[FM12] One more time - moonwalking my way through 'mo clubs

[deltablue]

You just keep getting better and better.

[noikeee]

You just keep getting better and better.

Thank you sir, the goal is indeed to get better not worse.

[noikeee]

The Apertura showdown - first act

We won the first 3 matches in November which allowed us to catch up a bit to the top again, and with just 3 fixtures remaining this is how the league looked like:

So Boca were in a good position with 1 game in hand, but we remained in contention as well as Lanús. The next match we faced Lanús...

It looked as if our squad of kids was going to pull off a fabulous deserved win over a powerful tycoon-backed side. Morales did a lot of work for Netto's goal then scored himself seizing a bad backpass by a Lanús defender, 2-0.

However shortly after Netto got injured (will miss the remaining 2 matches), Lanús got back into the game out of nothing - a randomly hoofed up ball ended up headed into the back of the net, then our goalkeeper Juan José Cristaldo handled the ball out of the box and they scored directly from the resulting freekick. It ended 2-2, the perfect result to play into Boca's hands surely...

But then Boca shockingly lost the next match at home to Rosario Central! The title remains open albeit the advantage is still on their side:

Remaining fixtures:

Lanús-Estudiantes LP

All Boys-Independiente Rivadavia

Colón-Boca

----------------------------------------

Boca-Godoy Cruz

----------------------------------------

Arsenal de Sarandi-Lanús

Boca-Argentinos

Independiente Rivadavia-San Martin (T)

[cerud]

Looking very close. If Boca lose another....

[AK22]

It's Boca's to lose, but could end up being very close if they drop points.

[AcidBurn]

You've done well to keep the pace and it'll obviously be extremely close if Boca were to lose that game in hand. I like making small steps as a manager then again I sometimes like to take a step backwards at times as well.

[B.W.G]

Very close finish,you've done very well this season no matter what happens.

[noikeee]

Looking very close. If Boca lose another....

It's Boca's to lose, but could end up being very close if they drop points.

You've done well to keep the pace and it'll obviously be extremely close if Boca were to lose that game in hand. I like making small steps as a manager then again I sometimes like to take a step backwards at times as well.

Very close finish,you've done very well this season no matter what happens.

Thanks folks, to be honest it's almost impossible to nab the title as Boca need to lose points twice in 3 fixtures, and Lanús as well have to drop points once, but as long as it's mathematically possible we'll try.

Boca are missing their Pelé-like godlike striker due to an injury, so if a catastrophe is to happen to them it'd be now.

[noikeee]

The Apertura showdown - second act

We did not have the greatest of ties next away at All Boys, but with Lanús having just lost at home to Estudiantes LP, and Boca having a tricky trip to Colón as well, we still had hope.

Unfortunately we went completely missing. All Boys dominated the first half and rightly went one goal up. Somehow a penalty kick landed our way and we equalized before half-time, greatly flattering us, then on an highly sterile 2nd half Alvarez scored in a set piece putting us in a winning position.

Then on the 91st All Boys scored in a corner too, pretty much ending our title hopes. Fair enough - we were poor. Boca drew and extended the fight for one match more, but will be champions if they beat Godoy Cruz next.

Remaining fixtures:

Boca-Godoy Cruz

----------------------------------------

Arsenal de Sarandi-Lanús

Boca-Argentinos

Independiente Rivadavia-San Martin (T)

[noikeee]

The Apertura showdown - final act

There was no final day drama as Boca did it with a minimum services win over Godoy Cruz in a midweek postponed fixture:

Another deserved title for the best team in Argentina, Boca Juniors. We could take comfort that the achievement of having come so close is already quite staggering for a club like ours.

The final day had 2nd place to play for but Lanús did their part beating Arsenal by a massive 6-0 and beating us on goal difference, whereas we had an easy 4-1 win over San Martín de Tucuman as well. It matters little, our final finish of 3rd is great.

