Marcelo Escudero takes the reins as interim boss at River | OneFootball

After the victory against Banfield and the farewell to "El Muñeco," the team will reunite this Friday under Escudero’s command, with their sights set on the visit to Independiente Rivadavia of Mendoza. Meanwhile, the management will try to finalize Coudet’s arrival as soon as possible.

The day has come at River: Marcelo Gallardo is officially no longer the coach. After a night that was a cocktail of emotions and left fans with a bittersweet feeling—90 minutes of victory against Banfield filled with ovations for the coach and whistles for the players—now the Millonario will look to reinvent itself. Starting this very Friday, with Marcelo Escudero as interim coach, the squad will gather at the Ezeiza training grounds, now without "El Muñeco" and focused on Independiente Rivadavia of Mendoza.

Time to reshuffle and start over. In Núñez, they know these are critical times, and the departure of the most successful coach in their history has left a heavy burden on the players’ shoulders, as was made clear on a night when the Monumental spoke. In this sense, there’s no time for regrets, and with "Pichi" temporarily in charge until the management secures Eduardo Coudet’s arrival, they will return to training in the afternoon session.

River is trying to be cautious and still hasn’t even confirmed any contact with "Chacho." He himself held a press conference before the match against Levante and swore on his four children that he hadn’t received any calls. However, the information is that the agreement is complete and only a few details remain before he travels to Argentina.

Now, the only obstacle left is Coudet’s contract with Deportivo Alavés, which runs until June of this year and does not have a release clause. After the initial talks, it became clear that his departure shouldn’t pose a major problem, and there’s even speculation that he could coach his team this Friday against Levante.

In the meantime, starting at 6 PM and with no injured players from the 3-1 win over "El Taladro"—an important detail ahead of Monday’s 9:30 PM visit to Mendoza—River will begin its journey without Gallardo, and precisely under Escudero, who returned to the club in 2020 at "El Muñeco’s" express request, after having been in charge of the Fifth Division and later the Fourth. Since 2022, he has managed the Reserve team and knows many of the young players who are now part of the professional squad very well.

"Pichi," who will now take charge of the First Team, already served as interim coach on August 4, 2024, when Martín Demichelis left, in a 0-0 draw against Unión in Santa Fe for the ninth round of the Professional League. In that match, the coach’s influence was clear, as he called up several youngsters like Daniel Zabala, Agustín Ruberto, and Ian Subiabre, and also gave Santiago Lencina his professional debut.

Escudero, a man of the house at River

The 51-year-old coach knows what the River world is and what it feels like to defend the red sash, having played between 1996 and 2002. During that time, the former midfielder won eight titles—six domestic and two international—including the 1996 Copa Libertadores, where he was key in the final against América de Cali by assisting Hernán Crespo to seal the 2-0 result (after a 1-0 loss in Colombia).

Additionally, in the Reserve, he managed 88 matches, winning 49, drawing 18, losing 21, and winning titles with the Millonario in the 2024 Copa Proyección and the Trofeo de Campeones, where he defeated Vélez on penalties with the help of some players now in the first team, such as Cristian Jaime, Joaquín Freitas, Giorgio Costantini, Facundo González, Agustín Obregón, or Juan Cruz Meza.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.