The eighth date of the Professional Football League tournament will close this Thursday with the highlight of the day: from 9 p.m. (TNT Sports broadcasts), River and Aldosivi will face each other in the Monumental, scenario in which the locals welcome the team led by Fernando Gago at its best and with the desire to stay with the top of the contest.
Marcelo gallardo continues to fine-tune the team to focus on the domestic tournament after the elimination of the Copa Libertadores, but the casualties that he has been suffering in his squad for a few weeks only add complications to the objective of climbing up the standings. The Uruguayan Nicolás De La Cruz and the Colombian Jorge Carrascal, two important pieces of the DT’s strategy, were disaffected from the call to face the Mar del Plata team due to muscular fatigue, which forced them to add them to an already considerable list of injured of the millionaire squad , made up of defenders Fabrizio Angileri, Jonatan Maidana and Javier Pinola.
Looking for variants to cover the position, Gallardo would lean towards José Paradela and the return of Julián Álvarez, who surprisingly was a substitute in the 1-1 against Gimnasia, where he had opted for the youth Santiago Simón.
Beyond the absences, the mysteries around the eleven that will face Aldosivi are also based on the millionaire production of the last time, that just as he has not let his fans enjoy, Nor does it seem to convince Gallardo himself. The DT, in that sense, analyzes changes to try to improve the functioning of the team. Along these lines, Enzo Fernández -who started against Vélez and Mineiro but did not have minutes against Gimnasia- and Agustín Palavecino -who did not play again after being replaced at halftime against Vélez- seem to have been left behind in the consideration. In the offensive there is also speculation with the entry of Federico Girotti by Braian Romero, who was conspicuously replaced half an hour from the end in La Plata.
The Mar del Plata team is the other side of River’s moment: Aldosivi goes through the best moment of the Gago cycle as a coach, with 13 points and a streak of four games without losing, with three wins and a draw. Since he took office in February, the team of the former Boca coach and the Argentine national team had not been able to put together a similar run and, with the last 3-0 over Colón, he already surpassed the three victories in thirteen games of the last League Cup.
Gago found the best interpreters for his idea and, for the fourth consecutive game, he has the possibility of repeating the starting eleven. The arrivals of goalkeeper José Devecchi, experienced defender Fabricio Coloccini, midfielder Francisco Cerro and striker Martín Cauteruccio (he has scored four goals) reinforced the base of a team that had closed the last tournament with five defeats in six games.
The present of Aldosivi invites its fans and the squad itself to dream: In a tournament that does not finish defining its dominator, the Shark could climb to the top in case of defeating River. He does not have enough background, however. The only official victory for the Mar del Plata team was on October 29, 2011, when they faced each other in the New Gasometer for the First National B tournament: at that time, Aldosivi won 2-1, cut River undefeated and brought him down from the top. What is clear is that the draw does not convince either of them too much at the moment and that the victory will be a necessary clean and jerk for either of them.
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