Then, we had a shock news item:

I don't know how this works as we're only 5th in the calendar year table (behind Boca, Lanús, Belgrano and Argentinos), I didn't even knew calendar years were what mattered, but we'll take it! I'm delighted and really looking forward to finally playing in a continental cup! And it's the big one!

[noikeee]

The Libertadores draw is out

I'm not terribly happy with this, Once Caldas are decent, I distinctly remember when they won the competition in 2004, because that was the year the club I support FC Porto won the Champions League and faced them in the Intercontinental Cup. That being said their squad's all made of grey players! We have unfortunately to go through this qualifying round to make it to the group stage.

In other news, our youngsters make for a pretty big share of the Argentinian U20 national side:

... which is great but the timing of this competition is pretty poor as it overlaps with the Libertadores matches. We will therefore be without Marcelo Contreras, Norberto Morales, Diego Silvero, Santiago Brunt Lewis and Gerardo Bastianini - all but Bastianini are regular starters. The 6th player is centre-back Emiliano Esposito who we have loaned out to Deportivo Merlo (and who is having a sensational season in the Argentinian 2nd tier).

[cerud]

That's awesome that you qualified for a South American cup, horrible timing with the international call ups. Tough.

[noikeee]

Chile offers me a job

Hugely flattering, but slightly on the unrealistic side - whilst there are plenty of Chile/Argentina links and I have been doing well, I think big international jobs like this should only come after decent performances in continental competitions? - and I really am not keen to manage both club and country, nevermind even managing a national side within the next decade. That's for the distant future. Rejected.

[noikeee]

That's awesome that you qualified for a South American cup, horrible timing with the international call ups. Tough.

Yeah I'm a bit worried that we might just crash out of the qualifying playoff like that, to top it off my cups record through all my career is just absolutely abysmal.

[Animosama]

Yea south america football clashes a lot with international fixtures

[noikeee]

Copa Libertadores Preliminary Round 1st leg

First leg was away at Colombia. Target man Nicolás Netto just about came back for this match after a lengthy injury. Jorge Correa started upfront next to him instead of first choice Norberto Morales who was out with the Argentina U20s. Winter signing Luis Salinas, a 18yo Chilean midfielder, was a surprise starter making his club debut.

We did great. We dominated Once Caldas in the first half and club captain Sergio Palacios eventually scored in injury time - he would do so again in the second half, after a chaotic period that saw a red card each way and appeared to make the game more balanced. Near the end the home side got a goal, but we are looking good to go through now.

[noikeee]

Copa Libertadores Preliminary Round 2nd leg

We started the 2nd leg with roughly the same players, just suspended centre-back Mauricio Rodriguez was swapped by the experienced David Abraham.

It was never really in doubt as we took control of the ball all game and Once Caldas only attempted to shoot at goal once. Netto scored the one and only goal again in 1st half injury time, I did make a team-talk mistake at half-time that made the team complacent but we were far too strong and held on.

Group stage it is now, and as for our opponents...

I am quite happy, this could've been a hell of a lot worse, for instance there was another group that had both Lanús and Internacional... having Chilean, Colombian and Venezuelan opponents is really quite benign.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Not the worst group in the world tbh

[B.W.G]

You've done well to push the top teams as far as you have,think one or two signings could see you do it.Also a good group in the Copa Libertadores,hopefully you can have a mini run which is always good for the finances!

[noikeee]

Yea south america football clashes a lot with international fixtures

I didn't know about that, hopefully won't be a huge issue. We only really have a bunch of U20s, no senior internationals but it's still a few important players.

Not the worst group in the world tbh

Yeah I think we can get out of it!

You've done well to push the top teams as far as you have,think one or two signings could see you do it.Also a good group in the Copa Libertadores,hopefully you can have a mini run which is always good for the finances!

I'm not sure we're good enough for the title yet, as long as Boca have that striker Victor Benvenuto we have no player anywhere near that level, Lanús are megarich and just splashed more than 8M on a 34 year old fullback (Ansaldi)...

