River and Racing at loggerheads again: this time in the Copa Argentina | OneFootball

The return of the Closure Tournament after the last double date of South American Qualifiers brings with it a new chapter in the relationship between River and Racing. Awaiting what will be the definition of the quarterfinals of the Libertadores Cup, the two clubs must resolve their cross for the Argentina Cup, but the calendar opened an unexpected front of conflict.

The first focus of discussion is the date. From Avellaneda, Gustavo Costas made clear the academic stance of wanting to play on October 8. The "Millionaire", on the other hand, intends to advance it to October 1 or 2, a week earlier.

The difference is not minor: River will have ahead the duel with Deportivo Riestra after the Libertadores, while Racing will face nothing less than the classic against Independiente. For the Racing coaching staff, accumulating high-voltage matches with so little rest would be an unnecessary risk.

The side of Núñez exposes another difficulty. Marcelo Gallardo knows that, by mid-October, the FIFA date could leave him without several fundamental pieces: Franco Armani, Marcos Acuña and Gonzalo Montiel with the Argentina National Team; Paulo Díaz with Chile; Juanfer Quintero and Kevin Castaño with Colombia; and Matías Galarza Fonda with Paraguay. That's why he insists on advancing the commitment so as not to be left without figures.

The other question is the venue. Although the Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba sounded like the first alternative, the Giant of Arroyito, in Rosario, is a strong contender as a possible scenario for this new classic between River and Racing.

Maxi Salas referred to the classic with Racing after his controversial exit from the club: "It's just another match"

River Plate and Racing Club will face each other in the quarterfinals of the Argentina Cup and, in addition to being a classic, it will have the added factor that Maximiliano Salas will face his former teammates after his turbulent exit from the Avellaneda entity.

Although the morbidity is installed awaiting this encounter, the forward of the "Millionaire" himself tried to cool down the clash and admitted that his relationship with the rival players is very good.

"With Racing it's going to be just another match, I'm happy to see my former teammates again. I haven't lost contact with any of them, I still talk to almost all of them," he said.

Later, he avoided getting into controversies, focused solely on the football aspect and highlighted that "it's going to be a nice match" because he believes that "both they and we have a good team".

On the other hand, Salas focused on Marcos Rojo and ruled out that Gustavo Costas would give him instructions to go hard against him: "There's a lot of talk that Marcos Rojo is going to hurt me, but I'm calm, I know he's a respectful player".

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