Santiago Lencina, Coudet’s late surprise for River v Carabobo | OneFootball

River will face Carabobo tonight in the fourth round of the Copa Sudamericana, in what will be a key match in its bid to secure a spot in the round of 16 as soon as possible. During the week, it emerged that Eduardo Coudet would field a mix of starters and backups, mindful of Sunday’s clásico against San Lorenzo in the playoffs, but Chacho may have a last-minute surprise up his sleeve: Santiago Lencina in the starting lineup.

Everything pointed to Coudet’s attack being made up of Joaquín Freitas and Facundo Colidio, after both beat out Maximiliano Salas for a place, but the midfielder could take Colidio’s spot and play behind Freitas in the starting eleven.

The possibility of the left-footer being in the lineup came as a major surprise, since the player has not stepped onto the field since Coudet’s arrival and has played only 70 minutes this year across five matches, all under Marcelo Gallardo.

Lencina, who had been called for by part of the fanbase due to his strong form last season, has not started for the Millonario since November, in the scoreless draw against Vélez on the final matchday of the 2025 Torneo Clausura.

Overshadowed by the arrival of Kendry Paéz and the emergence of Ian Subiabre, the midfielder had not even been included in a good number of the coach’s squad lists. In fact, Chacho only called him up for six of the 11 matches he has managed. Now the Corzuela native will have the chance to show why he should be taken into account.

Since making his River first-team debut in August 2024, Lencina has played 27 matches for the Banda, almost all of them coming off the bench, scoring three goals in total, all in last year’s Clausura, his most prominent spell with the River side.

River’s possible lineup vs. Carabobo, for the Copa Sudamericana Santiago Beltrán; Fabricio Bustos, Germán Pezzella, Facundo González or Lucas Martínez Quarta, Matías Viña; Giuliano Galoppo, Lucas Silva or Kevin Castaño, Maximiliano Meza, Juan Fernando Quintero; Joaquín Freitas and Facundo Colidio or Santiago Lencina. Coach: Eduardo Coudet.

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