I also doubt the Libertadores gives us a lot of prize money, I've never played in it but imagine it's no Champions League! We got 70K for winning the preliminary round and some 270K more for taking part on the groups, in the Champions League the prize money for doing the same is 7.5M if I remember right...

[noikeee]

November 2020-February 2021

Transfers

I only hired one player in the Winter (or is it Summer - this is South America after all, weather seasons are reversed...) transfer window:

Luis Salinas (AMC / MC) (700K€) - This was not a position we badly needed a player for, but I never pass up on hugely promising kids available at a discount. This 18yo Chilean midfielder will almost certainly be a star, for now it caused a bit of a bureaucracy issue as we can only have 4 foreigners: I expected Kolyo Todorov to get Argentinian nationality during January which would've open up one spot but his nationality paperwork got delayed so I chose to leave him unregistered for the remainder of the season.

I did sell three players, however. Homegrown talent Federico Schwenzel looked good for one day having a starter MC/DM spot but he was taking ages to develop his skills and was way behind his competitors, so instead I sold him to Estudiantes (LP) for 1M€. Former regular starting right-back Rafael Alberti went to Peñarol for 425K€, and 21yo AM/ST Cristian Malvestiti, like Schwenzel failing to get near his potential, went to Instituto for 400K€ + 50% of next sale profit.

Fixtures

Rosario Central A 2-1: nice return to the winning ways, with Fabián Pasini scoring his first Rivadavia goal after coming in as a sub.

Colón H 2-1: deserved win, but we were never really in control which was slightly worrying.

Argentinos A 4-2: we were struggling to turn our dominance into goals when Correa jumped off the bench and scored in about his first touch - then added a second later on. Palacios followed his lead by also scoring 2.

Lanús H 2-2: looked as if we'd pull off a sensational win over our fellow title rivals by scoring twice first, but then a hoofed ball upfront, then a howler from our keeper JJ Cristaldo that handled the ball out of the box gave them two goals to equalize.

All Boys A 2-2: pretty poor showing away where we were fortunate to even get a draw, albeit conceding a 91st minute equalizer kinda balanced that. We then lost the title to Boca mid-week.

San Martín (T) H 4-1: still trying to fight for 2nd place, we blew San Martin away with 3 nice goals - Pasini's placed shot to the top corner, Silvero's direct freekick, Palacios' dribbling solo run - and a debut goal by Alberto Zárate.

(cup) San Martín (T) A 0-1: just 3 days later we played the same opponent, now away from home and for the cup. It was a totally different game, we were tired and uninspired, lost to an early headed goal and are already out of the cup - massive disappointment!

mid-season friendlies: as always we had a few in-between the Apertura and Clausura, albeit intercalated with the Libertadores matches, nothing really happened bar our routine big friendly wins - 7-0 over Uruguayans Rampla Juniors was fun.

(Libertadores) Once Caldas A 2-1: our big debut in the continental cups started really well with a confident performance in Colombia, captain Sergio Palacios scoring twice.

(Libertadores) Once Caldas H 1-0: the return leg went equally well, our opponents could only shoot once, we only scored 1 goal despite totally dominating but it was more than enough.

Quilmes H 3-1: Clausura started with an easy match in theory, and it did prove easy enough as we scored 3 in the first half, killing the match already.

Instituto A 2-2: this one proved more difficult than I expected, we conceded immediately at the start then turned it around with 2 corner goals by Netto, but later on their forward Juan Ignacio Godoy would score his 2nd as well tying the match in the 86th as Instituto looked more and more dangerous.

Belgrano H 2-1: another Netto brace clinched this one in our favour, one goal in a corner, the other a penalty kick. Decent if unspectacular home win.

(Libertadores) Deportivo Táchira H 2-0: great way to kick off the group stage as our tiki-taka was at its most obsessive form ever - we got a massive 81% of possession(!!) and converted that into 2 goals.

