Cuando Alianza Lima anunció la llegada de Pedro Aquino a mediados del año pasado, hubo cierta ilusión por parte de la hinchada blanquiazul por lo que el volante podría ofrecerle al equipo que por entonces era dirigido por Néstor Gorosito. However, physical problems prevented him from gaining the pace of competition and he was unable to perform as many expected. Ya en el 2026 y con Pablo Guede como el entrenador del primer equipo, la ‘Roca’ sigue sin sumar minutos importantes y muchos se preguntan cuál será su futuro en la institución.
So far this season, Aquino has only added 11 official minutes after entering the complementary stage during the 3-1 victory over Melgar. Desde entonces, no solo lo ha vuelto a jugar, sino que ni siquiera fue considerado por Guede en su lista de convocados. That is, the midfielder has not been in seven games in a row: Deportivo Garcilaso, Juan Pablo II College, Universitario, ADT, Cusco FC, Atlético Grau and CD Moquegua.
Regarding this topic, Fernando Cabada, general manager of Alianza Lima, gave more details about Pedro Aquino's current situation in a recent interview with Full Deportes. As he explained, it is not that he cannot play due to an injury or physical problems, but rather due to a decision strictly by the technical command; Es decir, es cuestión de gustos.
"It is not that he cannot play or that he is broken, we have a team that has several playing alternatives, there are positions that are covered by three or four and others by two. We give the sports area and the technical director a responsibility, which is to achieve the objectives and for that they ask us for a number of resources," he stated.
Cabada went further, explaining that Aquino's signing was not requested by Guede, but by the previous technical command, that is, by Gorosito. In that sense, the midfielder is also at a disadvantage due to the good level that Esteban Pavez has been showing, who arrived at the express request of the Argentine coach; incluso Jesús Castillo, su principal sustituto.
"The resource Pedro was hired before, he was not requested by Pablo. The issue is simple, Pablo always finds important combinations between players and if he has not found the right partnership there, the player will probably be left out. I would not say that he does not reach the level, he is a great player but he has not fit within the scheme," he added. Be careful, Aquino's loan from Santos Laguna ends in the middle of this year.
On the other hand, Fernando Cabada announced the policy they will follow for signings that could arrive in the second part of the season. “Todavía no hay un planteamiento específico, tenemos una plantilla que está sólida y vamos a ir viendo cómo se desarrollan las cosas. Estamos concentrados en lo que tenemos delante, todavía tenemos varias finales porque cada uno de estos partidos va a ser una final”, finalizó.
After its last 2-1 victory over CD Moquegua, Alianza Lima will be active again this weekend when it hosts Sporting Cristal, in the match corresponding to date 14 of the Liga 1 2026 Apertura Tournament. This match is scheduled for Saturday, May 9 from 8:00 p.m. y se disputará en el Estadio Alejandro Villanueva.
As for transmission, this will be carried out by L1 MAX (previously called Liga 1 MAX), a channel available on teleoperators such as DIRECTV, Movistar TV, Claro TV, WIN TV and Best Cable, in addition to its streaming version on the L1 MAX, Movistar TV App, DGO, Claro Video, Zapping and Fanatiz platforms. If you do not have any of these options, remember that you will be able to follow all the incidents of the match through the Depor website.
