One word fits perfectly when it comes to describing Argentine soccer:
competitiveness
.
The concept is used by coaches, players, leaders, journalists and fans.
And it is enough to review the standings in both zones of the
League Cup
to support the statement.
One piece of information is conclusive: with 5 days left until the first round ends,
there are 17 teams
that dream of qualifying for the quarterfinals.
A clarification is also necessary:
just because local soccer is competitive does not mean it is good
.
Rather the complete opposite.
Because the level that the League Cup is giving away is poor.
There's a reason we talk more about refereeing decisions than about the game itself.
So far in 2024, no team has been able to stand out above another, as had happened with
River
in the first half of 2023. It is not a sensation but a reality that
anyone can beat anyone
: so far of the Cup, there were
46 local wins, 38 draws and 41 visitor victories
.
Thus, the locals get the 3 points in 36.8 percent of the games.
In the Premier League, meanwhile, there were 122 local victories in the 268 games played, which is equivalent to 45.5%.
Independiente and River collide in a key match.
(Marcelo Carroll)
An uninspiring statistic is that
in the Cup 258 goals were scored in 125 games
;
That is, there are 2.06 celebrations per mourning.
The average number of goals in England is close to 3.5 and that of the Bundesliga is above 3.
Another piece of information provided by the League works as a symptom: there are no offensive midfielders or forwards in the list of the 10 players who made the most passes (Santiago Sosa, Agustín García Basso, Paulo Díaz, Alexis Soto, Agustín Cardozo, Gastón Lodico, Cristian Lema, Santiago Ascacibar, Santiago Ramos Mingo and Matías Catalán).
Godoy Cruz
(19) is the team with the best numbers: they won 6, tied 1 and lost 1;
He scored 11 goals and only scored 2. Tomba is the leader of Zone B even though they have the duel with
San Lorenzo
pending .
In any case, the Mendoza team cannot relax because the fifth in its group,
Unión
(15), has 4 points less.
And below are the giants
Boca
(13) and
Racing
(14), who this Sunday collide in the Bombonera in a key duel.
Does the loser have one foot out of the championship?
Tomás Conechny, one of the figures of the Tomba.
(Telam)
Estudiantes
(18), the guard, last date lost at home against
Platense
(10), who had only won one game.
Furthermore, the cast led by Eduardo Domínguez this afternoon will present substitutes during their visit to
Sarmiento de Junín
because on Wednesday they play the Super Cup final against River at the Mario Kempes in Córdoba.
Newell's
and
Lanús
appear in third and fourth place
, with 16 units, two irregular teams.
For example, on Thursday night Granate fell 1-0 at home against
Central Córdoba
.
Defensa y Justicia
(13) must put together a streak of consecutive victories to get into the fight.
The same as San Lorenzo (8), which could be within 5 of the classification positions if it wins the pending game against Godoy Cruz (will be played on Wednesday the 20th).
In Zone A, River,
Argentinos
,
Instituto
and
Independiente
add 17 points.
El Rojo receives Núñez's team in a key duel.
One point below is the surprising
Barracas Central
(16), stalked by
Talleres
(15) and
Vélez
(15).
Six units behind the leaders appears
Rosario Central
(11), which needs a good streak to join the fight at the top.
The good thing for the team led by Miguel Russo is that on this date they play against Instituto.
"For me, the most logical thing is a long tournament, because it gives you more time. The coaches could work more calmly. Now everything is nervous. The 28 teams? We have to think about that, otherwise it becomes difficult for Boca and all the teams Argentinians play well. It is difficult to maintain consistency
," said
Juan Román Riquelme
this week.
And Ruben Darío Insua
joined the debate :
"As demonstrated, there are no easy rivals in Argentina. This is competitive football; there is a reason we are the world champions. Just by looking at the Argentine Cup we realize this
. "
The degree of complexity is high.
There are no easy rivals.
Physically, a Federal A team holds up on par with a team from the Professional League.
A commonplace applies to the current League Cup: anyone beats anyone.
So, then, in the remaining dates anything can happen.