Racing Club A 1-2: we scored first through Morales, but our tired team after the mid-week fixture let them turn the game around, Contreras unluckily scoring an onwgoal.

Player on focus

Sergio Palacios (AMC) - Our Colombian captain finally showed his worth after a poorer start to the season, by scoring and assisting a few (currently on a total of 9 goals, 6 assists), and having a great winning performance in the Libertadores vs his teenage years club Once Caldas!

Nicolás Netto was out injured for a while, but came back on great form as well, he is now already on a total of 18 goals!

Competitions

Primera División - Torneo Apertura:

Primera División - Torneo Clausura:

Copa Libertadores:

Copa Argentina: beaten by San Martin (T) away 0-1 in the 5th round.

Summary

This has been a great few months for us, first there was a title challenge as outsiders ending on an historical all-time best finish of 3rd in the Apertura. Then we started Clausura decently as well, no signs of last season's massive drop in form. The only disappointment was the cup where we crashed out at the first hurdle, domestic cups remain a very big flaw of my career so far.

... but the best bit is clearly the unexpected sudden qualification for the Libertadores, and then getting an easy group. I certainly want to make it to the knockouts, if we get there then our chances will heavily depend on who we get drawn against. Exciting times!

[berty1978]

That's an excellent achievement managing to get into the Copa Libertadores so soon, and it's looking good for making it through to the knockout rounds, good luck for the rest of the Clausura.

[cerud]

Group stages of the Copa Libertadores should be some nice prize money along with that.

[Animosama]

good luck

[noikeee]

That's an excellent achievement managing to get into the Copa Libertadores so soon, and it's looking good for making it through to the knockout rounds, good luck for the rest of the Clausura.

Thanks, I can tell you we've been doing well in the groups in the few matches I've played since that last update.

Group stages of the Copa Libertadores should be some nice prize money along with that.

I doubt that, I don't really think there's a lot of prize money in South America. I've not gone that far so wouldn't know for sure, but what I've seen until this point is not anywhere near comparable to UEFA competitions cash.

Think even if we do well I'll eventually need to sell players regularly to become sustainable, as the wages have been growing bigger and bigger.

good luck

Thank you.

[deltablue]

Hope you have a good Libertadores run.

[noikeee]

Hope you have a good Libertadores run.

Group stage has been p*ss easy, I think things will get a hell of a lot more serious next round already though. Realistically I think reaching the quarter finals would be good.

[noikeee]

Independiente Rivadavia - Youth intake 2021

Best player

Julián Vazquez (ST / AML)

... Leandro Gomez (ST) and Bruno Sandroni (ST / AML) could also be useful although I'm a little doubtful.

Woah there, think we got the jackpot this time, Vazquez looks like our brightest youth setup prospect since Insaurralde. I immediately told Netto to tutor him, hopefully they get along. I will also try to find time to give him some first team cameo appearances as soon as possible even at the age of 15, although it's difficult as long as we're seriously competing in both fronts (league and Libertadores).

[AK22]

Vazquez looks a great prospect, although he'll need to develop well if he's to make it as a target man. As he's only 15, I suppose there's plenty of time for that to happen.

Looking forward to seeing you in the knockout rounds of the Libertadores!

[B.W.G]

You definitely hit the jackpot with Vazquez coming through,possible future international with Argentina!Hopefully you can continue your good form into the latter stages of the season.

[cerud]

Wow, you got some great prospects coming through your youth system

[noikeee]

Vazquez looks a great prospect, although he'll need to develop well if he's to make it as a target man. As he's only 15, I suppose there's plenty of time for that to happen.

Looking forward to seeing you in the knockout rounds of the Libertadores!

I know it says "target man" on his recommended role, and I'm telling the big man Netto to tutor him, but I see Vazquez more as an advanced forward in the Insaurralde/Correa/Morales mould.

You definitely hit the jackpot with Vazquez coming through,possible future international with Argentina!Hopefully you can continue your good form into the latter stages of the season.

