Bogotá over their eternal rival, Millonarios, to qualify for the Liga final has both and is memorable. The classic classic, that match etched in the soul and the heart.

But this time, the script was different. This time, the one who cried years ago, in the 2017 final, is laughing nonstop today. Today, he roars nonstop.

The beginning of the story was reaching the final. Hugo Rodallega, the goal-scoring captain, that panther who is a lion, won the toss and without hesitation said to the referee: "Ball!" He had it made clear from breakfast, from the moment he got on the bus, from the moment he tied his cleats, from the moment the coin was in the air. And Santa Fe took the shot and kicked the ball long. Andrés Llinás and Daniel Torres went for the header like in the last Clásico, but this time without a foul from the blue-clad player. The rebound was red. The ball was red, and they carried it down the left and touched it until they won a corner.

The same ball that Rodallega had surely called for then flew into the box. Upon clearing, it fell to Millonarios for the first time, to Arévalo on the edge of the 18. But Daniel Torres, like a hunting dog... sorry, like the furious lion he is!, went for the ball his captain had called for and stole it from the opponent. Mosquera crossed, and Rodallega scored the ball he had called for just a minute and a half earlier and then yelled at it two minutes after VAR validated his legal position.

Within a minute and a half, Santa Fe was already the finalist. A status they soon reaffirmed, in the 9th minute, due to their hunger... for glory! This time, it was Stiven Vega who felt the bite on his neck: Murillo, another ferocious lion, snatched the ball from him. Rodallega passed long, and Murillo himself made it 0-2, securing the match, the victory, and qualification to the final in their clutches.

Then it was tactics and commitment. Waiting and sweating. Covering the spaces and supporting your teammate. It was about going for every ball an opponent had. Keeping your mind sharp and your heart beating a thousand times a second. Santa Fe was an intense pack that pressed, sought out duels, and won them. Then they retreated, crouching and waiting, and with every counterattack, they created real danger.

Millos, stunned, overwhelmed, and completely outmatched, also suffered because their defensive midfielder, Ruiz, left in tears with a thigh strain after fifteen minutes.

The game was played at two speeds. Santa Fe was playing at full speed, with all their heart and lungs. Millonarios were playing very slowly, lacking ideas, nervous, at a slower pace and intensity, half-heartedly attempting to score before halftime.

The second half was more of the same, with Santa Fe taking a step back to push forward. Millonarios came out in a hectic, rushed attack, with pot shots blocked by Olivera, Daniel Torres, and Moreno, who were all looking for the head of Falcao or Giordana, who came on for the second half.

And the blue shots came, and the enormous goalkeeper Mosquera Marmolejo stopped them. And the red counterattacks flew, and the air was filled with more roars of a cardinal goal.

In the end, in the last play of the match, Falcao scored a goal of honor, to make it 1-2 for the lion that had already swallowed the Tigre team, the sad Tigre that could not be champion and ended up growling obscenities in the press conference against the referees and the VAR for what he says was “a robbery” against Millonarios for the two goals from Santa Fe, for the penalties that were not called in Manizales and for “the stupidity of saying that they were going to give the League to Falcao,” as he said furious, impotent and defeated.

Millonarios is once again left empty-handed, relying on itself. In six months, its two arch-rivals eliminated it from the final. Nacional in last season's Liga. Now, Santa Fe has swallowed it up. Gamero and González are in the same boat, and it's the same old story.

Just as Rodallega was crystal clear that the start of the final was to demand the ball from the start to score quickly, as happened, it is also just as clear that there are matches, like this Thursday's, that are already history.

Santa Fe's 2-1 victory over its most arch-rivals to qualify for the League final leaves new scars and memories for the start of the final against DIM next week.