Riquelme’s harsh rebuke to Boca players after the fight between Benedetto and Zambrano

The Avellaneda classic between Racing and Boca left everything but the goal. A once again harmless stance by Hugo Ibarra’s team in the first half, clear scoring chances in the last quarter of an hour, a scandalous penalty that Fernando Rapallini did not want to cash in at the end (despite the VAR calling him to review) but everyone was left with the intimacy of what happened at the interval between Carlos Zambrano, Darío Benedetto and the rest of his teammates. A complaint in the middle of the initial field for the performance of a first half in which Racing deserved to beata reproach from the Peruvian defender for the constant criticism of his partner e a reaction with an inclusive blow that was evident on the defender’s faceor. And then what?

The incident that Ibarra tried to downplay From the speech (“I don’t know what happened but there was a discussion between Benedetto and Zambrano as happens in all the locker rooms”, he blanched) he had a closing point in the locker room. There Benedetto apologized to his teammates and the Peruvian marked that at that moment it was all over. That’s why the TD decided to put them in the second half, and then make a decision.

Can there be an economic and sporting sanction? It is being evaluated, so that a precedent is not set for what is to come. In addition to the pocket pain is being evaluated that are not part of the match against Rosario Centrale or Defense and Justicesimilar to what Sebastián Battaglia had determined with Marcos Rojo and Benedetto in the match against Ferro for the Argentine Cup.

The attacker is a separate matter. Because since he returned to society at the beginning of the year he seemed to proclaim himself a leader and a captain who holds that position from a place that he does not seem to feel or that does not find legitimacy in the rest of his teammates. During the tour of the year, Pipa made a harsh statement against Agustín Almendra for the behavior of the young people. But he also crossed paths with Agustín Sández in the match against Unión at the Bombonera and Gabriel Aranda this week, in the intimacy of Boca Predio. Annoying, as if that match against Corinthians on penalties had been blocked. Not even externalizing the subject in the microphones helped him behind closed doors, inside a campus that questioned him about whether he had whitewashed the locker room problem for something cheap and saying that he threatened not to concentrate. Benedetto seems to need to refocus on the pitch and not overreact at the helm of the squad. It is that even with another coach (the relationship with Battaglia was not the best) he also had aggressive episodes with teammates and rivals. past revolutions.

Why did Benedict point out his anger towards Zambrano? In addition to making a harangue in the middle of the field, he questioned the attention of the center scorers. In the Racing tunnel he was criticized by several that always “send everyone to the front” when even their level is not the best. But the fight ran out of more chapters in Avellaneda. Night followed in the concentration hotel.

The club vice president arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel. And with a talk that Ibarra started, he asked for an explanation of what happened. Both Benedetto and Zambrano they told the episode but also they made it clear that the fact was left there. They also attributed it to a football problem and to the first half, although they admitted they were wrong.

But the voice of Juan Román Riquelme pointed against the attitude of the team. It wasn’t a long talk but it was direct. And no more motivational than the other times in search of a reaction. Now the players have been exposed to a situation that also translates into defeats slow motion with San Lorenzo, Argentinos Jrs. and Board of Trustees.

Of the phrases such as series scripts from any platform that were commented on, only one was relevant. “They have to take charge of what they have to do, which is playing football on weekends”. That message was also for the rest of the actors, but using Benedetto and Zambrano as a trigger. It is that from that episode of almost no concentration there were fractions. There were many (the majority) who did not want to accompany that measure that Izquierdoz and Benedetto promoted in order not to concentrate. And this eroded behind closed doors, when the striker also chose to say that the crux of the problem was money, something that got sick with the fans in general.

The idea of ​​Boca is that if there is a penalty it is only for this week. And understand that it is not just about playing football; They must also begin to measure themselves in what they do on their social networks and in their behavior behind the scenes. Just as it was once established that Agustín Almendra had a sanction for breaking the rules with the coach, this time the fight situation between teammates should not be overlooked (clarified by the actors themselves behind closed doors). Not even the attitude of a team that seems to need the Boca crowd to feel they have to put another kind of intensity into the games they face. Football as a focus to be recovered, beyond the external media spectacle.