Concern in River for arbitration, in front of the Superclásico: “We are hot”

Al River would never have celebrated a win for Boca, but the victory of Hugo Ibarra’s team over Atlético Tucumán has given Núñez’s side the peace of mind that they are still in contention to fight for the championship. But also Fernando Espinoza’s task once again put Marcelo Gallardo and company on alert for arbitration.

The referees theme is already a classic in every preview of a Superclásico. And what will arrive on 11 September at the Bombonera will no longer be one because the fight for the title is at stake. And this Whoever wins will surely fight to the end and the other will come out of the ring. And in the event of a tie, both would be relegated. The Superclásico is already underway.

For some time Gallardo has been asking for the guard to rise again. He did so publicly by exposing the bad arbitrations that exist in general in Argentine football and behind closed doors he spoke several times with the management, who, like the coach, are not only worried but also angry at what is observed every weekend. “We are hot and worried at the same timeA tall River leader broadly stated.

River’s anger at arbitration is not just about punctual failures or the fact that he has played 18 games without penalty. Also with what, as Clarín could discover, internally they see a “favoritism” towards Boca. And even if they believe that the Superclásico referee does not come from Facundo Tello or Fernando Rapallini, they also think there may be surprises. And they will be attentive to assistants and VAR managers. “There are more and more people to lead, but fewer solutions and more problemsCommented another prominent figure within the River facility.

In reference to the participants, there is the memory of the Julio Fernández line, who did not see the lack of Carlos Tevez in Jonatan Maidana in the 1-1 of the Superclásico in which River played with a team patched by Covid cases. And not to mention Gabriel Chade, the one who raised the flag to cancel a goal by Rafael Borré, enabled to more than a meter, on the pitch of Atlético Tucumán when Gallardo’s team equalized and Boca remained in Superliga 2019 / 2020 after beating Gimnasia 1-0 at the Bombonera.

However, with VAR, these kinds of decisions should be overruled. But with a forward position you have to see how the lines are drawn, which was done very badly and without criteria. Indeed, River suffered it in the defeat to Colón in Santa Fe at the start of the tournament when Wanchope Ábila scored an offside goal, but controversial VAR plots authorized that.

On the other hand there is also anger. These are the continuous complaints of Gallardo to the referees and the insult to Nicolás Lamolina in the match against Godoy Cruz also generated a confrontation between the Doll and the men in black. To such an extent that an arbitration source acknowledged to Clarín that those in charge of directing the matches are angry with the River manager.

“There are specific things that surprise me. Today there are cameras, the referees have the opportunity to observe 48 thousand repetitions and they have to make far fewer mistakes. Much less. Today they have the foundations and tools to do this. There are so many mistakes, I’m not just talking about ours “, Gallardo shot more than a month ago. He added:” The only thing I ask the referees, who have boasted about having been trained and are failing, is that they do less mistakes. failing, everyone suffered. And it’s still the human eye. “

But the referees keep making mistakes. And many times in an inexplicable way, as happened at the Bombonera with the clear penalty that Espinoza did not charge from Zambrano to Puch and that not even the VAR, charged to Jorge Baliño, noticed. Alone Balinowho was involved in the mess that arose on the field of All Boys when, with his sentences favored Barracas Central and damaged the patronage, which resulted in the incarceration of several Paraná club players. After that episode, River president Jorge Brito admitted that “as a person who loves football and this country, I felt sad about what happened.”

Before the Superclásico, River will face Defense and Justice for the Argentine Cup on Wednesday. And on Sunday he will receive Barracas Central, the club of the president of the AFA, with which he weighs the record of Andrés Merlos in the national cup. Despite the victory of Gallardo’s team, the referee’s performance left doubts. The coach himself underlined it: “Despite Merlos, we played a good game“.

In any case, River is also careful not to be exposed in that meeting. It is that in some River Plate garments the theory has crossed them that perhaps something will come in their favor against Barracas Central so that the focus has changed in the previous Superclásico. “We want them to charge what it is,” said another important leader of Núñez’s club.