There's a moment in every season when you stop pretending. When the facade cracks and what's underneath isn't pretty, but it's honest. We're at that moment right now with Leones FC and Depor FC, two clubs circling each other in Colombia's Primera B like wounded animals who've forgotten how to hunt.

Let's not dress this up in false drama. Leones FC arrives at Estadio Metropolitano Ciudad de Itagui having scored exactly one goal in their last nine matches. One. Think about that for a second. A professional football team, playing at the second tier of Colombian football, has found the back of the net precisely once since late August. That lone goal came in the 90th minute of a 2-1 loss to Huila, which means it was the football equivalent of straightening the deck chairs on the Titanic.

But here's where it gets interesting—and I use that word loosely—Depor FC isn't exactly arriving on a white horse. They've managed 0.4 goals per game over their last ten, which in football terms is like bragging about your mediocre batting average when everyone else is hitting .180. At least you're not the worst guy at the plate, right?

The tape doesn't lie, though. When you watch Leones lately, you're watching a team that's forgotten the point of the exercise. Four consecutive defeats, three of them by identical 4-0 scorelines that suggest not just losing but capitulation. There's losing, and then there's what Leones has been doing—showing up and hoping the other team takes mercy. Jaguares didn't. Cucuta certainly didn't. Real Cartagena back in August treated them like a training session.

Depor FC at least has a pulse. That 4-2 victory over Internacional Palmira on September 14th feels like ancient history now, but it happened. Someone in that locker room remembers what scoring goals feels like, what it means to put the ball in dangerous areas and make something happen. Since then, it's been a slow leak—three losses and a goalless draw with Cucuta that probably felt like a moral victory in the moment but looks just as empty in the standings.

The tactical battle here isn't going to be waged by brilliant minds moving pieces around a chessboard. This is survival football. This is two teams trying to remember the basics while their confidence evaporates with each passing week. Leones needs to find anyone who can finish a chance, assuming they can create one. Depor needs to decide if they want to sit back and protect a clean sheet—good luck with that strategy when you haven't won in over a month—or actually try to impose themselves.

What makes October 18th compelling isn't the quality. Let's be honest about that. It's compelling because when two struggling teams meet, one of two things happens: either someone finds their form and breaks through, or both teams tighten up so much that we get another scoreless slog that helps nobody. The betting public will look at this match and see value in the under. They're probably right.

But there's always that chance—slim, maybe, but real—that something breaks. That one of these clubs remembers they're professional footballers paid to put the ball in the net. Depor, despite their struggles, at least showed in that Internacional Palmira match that they can score multiple goals. Leones hasn't proven they can score at all recently.

The smart money says this stays tight and low-scoring. Both defenses will be organized because that's what struggling teams do—they bunker, they protect, they try not to lose worse than they already have been. But if someone finds their confidence early, if a moment of quality breaks through the nervousness, this could open up in ways neither team expects.

What we're watching on October 18th isn't beautiful football. It's necessary football. One of these teams will leave Itagui feeling like they've turned a corner, that maybe the worst is behind them. The other will spiral deeper into whatever this is. That's the stakes when you're fighting at the bottom—not glory, just the chance to stop falling.

And sometimes, that's the most honest drama of all.