For the sixth time in a row, the final of the Copa América will feature an Argentine manager. Marcelo Bielsa in 2004 and Alfio Basile in 2007 took their homeland to defeats against Brazil, Gerardo Martino was involved for Paraguay in 2011 and Argentina in both 2015 and 2016, and in the latter two, the... Continue Reading →
Superliga highlights round 22: Defensa win five-goal thriller to keep pressure on Racing
The twenty-second round of Superliga action ended on Monday night with yet another late winner for Defensa y Justicia, who emerged victorious from a five-goal thriller against Banfield thanks to Nicolás Fernández's hat trick. The win meant that Defensa have qualified for the Copa Libertadores for the first time in their history – they'll be in... Continue Reading →
Argentina’s clubs start their Libertadores group campaigns (highlights)
Argentina's five Copa Libertadores group stage representatives all started their qualification efforts this week – and all with rather frustrating results. There were goalless draws all round on Tuesday: Godoy Cruz got a creditable one at home to Olimpia of Paraguay, San Lorenzo visited Melgar of Peru, where both teams absolutely stank the place out,... Continue Reading →
Messi back as Lionel Scaloni names Argentina squad to face Venezuela and Morocco
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni announced his latest squad on Thursday, ahead of two friendlies which act as warm ups for the Copa América in Brazil in a few months' time. The headline news is that Lionel Messi's break from international football is coming to an end: some outlets had reported earlier in the week that... Continue Reading →
River Plate begin Libertadores defence away to Alianza Lima: preview and how to watch from the USA
Alianza Lima v River Plate (Wednesday, 19:30 local time/EST, 21:30 ART, 00:30 Thursday GMT) The euphoria of the epic extra-time victory at ‘home’ in the Bernabéu back in December is gone if certainly not forgotten, given the identity of their opponents in that match, for River Plate. The hard work of defending their Copa Libertadores... Continue Reading →
Superliga Friday and washout Saturday highlights: River thrash Lanús; Racing beat Argentinos to stay top
There were two Superliga games on Friday and just one on Saturday, due to a thunderstorm sweeping over Greater Buenos Aires in the early hours of Saturday which caused San Lorenzo v Atlético Tucumán and Estudiantes (who are playing home games in Quilmes at the moment) v Newell's Old Boys to be called off. The... Continue Reading →
Saturday and Sunday Superliga highlights: River beat Boca with two golazos; Atlético Tucumán go top overnight
After a high-scoring start to the sixth round of Superliga action, things settled down on Saturday and Sunday, but we still only had to sit through one 0-0 draw. In the biggest match of the round, Boca Juniors hosted River Plate in the superclásico and River put in a textbook Big Game Away Performance to run... Continue Reading →
Saturday and Sunday Superliga highlights: Boca open their defence with a win and Lanús let Defensa y Justicia off the hook
It's not been a classic Superliga weekend: Saturday and Sunday's matches in the opening round of 2018–19 Superliga action brought just nine goals from nine games, with three 0-0 draws and not a single away victory. On Saturday, Gimnasia and Unión got 1-0 wins over Argentinos Juniors and Aldosivi respectively, before Patronato v Colón and... Continue Reading →
Superliga 2018–19: the fixtures in full, a bit of help planning a trip, and what is the Copa de la Superliga?
On Thursday lunchtime, the Superliga Argentina de Fútbol finally released the fixture list for the coming season, which will kick off on Friday, 10th August. Like last season, teams will all play each other just once (with twenty-six teams in the league, there's not time for everyone to play everyone else twice), with the championship... Continue Reading →
Sunday Superliga highlights: River’s reserves ease past Arsenal, and Boca are on the brink
Sunday brought five matches and eleven goals in the Superliga. In the 11am kick off, there was unusually low score, with Huracán beating Tigre 2-0 to cement their continental qualification hopes. At (late) lunchtime, goals from Brian Mansilla and Lautaro Martínez helped Racing win against their manager Eduardo Coudet's old club, Rosario Central, 2-0, before... Continue Reading →