Not sure on future international, that's exactly what I said some 6 years ago when a kid called Eric Grönlund came through my Torns IF youth system. Looked like a brilliant prospect for right-back, but he's now 22 years old and transfer listed by a third tier side called Qviding...

What makes me wary on Vazquez is he's got a hell of a lot to improve to reach his potential. Hence there's loads of things that could go wrong to stall his progress. What he'll need particularly from a year or two from now, is regular first team football, and with my regular players several levels of skill above him I can't afford to play him...

Wow, you got some great prospects coming through your youth system

Yeah that's always been one of the best bits about my club, a strong youth system, this time we got a particularly good batch.

[noikeee]

Copa Libertadores Second Round 1st leg

Having just about topped our group proved important as we got to play a second placed team, hence missing a few pretty tough opponents. We got the Uruguayan River Plate instead, a beatable side.

First leg was away. In a scrappy match with loads of cards, we were comfortably the better side but couldn't turn that into many chances let alone goals. It frustratingly ended 0-0.

Encouraging performance for the 2nd leg, but I do wonder if we won't miss an away goal...

[noikeee]

March-April 2021

Fixtures

Newell's H 2-0: I rested some players, and it looked like we were gonna pay for it with a pretty bad performance, but Netto saved us with 2 corner goals (yet again!!).

(Libertadores) Universidad Católica A 2-1: this was probably the toughest fixture in the group, it got even harder as Netto got injured (2 weeks time out), but his substitute, youngster Alberto Zárate, had a great match scoring twice winning it for us.

Unión A 1-0: pretty uninspired day but finally on the 81st Palacios assisted Morales for the only goal and the 3 points.

(Libertadores) Tolima H 5-1: we conceded early and struggled to turn it, being down on morale, but then came back possessed after half-time and scored 5! Teenage midfielder Santiago Brunt Lewis had a fantastic match.

Vélez A 2-2: looked as if we had it with 2 first half goals - the 2nd an insane tight angle missile by Jorge Correa -, but in the final 10 minutes Vélez suddenly went for it and scored twice too.

Estudiantes (LP) H 1-0: it was 12-0 on shots attempted(!) but despite that we had to wait 87 minutes for the ball to go in, as our finishing was going wayward.

(Libertadores) Tolima A 2-1: I took a gamble resting players ahead of the Boca match, it just about worked in a chaotic match with loads of chances either way. Morales scored a brilliant dazzling solo goal, and we clinched qualification out of the group.

Boca H 0-0: we faced Boca at a time they had just lost their world class striker Victor Benvenuto to a cruciate ligaments injury. It worked in our favour as we dominated the match to my shock, even more so after Boca had a guy sent off. Unfortunately we missed heaps of chances and it ended 0-0. We also lost midfielder Diego Silvero to an equally serious injury, broken leg: 6 months out! (and Santiago Brunt Lewis for 3 weeks too).

Arsenal de Sarandí A 3-0: easy win over weak opposition, Netto got an hat-trick, the 2nd of his goals was funny as it came after Palacios dispossessed the keeper.

(Libertadores) Universidad Católica H 0-2: not a good day, it made sense to rotate players as we were qualified but it didn't work on our favour. We were by far the better side yet Católica went up there twice and scored both times - putting us in risk of losing 1st place in the group to them.

Godoy Cruz H 0-2: we have an absolutely awful record vs our rivals with 5 defeats out of 5 recorded matches over the last decade, I thought this time we'd break that as we're now stronger than they are, well no, make that 6 out of 6. Tight game but as always, things went their way. We got a record attendance of over 19000 though.

(Libertadores) Deportivo Táchira A 3-1: surprisingly easy win in Venezuela, just about enough to get 1st place in the group back on most goals scored. Centre-back Mauricio Rodriguez scored his 1st Rivadavia goal.

Independiente A 1-1: this started pretty well with an early goal, but my tired squad let them gradually back into the game and they equalized.

