Although they claim to have respect and good vibes with each other,
after the last Superclásico there were sparks
. And on the eve of a momentous duel, in which one will follow the path in the League Cup and the other will not,
Martín Demichelis and Diego Martínez
are face to face again and inevitably one will be injured.
“Martínez is a coach that I appreciate and respect, he is in the search and I would not get involved in his analysis and proposal,
but if I ended up with seven defenders I would not be respecting River's history
. We are not happy with the tie
," Micho said at the press conference after the last Superclásico, which was played on February 25 at the Monumental and ended tied 1 to 1.
The River coach wanted to send an internal message and take credit for his idea of going to the front, but he
indirectly sent a harsh message to his colleague
, which, as
Clarín
learned , did not sit well with Martínez.
"
The changes were not defensive
but to carry out that search that we tried during the week and it is very valuable, since the team continued to believe after the tie. And I value what the team did before the goal, beyond the pressure that River put on "He had the personality to stand on this field," explained the former Tigre coach.
And days later he specifically referred to what Micho had expressed about himself:
"I think it was not good, I don't agree with it. But there was also a private message from him in which he apologized if he had felt an attack towards me."
.
Despite the discomfort that this statement generated, Martínez later became a composer and pointed out:
"Martín's (Demichelis) teams give me good feelings, they are leading teams.
We have a search that is ours and we have things in common
.
"
"I THINK IT WAS NOT OKAY... BUT THEN THERE WAS A MESSAGE FROM HIM PRIVATELY APOLOGIZING." Diego Martínez gave his opinion on Demichelis' post-Superclásico words.
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— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) March 4, 2024
In short, these are two young and modern coaches (
Micho
is 43 years old and
Gigoló
is 45) who are seeking to build great stories with the two giants of Argentine soccer. And they quickly became trapped in the pressure of a
mata-mata
, which will not define their immediate future, but it can mark and influence the path they continue to travel.
Then we will have to see what the reaction of both strategists is to the stress caused by the result
. And how they will react after the meeting, in which one of the two will celebrate and the other will regret.
As for the background, both did well against the rival. Since he came to River's technical direction,
Demichelis did not lose to Boca
. Of three matches, they won two (one in the Monumental, 1-0 and the other in the Bombonera, 2-0) and tied one (1-1), the last in Núñez.
Meanwhile, in his debut in a Superclásico, he emerged unscathed from Udaondo and Figueroa Alcorta with the tie but he already knows what it's like to beat River.
He did it with Huracán, at the Monumental, in the last League Cup
, with a 2-1 victory over Demichelis' team and the victory with Tigre in the quarterfinals of the 2022 League Cup was also 2-1 , to the team directed by Marcelo Gallardo.
Curiously, in that competition, Martínez reached the final with Matador and lost to Boca at the Kempes, the same scenario in which this Sunday, now as Xeneize coach, he will meet again with River and with Demichelis, with whom he comes to get some sparks off each other, despite the sympathy they say they have for each other.