An end was in sight
.
Or something similar.
Estudiantes
beat
River
1-0 and won the
Argentine Super Cup
.
Martín Demichelis
' team
played badly, very badly, despite turning the rival goalkeeper into a figure.
Then, the millionaire fans exploded and for the first time insulted the coach;
They also asked him for the kids.
But there was a moment of break in the duel, as if it were a sign of destiny:
Eduardo Domínguez took out Enzo Pérez
and on the first play Solari tied him with a carom.
There were 10 minutes left.
And, in the last one,
Rodrigo Aliendro
scored a great goal from outside the area to make it 2-1 and for Demichelis to celebrate furiously in front of the audience who had failed him.
This is how intense the epilogue of the River champion of the 2023 Super Cup was
.
Demichelis went through the hottest days since he became coach of River
.
The silence after the draw against Independiente was followed by total secrecy regarding the starters to play against Estudiantes at the Kempes.
The coach hid the names and the scheme until minutes before the start of the warm-up.
And he surprised everyone with the choice , including the leaders of Núñez's team: he sent
Matías Kranevitter
to the field
, who had played from the start for the last time on November 26, 2023, against Instituto.
Much more: Colo had only started 5 times (in 22 games) since returning to Núñez, at the end of 2022. A symptom of the moment of uncertainty that the coach is going through.
Demichelis' bet occurred in a decisive position: that of the central midfielder.
Yes, there where
Enzo Pérez
played , the idol who fell out with the coach.
It is remembered: River, to fill that void, paid around 15 million dollars for
Rodrigo Villagra
and
Nicolás Fonseca
.
And Demichelis brought in Kranevitter, also relegating Aliendro.
In any case, the biggest surprise was River's scheme and game idea, which was planted with a 4-2-3-1, with
Ignacio Fernández
next to Kranevitter and with
Esequiel Barco
on top of Enzo Pérez.
The key footballer, too, was
Milton Casco
, the one who broke all the predictions.
Demichelis had him play as a left back when he defended and as a central midfielder when River had the ball to free Nacho.
The proposal did not work, as expected
.
What Demichelis tried, something that Pep Guardiola usually does with Manchester City, requires a lot of rehearsal and an intelligence above the average of the protagonists.
And in River there was not much time to work and, in a devalued market, the hierarchy of some of the players is not so high.
He watered down the idea, then, to the point that the coach seemed more energetic and obfuscated than usual.
What happened?
River was disorganized in attacking, defending and handling the ball.
The feeling was that no one had a good idea of the script that he had to follow.
The word improvisation could fit
.
It is also worth noting that the coach may be responsible for tactics, but he is not to blame if players miss passes from two meters away.
That happened on no less than four occasions
.
Photo MARCELO CARROLL - CLARIN
And Estudiantes made the logic with a decisive peculiarity: 4-4-2, although with
Edwin Cetré
as the right winger (everyone believed that he would move to the left).
Total full for Eduardo Domínguez because he took advantage of the double function of Casco and the Colombian was deep.
From his perfect cross came Javier Correa's header.
River was close to tying in the first half, it will be rightly said.
Matías Mansilla
-one of the figures in the final- stretched out on a couple of occasions to deny the shouts of Paulo Díaz and Miguel Borja.
Estudiantes took refuge in the complement and paid dearly for that sin.
Mansilla continued to save a lot, even though River was not playing well.
All until Enzo Pérez left and River freed itself
.
Pablo Solari took a cross and the ball went in after deflecting off Zaid Romero.
Photo MARCELO CARROLL - CLARIN
And a good one must be given to the coach
, who saw a change like no one else.
He brought in defensive midfielder Aliendro for striker Colidio.
A murmur was heard in the Kempes
.
But it was the former Colón of Santa Fe who scored a great goal for
River to become champion
and for Demichelis to take off a heavy backpack.
Something resembling an end was in sight in Córdoba.
Maybe it was a new beginning
.