(Libertadores) River Plate (URU) A 0-0: we got to play a fairly easy opponents in the shape of the Uruguayan River Plate thanks to winning the group. It was a scrappy match with loads of cards, we were comfortably the better side but couldn't turn that into many chances let alone goals. It frustratingly ended 0-0.

Player on focus

Marcelo Contreras (DC) - the very heavy fixture list has made it hard for any player to shine in particular as I'm rotating all the time and when I'm not the players are tired, but during these two months Marcelo has been particularly consistent, almost always getting ratings above 7.0.

Competitions

Primera División - Torneo Clausura:

Copa Libertadores:

Now tied 0-0 with River Plate (URU) heading into the 2nd leg of the 2nd round.

Copa Argentina: beaten by San Martin (T) away 0-1 in the 5th round.

Summary

It's been a pretty decent showing on both fronts, league and Libertadores, albeit it's getting difficult to manage the bloated calendar and I can't really work out which competition to favour. Boca's running away with another title even without their star striker, but despite our low 8th place there's absolutely nothing in the fight for 2nd between us and some other 7 teams. I am however very annoyed we lost yet again to our rivals Godoy Cruz, it's my 4th defeat in 4 matches now.

And it's looking good for making it at least to the quarters of the Libertadores - beyond that will be difficult with the likes of Boca, Lanús, Corinthians, Neymar's Santos and Lucas Moura's São Paulo all in the competition. How far can we go?

[noikeee]

New contract

No major news as I often do things the Guardiola way, yearly contracts, but I am committing to just one more season beyond this, then after that I don't know. I am a little torn - would quite like to watch this young team grow together for a period of time, and haven't yet won any trophies here, but have already achieved what I set out to do with Rivadavia which was get into a title fight and have a run in the continental competitions. Just one more year seems like a good compromise... but I have no idea whether I'll stick to that plan.

[B.W.G]

Good luck in the Copa Libertadores quarter finals.Good to see you sign a new contract,hopefully with the experience gained from this season,you will be able to push more next season.

[noikeee]

Good luck in the Copa Libertadores quarter finals.Good to see you sign a new contract,hopefully with the experience gained from this season,you will be able to push more next season.

My theory is that with such a young squad, I should need very few signings, the squad should get stronger and stronger year by year. Although I do have two very good players signed up for next year already.

[noikeee]

Copa Libertadores Second Round 2nd leg

This was easy enough - led by an inspired Jorge Correa, who standed in for the injured Morales upfront, we dominated and killed the game with 2 of his goals in the first half. River were never in the game at all. Thankfully Palacios' injury didn't prove serious, and he will only stop for a week.

The quarter-finals draw sees us paired with Mexico's Pumas. Whilst they are probably a better team than us, it could've been far worse given the names of the other teams still in the competition. Cruzeiro just knocked out reigning champions Boca with a 4-1 victory in the 2nd leg.

[noikeee]

Copa Libertadores Quarter-final 1st leg

We were not on great morale coming into this after having just been beaten 4-0 by Lanús in the weekend league fixture, but started the game in promising fashion. However Pumas got a headed goal late in the first half, and things just got worse and worse from there - presumably due to low morale, and our ever tiring short squad strained by our pressing football and the huge amount of fixtures. I called upon a half-fit Sergio Palacios from the bench but there was nothing he could do as Pumas hit the bar twice then got a second goal.

It's going to take a miracle in Mexico to turn this around, and at the moment the team seems completely incapable of pulling off such a feat. It's partially my fault as my tactics demand pressing football every minute of every match, but we've done well to reach this stage - now let's watch out not to blow the league as well...

[noikeee]

Copa Libertadores Quarter-final 2nd leg

Hope was at an all-time low on our trip to Mexico, on the back of 3 consecutive defeats and having a 2 goal disadvantage. When the game started however, something strange was happening: our team was oddly positive. Pumas were playing too open and leaving us loads of space for our midfielders to operate in and the through balls started being played, chances started to be created. Paulo Fernández slipped one of the through-balls for Morales to make it 1-0 in our favour, and later on, already in the second half, Brunt Lewis who had come in to replace Fernández after he picked a knock, made it 2-0, also having been fed a through-ball. All even in the tie!

