Although Sunday has one of the most important games for the fan, Estudiantes closed last night a vertiginous month full of challenges overcome. After 1-0 against Everton in La Plata, they qualified for the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, secured 3 million dollars for playing it and closed an almost perfect cycle. Now, he does not have much time to think and plan, but he will do it with the peace of mind of having achieved the first of the objectives set at the beginning of the year.
El Pincha left no doubts in the series against those from Viña del Mar. Although in the previous one there was some uncertainty about how the team was going to solve the absence of key players and the wear and tear on their backs, in the overall series it proved to be more, much more than a rival who had a giant left to play this instance of the continental competition par excellence. Students were classified, without shining it is true, but nobody can argue with it. It is already among the best 32 teams in South America waiting for the start of the main show.
Students did not have a good time in the first half. He was fortunate that his rival was very timorous and did not go beyond the insinuation. But he was nervous, hesitant and with serious problems moving the ball.
The previous speculations came true. He didn’t have a brain in the middle of the court, because at the moment of recovery, whether it was in the back or in the middle, he didn’t know what to do with the ball. He systematically sought out Alan Marinelli and Matías Pellegrini with frontal balls, who could never receive the ball, hold on and play it. Either the central defenders recovered it or it bounced off them. Zielinski’s team was a host of impressions, which once again suffered from the weak present of Gustavo Del Prete, fighting with the ball and very far from the version that he knew how to show last semester.
On the other side, Everton tried with Juan Cuevas, their most thoughtful player. But he never got the final pass or hit the end of a play. Only with a free kick in the 16th minute, which Mariano Andújar contained, he put a defense in trouble that despite its errors did not go unnoticed. It was him, with possession of balls and balls for the big man Di Yorio, the arguments he showed in La Plata despite his need to turn around a series that had him adverse after his defeat in Viña del Mar.
ANALYSIS OF MARTÍN CABRERA AND FERNANDO ALEGRE FROM THE HIRSCHI
THIS IS HOW THE PRELIMINARY WAS LIVED IN 1 AND 57
And when things got worse, or rather when the murmurs could be louder, came the tremendous play by Uruguayan Agustín Rogel, who anticipated in midfield, recovered again at the door of the area and went hand in hand with Fernando De Paul as if was the “10” of his team. Then he stepped on the area and broke the rival’s goal, to make the fans explode and provide a dose of tranquility, almost essential due to the moment that Pincha was going through. The 1-0 did not define anything, but at least it gave the players a share of serenity at that point, as necessary as the pump for the ball.
Meneghini’s changes were expected for the second half. The reaction of the team that had handled the ball correctly and needed two goals to qualify was expected. None of that was seen. In the second 45 minutes the Pincha was wearing him down with skill and great seriousness. He slowly told his rival that all roads were closed. And so it was, Everton ended up giving up.
The 1-0 could have been broader, but of course, Leandro Díaz and Mauro Boselli were not at the venue, two of their most unbalanced players from midfield forward. And then that was missing to be able to successfully close one of the many times that Corcho Rodríguez and Zuqui broke down the middle, or Leo Godoy and Emmanuel Mas on the wings.
Perhaps that was the only debt of the team, which was passing the minutes of the match clock calmly and with great wisdom. Because as the rival’s time ran out, confidence increased like those crazy days of the blue dollar in the City of Buenos Aires.
El Pincha knew how to reinvent himself with Alan Marinelli (a little better than in his other games) and Matías Pellegrini. He maintained that tune with Brian Orosco, Franco Zapiola and Aaròn Spetale afterwards. With those players on the court, none of whom started a month ago, he became the owner of the game and the series, to once again be the protagonist of the main table of the Libertadores.
Surely it will not reach him with this level and with the little replacement to go very far. It’s a posibility. But in that Cup nobody knows what surprise is just around the corner. Today Estudiantes celebrates its passage to the main phase, it is not a small prize considering from where it started the race. As of April 5, the story will be different, while the insatiable fans have already asked for one more effort, to win the classic on Sunday.