Newell’s gave Racing another blow and left him injured in the preview of the Avellaneda classic

You look at the neighbor’s sidewalk. It is inevitable on the eve of the classic. Also for the institutional drama that Independiente is going through. The fans, therefore, start the evening with smiles, pure joy. However, they end up with a fight, some booing and the downloading of an unequivocal message, always focused on Alsina and Bochini. “Sunday whatever it takes, Sunday we have to win”the grandstands roar.

And perhaps this was the main sin of Racing, play against Newell’s with his head in Derby of Avellaneda. Nothing came out. He had no game and depended purely and exclusively on the inspiration of Matías Rojas. Of course, you can’t always count on the Paraguayan’s punch, who made five free throws, two stopped by Lucas Hoyos. Fernando Gago changes too much from one game to the next and there are already two defeats in a row, just before a hot duel.

Newell’s was increasingly clear. Gabriel Heinze introduced eight different players to the tasteless squad that drew against Rosario Central. And also, he changed the pattern. He was intelligent, he had sacrifices, variations in attack and ended up solving it with a set piece that Víctor Velázquez exploited with a popcorn past Juan Nardoni.

Why did Gago choose to change the layout and distribute his players in unusual positions? The 4-3-3 has changed to 4-2-3-1 with Paolo Guerrero as a reference, but Nicolás Reniero floats behind the Peruvian. Facundo Mura was the left-back, a position he already occupied, but his specialty is on the right. And double five didn’t work.

Basically, because Jonathan Gómez and Nardoni, two inmates, felt uncomfortable. Newell’s pressured them when necessary, with Juan Sforza as their standard-bearer, but had much more influence down the wing, especially on the left, where the fast, powerful and demanding Marcos Portillo put Iván Pillud under pressure.

By doing so he harmed Newell’s, more directly. Racing, on the other hand, had no game volume. And everything he could offer was given, as almost always, starting with Rojas. With a few changes in front, starting from the right, he surprised. However, neither Mura nor Gabriel Hauche have given up. The crosses for Guerrero end in stalemate. He also didn’t make any free throws. And in the second half he was saved from expulsion, a bad assessment by Fernando Espinoza, the controversial referee, fighting with Guillermo Ortiz. The VAR avoided the role.

Reniero wasn’t up to it. He struggled, but controlled the balls badly, was inaccurate in passing and ended up on the left, not gravitating. In this context, Newell’s has produced the clearest situations. Aboard a 5-3-2 in which Armando Méndez deepened on the right, he trampled the area much more than Gabriel Arias. And Portillo, the best player of the first set, will regret not having raised his head when he went hand in hand with the blue-and-white goalkeeper. Jeremías Pérez Tica’s through ball was notable; Also Neuquén’s answer.

With no play or contention, they deserved the substitutions for the second half. But he rotated positions at first. Reniero passes to the left and Hauche is kind of a hitch. Only after twenty minutes he introduced Maxi Moralez, but he never managed to connect. Even Maxi Romero didn’t worry. And already desperate, he made two changes in extra time!

Newell’s, with the lead, remained in the order and late crosses eased the work of the centre-backs. It had been a decade since he couldn’t with Racing in the Cylinder. THE Academy He arrives at the classic injured, pressed by his fans and, despite two defeats behind him, with the sign of the favorite.