A little more than 24 hours from Superclassic between Boca y River, Marcelo Gallardo presented the list of footballers called up for this Saturday’s match at the candy box.
The crossing Professional League It occurs at an uncomfortable moment for Muñeco, in the middle of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinal series against Colo-Colo, which will be resolved next Tuesday at the Monumental stadium.
River had to suffer to rescue a draw against the Trans-Andeans and the coach will have to manage efforts for the revenge. Therefore, beyond the fact that several headlines appear in the call, it is estimated that many will go to The Mouth but they will start as substitutes.
Of course, the one that has already been discarded is Maximiliano Mezawhich started from the beginning against Colo-Colo but ended up damaged as a result of the frictional and intense game that both teams ended up proposing. The former Independiente will not be able to make his debut in a Superclásico and will be preserved for the duel against Jorge Almirón’s team.
In addition to Meza, the group of Núñez He will also not have Ramiro Funes Mori and the youth Daniel Zabala, both injured, in addition to Gonzalo “Pita” Martínezwho is in the final phase of recovery after suffering a rupture of the cruciate ligaments in his left leg in January of this year.
The history of the Superclásicos on Saturday, with history for one and the last of Maradona
This Saturday will be the official edition number 263 of the Superclásico, with only eleven antecedents that were played on a Saturday. The first, a strange tiebreaker from a first round two years earlier, a match that at the time was not counted in the statistics until the journalist Enrique De Donatis, a Clarín collaborator at the time, made it known in the 90s. The last one, three years ago, also in an atypical official match held on January 2.
Historically, the full date was played on Sundays. The changes of days were due to exceptional events. A superclásico, by tradition, was played on Sunday, much more so if the competition was the traditional Primera tournament. Thus, after the tiebreaker of 1939just in 1952 There was another classic on a Saturday.
It was November 8, on the 25th. date of the First Division tournament. It was played at the Monumental and River won 3-1 (goals from Félix Loustau, Walter Gómez (2) and José Borello), who was the leader of the tournament and a few dates later was crowned champion. The full day was played on Saturday while the Primera B matches were played on Sunday.
Six years later, another game played on a Saturday, December 20, 1958 for the penultimate date of the Primera tournament. The stage was the Huracán field, because Boca had theirs suspended, and It was a two-goal tie. (Pedro Mansilla and Juan José Rodríguez for Boca, Julio Nuín and Norberto Menéndez for River). The two occupied the top positions, but Racing had already been crowned champion the previous date. Then Boca equaled second place with San Lorenzo, they played two tiebreaker games to settle the position, which was resolved in favor of Xeneize.
The Metropolitan of 1967 It was played in two zones, Boca was in one, River in another, and the classic rivals faced each other in the famous interzonals. The Primera date was changed from July 9, a holiday, to Saturday the 8th, although the Primera B date was played on Sunday. The stage was the Monumental and River won 1 to 0 with a goal from Daniel Bayo. Three years later, another Saturday superclassic, on November 14, 1970, in the Bombonera, a 0 to 0.
18 years passed until they played again on a Saturday, April 30, 1988on the 34th. date of the First Division Tournament. The reason? Simple, May 1st was Labor Day and football joined in the celebration. It was played in the Bombonera and they finished 2 to 2. Antonio Alzamendi put the visitors ahead, the local team equalized with two goals from Alfredo Graciani and Oscar Ruggeri tied. River remained undefeated after 6 Saturday classics.
The Centennial Cup was played in 1993 to celebrate the centenary of the AFA. In the first phase all the classics were played. But while the competition began with most of its matches on June 25, Boca and River played the first leg on Saturday, July 3, as Millo was playing a friendly international tournament in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. This afternoon, in La Bombonera, they tied 0 to 0. The next day, the return matches were played, while a week Then the revenge was won by River 1-0 with a goal from Cuqui Walter Silvani.
on saturday April 30, 1994 It was a sad day for Argentine football. Because the superclásico ended in the worst way, with two River fans (Walter Vallejos and Angel Delgado) murdered in an ambush by Boca fans, near the Bombonera. The match had ended a while earlier with a victory for the team led by Daniel Passarella at the time. 2 to 0, with goals from Ariel Ortega and Hernán Crespo.
After 8 Saturday classics, with four draws and four wins for RiverBoca managed to celebrate for the first time on October 25, 1997another date well remembered by all soccer fans, because it was the last official match of Diego Armando Maradona. The match was played at the Monumental, River won 1-0 with a goal from Sergio Berti, the 10th came out at halftime, the official scoresheet says that Nelson Vivas entered in his place, although the position on the field was occupied by a young Juan Roman Riquelme (the entry was that of Claudio Caniggia). Boca turned it around and won 2 to 1. After the end, number 10 went onto the field, celebrated with the players and left one of his Maradonian phrases: “Boca played like Boca and River played like River. They had a great first half but in the second their pants fell off…”.
One wheel later, the second classic of the 1997/98 season It was also played on a Saturday and Boca won again, with Bambino Héctor Veira as coach. It was April 11, 1998 in La Bombonera and the local won 3 to 2with goals from Claudio Caniggia, Martín Palermo and Rodolfo Arruabarrena (Santiago Solari and José Marcelo Salas from River).
The last superclásico played on a Saturday was in the middle of the pandemic, with a tournament in Cup format that was finally called Diego Maradona, after the death of the idol on November 25, 2020. They played for the fourth date of the championship phase in La Bombonera, on January 2, 2021 and they tied 2 to 2 (Ramón Abila, Sebastián Villa, Federico Girotti and Rafael Borré).
In the balance of the 11 games, River won 4, tied 5 and Boca won 2. Six were played in the Bombonera (one win for each), three in the Monumental (2 local victories and one visitor), one in the Gasómetro and another in Huracán. Now, a dozen Saturday Superclásicos are completed.