We had another few good chances, and credit to Pumas they also hit the bar once, but the ball didn't want to go in and it went straight to penalties. Pumas missed their first and we had an advantage all the way through to the final penalty but MOM Morales was a bit too cocky and missed! The tension went through the roof as the penalties continued and nobody else wanted to miss, until their centre-back Oscar Recio finally did so, and it was all over. We had pulled off the miracle!!

It's an all-Argentine semi-final as we face Lanús... who just beat us 4-0 two weeks ago. There will also be a crazy fixture congestion of all final 4 league matches being played in the week prior to that, which will completely kill our legs but Lanus have the exact same problem. Whatever happens I am thrilled to have made it so far!

[AK22]

What a turnaround! A classic continental away performance

[deltablue]

Great work just sneaking it against Pumas.

[cerud]

I've played Mexican clubs when I was in the MLS for the CONCACAF CL. Usually the same result; they have some quality clubs.

[B.W.G]

Well done on reaching the semi-final in the Copa Libertadores,hopefully that victory will help you over your mini blip.

[Animosama]

Well done what a win

[noikeee]

What a turnaround! A classic continental away performance

Great work just sneaking it against Pumas.

I've played Mexican clubs when I was in the MLS for the CONCACAF CL. Usually the same result; they have some quality clubs.

Well done what a win

Well done on reaching the semi-final in the Copa Libertadores,hopefully that victory will help you over your mini blip.

Cheers, I was quite pleased with that win, it's been a very long time since I had any epic continental ties like that. Unfortunately it's not giving a morale boost for the league, instead it's the opposite effect as the team looks tired in the Primera División and we've dropped further down to a rather pathetic 13th - albeit with games in hand. I'm not happy with that but the Libertadores run is more than worth it.

[noikeee]

I told you all this kid was good

Julián Vazquez was the big highlight from our latest youth intake, but even then I never expected to make such a quick impact - I thrown him in for the last 2 league fixtures due to massive squad exhaustion, so he went on to score the winner in the final league match!!

Also,

1 year ago I was fuming when we just missed out on this competition. This time I'm not sure I want it - yet more fixtures? It's pretty crazy as it is. So we may do what Boca did last year and play in both continental cups: Sudamericana runs during the Apertura months (August to December), Libertadores during the Clausura months (January to June). Remains to be seen whether we'll qualify for the Libertadores again, of course.

We finished 7th in the Apertura, 4th in the aggregate table (hence Sudamericana qualification), now our attention turns to the Libertadores semi-final vs Lanús.

[noikeee]

Copa Libertadores Semi-final 1st leg

Woof! What a win! We entered the match with a massive scare as Richard Alcaraz was robbed of the ball within the area, but Bastianini saved and we happily reduced the game to a very boring affair for the remainder of its entirety. We got a morale boost at half-time after I told the lads they were doing just fine, and shortly after a Paul Ramos cross was met by Palacios who hit the post - rebound fell to Morales who was at the right place to tap it in.

Later on goalscorer Morales got shown a 2nd yellow card but we didn't lose anything but his presence for the 2nd leg, as Lanús created no danger. I am surprised, we're never anywhere near this good vs Lanús in the league, as I've mentioned several times earlier they are a mighty side built on top of tycoon money. Are we destined to appear in a Libertadores final already?

[noikeee]

Copa Libertadores Semi-final 2nd leg

I'm afraid we ran out of luck. Playing in front of our own fans we started the game positively, pushing Lanús. But a quick combination sliced through our defence for Lanús' goal as soon as 22 minutes into the game, even if we called for offside. Just 4 minutes later they scored again in a corner, just their second chance. We were now forced to go for 2 goals.

