Kaya, Aguilas dispute Copa Paulino Alcantara tilt

Kaya FC Iloilo vs Garelli FC. –Jihan Ivy P. Caparros via Copa Paulino Alcantara

Getting another silverware before the end of the year or a dream finish are the things at stake Saturday for Kaya-Iloilo and Davao Aguilas-University of Makati when they square off in the final of the Copa Paulino Alcantara at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. as the domestic cup competition comes to a close after this year’s edition that began in mid-July drew not only clubs from the Philippines Football League but those from the amateur and collegiate ranks.

Kaya is on the grand stage for the fifth straight edition since the tournament named after the great FC Barcelona star was launched in 2018. A victory will hand Kaya a record-extending third Copa trophy.

Kaya breezed past Group A by winning all five games with a goal differential of +38 before dominating University of the Philippines and Stallion-Laguna in the knockout stage to move closer to a second title in the calendar year after claiming the Philippines Football League (PFL) crown in June.

Standing in Kaya’s way is the Cinderella Aguilas side that reached the last eight as the second-best team in Group C, sending home fellow non-PFL side CF Manila in the quarters before stunning Dynamic Herb Cebu in the semis.

A screamer by Paolo Bugas late in the second half of the second leg of the semis against Cebu was all the Aguilas needed to arrange a rematch of the 2018 clash with Kaya.