There were two score draws to get the Easter weekend underway in the Argentine Superliga on Friday evening: first, in Parque Patricios, Huracán drew 1-1 with Banfield; afterwards, in Córdoba, Belgrano and Racing shared four goals and Racing's embattled attacking midfielder Ricky Centurión got himself sent off near the end for being an idiot. Before... Continue Reading →
Sunday Superliga highlights: Racing thrash Patronato, Boca rescue a draw and River win again
Sunday brought five matches in the Superliga, starting rather ridiculously at 11 in the morning, because for some reason the AFA and the Superliga think Racing v Patronato will compete in the European television market if they schedule it at that time (I'd have thought they'd want to avoid competing with Europe's own leagues for that... Continue Reading →
All the weekend’s Superliga highlights: Boca and River both get last-minute winners ahead of the Supercopa
A family birthday meant I had a very full weekend and barely had time to watch most of the nineteenth round of Superliga action; nor did I manage to get these videos up on the evening the Superliga YouTube account published them, as I've been trying to do lately. So here are no fewer than... Continue Reading →
Sampaoli adds five Argentina-based players to his March friendlies squad, including Lautaro Martínez
As expected, on Monday morning the Argentine Football Association published Jorge Sampaoli's final squad list for Argentina's upcoming friendlies against Italy in Manchester on the 23rd, and against Spain in Madrid on the 27th of this month. Having already called up twenty-two players who play their club football abroad, Sampaoli added five 'locals' to the... Continue Reading →
Saturday and Sunday Superliga highlights: River disappoint again; Talleres and San Lorenzo both slip up
This weekend's matches in the Superliga saw Boca Juniors handed an advantage in the title race, as both San Lorenzo and Talleres, the league leaders' two closest competitors, drew their matches. That gives Boca the chance to open up an eleven point lead if they beat Argentinos Juniors later today. Godoy Cruz won away from... Continue Reading →
Watch: Lautaro Martínez hits a hat trick on his Libertadores debut as Racing beat Cruzeiro 4-2
The group stage of the 2018 Copa Libertadores got underway on Tuesday night, and the highlight came in Avellaneda, where Racing hosted Brazilian side Cruzeiro in the Cilindro. With Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli watching – just two days before he names his squad for upcoming friendlies against Spain and Italy – young striker Lautaro Martínez hit a... Continue Reading →
Friday and Saturday Superliga highlights: Racing hold off Lanús, and Central tonk Olimpo
Friday and Saturday brought seven matches and twenty goals in the sixteenth round of Superliga action. On Friday evening, Estudiantes beat Unión 2-0 in La Plata, before one of the most attractive fixtures of the weekend saw Racing beat Lanús 3-1 in Avellaneda, with Ricardo Centurión again among the scorers. Gabriel Heinze pronounced himself pleased... Continue Reading →
Saturday’s Superliga highlights: Patronato beat Vélez; Racing make it two in a row
Saturday only featured three Superliga matches, because San Lorenzo v Independiente has been postponed to allow Independiente time to prepare for the Recopa Sudamericana (the South American Supercup). We had the clásico de La Plata, which turned out to be a less than thrilling affair in which Estudiantes probably should have got an away win over... Continue Reading →
Hand Of Pod episode 280
In the two-hundred and eightieth episode of Hand Of Pod, Andrés and I look back on last weekend's Superliga action - including Nacho Scocco's solo show (and Fernando Quintero's highly impressive debut) for RIver Plate, and Lautaro Martínez's hat trick for Racing, as well as the 1-1 draw between the top two, San Lorenzo and Boca... Continue Reading →
Lautaro Martínez: a Q&A for Football Italia
Following his hat trick in a brilliant all-round forward display on Sunday, as Racing thrashed Huracán 4-0 in Avellaneda, Lautaro Martínez is hot stuff at the moment. Jorge Sampaoli was watching, and there's talk of a national team call up for next month's friendlies against Spain and Italy; transfer rumours in Europe, meanwhile, have reached... Continue Reading →