Maximiliano Benozzi
02/24/2020 - 19:32
- Clarín.com
- sports
2020 had just begun and River was in the middle of Patagonian hills. San Martín de los Andes was the place chosen to make a preparation that would be short - and intense - given the obligations of the calendar. Before the resumption of the Super League, the Núñez team was in fifth position, three points from Argentinos Juniors, but with the possibility of jumping immediately to the top along with the Paternal Bug. I had to meet him, the classic with Independiente. There were eight finals ahead of the Doll's team to go through the domestic contest, without having another competition in the middle. The head focused on the Super League.
Then, surrounded by a paradise landscape, with lots of green around, there was a clear and forceful message from Marcelo Gallardo and his coaching staff. That was immediately captured by the players and recited as a preaching. As a kind of oath. What was it about? To play the eight games that River had left in the final stretch of the Super League as if they were for a Cup. That is, as if there were no later. As if it were direct eliminations. As a hand in hand, the specialty of the Gallardo River. In that area he won 53 of 64 (82%).
The games are happening and River has already spun six consecutive victories. As in an entertainment program so far, he answered all the questions well and climbed to the sixth of the eight steps without fail. Now, he has two tests left to face and take the prize: Defense and Justice, on Saturday at the Monumental and Atlético Tucumán, a visitor, a week later. And the keys so that there are no fissures, beyond passing sufferings, are in the winning mentality, personality and a game of great level and intensity at high speed. A constant search for total football, with a versatile scheme, in which all players attack and all defend, play in the position in which they play. "River flies," rivals are heard to say.
AFP photo
River is also backed by some streaks. A visitor has not lost almost 16 months ago for the local league. He has 17 undefeated games (13 wins and 4 draws). In that performance the campaign is sustained in this Super League. In this tournament, in that condition he won nine games and drew two. He obtained 88% of the points. He took 29 of the 45 goals with which he leads the championship. On the other hand, he has the best start of the year in the history of the club along with the team of José María Minella in 1963: he won six consecutive games. And if on Saturday he defends Defense and Justice, he will have the record. If he does, he will also reach the biggest streak of wins in the Gallardo era, which is seven games. It happened four times: two in 2014, once in 2017 and once in 2018. But the fifth would have a particularity: it would be in the same tournament, unlike the others that included matches from more than one competition.
“We set out to win everything until the end. The team shows experience, maturity, personality ... It was not carried away by the result of Boca. If we continue like this, with that mentality, everything will be fine. We must continue until the end. The others keep winning. There are two games left. We are getting closer, but we don't have to lower our arms, ”said Gallardo (he reached second place in the best coaches in the world, behind Jürgen Klopp, coach of Liverpool, according to the Club World Ranking site) after the victory of River to Students in La Plata. He added: “The team keeps responding. I liked that we came to this court to win, not to speculate. That is our DNA. ”
And in the genetics of the Gallardo River are those characteristics mentioned by the Doll. And they are essential in the search for the Super League.