We tried our best and looked perhaps the slightly better side for most of the 2nd half, but the goal never come, and the bigger, richer club won the tie with a hint of efficient, clinical execution. I am of course disappointed to be knocked out after the advantage of the 1st leg, but am very much proud of this very young group of lads who beat all expectations to come so close to a continental final, on the club's first ever continental trophy participation. They will be stronger next year, too.

[noikeee]

May-June 2021

Fixtures

Rosario Central H 0-0: our 2nd consecutive 0-0 comes thanks to a dismal home performance where we completely failed to create anything - but so did our opponents, in a dreadful match.

(Libertadores) River Plate (URU) H 2-0: pretty easy, dominant win with 2 early goals by Jorge Correa, we qualify to meet Mexican side Pumas in the quarters.

Lanús A 0-4: oh dear, this was always going to be one of the toughest fixtures of the season but this was far too bad. The result was hugely exaggerated by their brilliant finishing, as this was actually quite even, but still a very hard result to take.

(Libertadores) Pumas H 0-2: we started well but as soon as Pumas got a goal the team imploded and let them dominate the match, got lucky only to lose by 2 as they hit he bar twice as well. The tie was pretty much lost at this stage.

Argentinos H 0-1: you'd think a winnable home match would end the run of the defeats, instead we conceded an early goal and despite a decent response to that, never managed to equalize.

(Libertadores) Pumas A 2-0 (7-6 pens): totally insane match as against the odds we dominated, had loads of chances, scored twice and took the tie to penalties. After 8 penalties aside, we got the unlikely qualification for the semi-finals to face domestic rivals Lanús.

All Boys H 2-2: odd match, we took the lead twice and looked set for a nice quiet home win both times, but let them equalize twice. Yet another frustrating result in the league.

Tigre A 7-0: results don't come any more out of the blue than this - we were meant to be tired, yet scored a massive 5 in the first half and 2 more past the break. Insane! Also, Netto ended a long goal drought.

Colón A 0-1: we just held on to a 0-0 for 90 minutes, only for Colón to be given 2 penalties in injury time. Bastianini saved the first but not the second. 15yo academy striker Julian Vazquez was given his first Rivadavia start.

San Martín (T) A 1-0: almost as miraculous as the Libertadores turnaround in Mexico. Our absolutely exhausted side of backups faced a fully fit team away from home, yet managed not to concede, plus the 15yo kid Vazquez got a late winner after coming in as a sub!!!

(Libertadores) Lanús A 1-0: brilliant away win as we reduced Lanús threat to very little, and Morales nicked a goal before being sent off - advantage Rivadavia in the tie.

(Libertadores) Lanús H 0-2: massively disappointing way to lose a place in the final as Lanús struck twice during the first half in a tight match, turning the tie around. We did fine to match them in footbal played but the result went their way.

Player on focus

Paul Ramos (DR) - Bar a poor performance in the 4-0 defeat to Lanús in the league, our experienced full-back was probably the most consistent player in this disjointed, exhausting season finale with a couple great matches. I particularly enjoyed a glorious showing by him in the 7-0 dismantling of Tigre - although to be fair, in that freakish day everyone shone.

Competitions

Primera División - Torneo Clausura:

Joint league season (Apertura + Clausura) table

Copa Libertadores: knocked out by Lanús 1-2 on aggregate in the semi-final.

Copa Argentina: beaten by San Martin (T) away 0-1 in the 5th round.

Summary

An extremely busy season end saw us nearly completely blow the league apart, to focus on an unlikely Libertadores charge. We did somehow recover to 7th thanks to 2 wins and 1 draw in that insane final 4-match week, but even if we'd blown it, it'd have been worth it. This Libertadores campaign will certainly stay in the memories of Independiente Rivadavia fans for a long time - the board weren't even expecting for us to overcome the group stage in our first Libertadores participation ever, yet we came so close to a final.

I may entertain thoughts of leaving back to Europe in the none-too-distant future, but at the moment am enjoying my time in Argentina a lot and have started to plan the 2021/2022 season with the club.