Martín Demichelis
was angry
when the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the first half.
He was the first to get into the locker room, at a hurried pace and with an unfriendly face.
He had not given any further indication after 30 minutes that
Esequiel Barco
missed two penalties, disobeying an instruction from the coach to execute Miguel Borja.
The final 0-0 against
Atlético Tucumán
transformed that action into a decisive one, but the coach did not dribble the response in the subsequent press conference, because the change before starting the complement for Franco Mastantuono apparently hid a punishment.
“Anyone can miss a penalty, in this case, two. Esequiel left because I considered that he was not emotionally one hundred percent, Esequiel is a great boy, he wanted to convert, he apologized to me because he is not egocentric, he does not think only of himself. In this case he did not want to give up the ball, you learn from everything and today you get a great experience from here
,” he explained about what happened inside the locker room of the Monumental José Fierro stadium.
"ANYONE CAN MISS A PENALTY, IN THIS CASE TWO..." Martín Demichelis spoke about Barco's situation.
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“He is an unbalanced player, he had been doing well, after missing the second penalty there were erratic situations on his part and I considered that he was not doing well. I knew he wasn't going to be well, that's why I sent Mastantuono to move and took him out at halftime to take care of him and also not to miss a window. "There is no need to dramatize the situation
," he concluded about the change, in which he made the former Independiente player sit on the substitute bench.
Regarding how the penalty taker is defined, he stated:
“Either of the two are in charge of kicking and they decide, depending on their feelings.
But when Esequiel made a mistake, I did participate and asked that it be Miguel, it didn't happen and the outcome is as we know
. "
10 days before the Superclásico, another headache appeared for Demichelis in the second half and it was the injury to Borja, who asked for a change due to a muscle problem in his thigh.
"Miguel asked for the change, he knows his body, now we will have to wait for the medical team to say what he is for and how he is. Sometimes rotations are necessary, we waited until today to define the team and he asked for the change
. "
held.
He also had time to analyze the tie in Tucumán, which left him as the only leader in zone A, where he also remains undefeated after five dates.
"We felt comfortable in the game from the first minute, we were fortunate that we went to halftime without having conceded a goal. We finished it better than we started but ultimately what we tried to do from the first minute was not reflected.
" he explained.
What happened in the two penalties that Barco missed for River?
There will be a lot of talk in the coming hours and days about Esequiel Barco's challenge to coach Martín Demichelis' authority.
Soccer players are brave, you know.
And sometimes capricious.
It is true that the result is what ends up tipping the balance to one side or the other.
What would have happened if Barco scored the penalty?
The sequence was clear.
Néstor Breitenbruch brought down Ignacio Fernández inside the area and Arasa scored the penalty.
Barco got a ball under his arm and Borja another.
There was a fight and the midfielder won;
The Colombian volleyed the ball into the stands.
The former Independiente's execution went to the middle and José Devecchi saved it with his right leg.
But the VAR observed Alexis Flores' zone invasion and the penalty was taken again.
THE ROOSTER CATCHED!!
DEVECCHI STOPPED THE PENALTY AT BARCO!!
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There the challenge to authority occurred because an energetic Demichelis ordered Barco not to kick and for Borja to do so.
Nacho Fernández went to persuade him, but he couldn't do it.
The Colombian attacker slapped the creative midfielder on the face as a sign of support.
The shot went several meters over the crossbar and the coach was ejected from the substitute bench chewing up more than just anger.
They were 28 minutes into the initial stage.
BARCO THROWED HIS SECOND PENALTY INTO THE CLOUDS!!
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In the remainder of the first stage, Demichelis gave no indications and stood with his arms crossed.
Barco, meanwhile, almost didn't touch the ball.
When Arasa scored the end, all his teammates went to cheer on Barco, while the coach quickly went into the locker room with a grim look on his face.
Of course, this is not the first time Barco has had an attitude like this.
In March of last year, in a match against Godoy Cruz, he had denied Lucas Beltrán the execution of a penalty, who was looking for his first hattrick in the First Division.
And the decision that Micho made at halftime will also have something to talk about: he took him out to put on the youthful Franco Mastantuono.