Gallardo reshapes River’s line-up against Sarmiento amid several absences | OneFootball

Marcelo Gallardo is entering the final stage of assembling a puzzle: River’s starting eleven to face Sarmiento. Without the six players called up for the FIFA date (plus Ian Subiabre with the U-20) and the suspended Juan Portillo, the coaching staff is forced to innovate and make more changes than desired to a team that the Muñeco described as “depleted.”

The timing for the Millionaire is far from ideal to be faced with this scenario in which they lose a large number of players for a key match, especially thinking about the annual table and qualification for the Copa Libertadores, where they dropped to third after the loss to Rosario Central.

With little margin for error in that regard, since in the Clausura Tournament they are fourth but at a considerable distance from the chasers looking to get into the top 8, Gallardo will have to devise a lineup with the best available. The good news, within this adverse scenario, is that on Wednesday the Disciplinary Tribunal reduced Maximiliano Salas’s suspension by one match and he will be able to start on Sunday.

In addition to the left-footer, optimism reigns in Núñez about having Enzo Pérez, the captain, back, whose presence becomes much more valuable given Gallardo’s limited options for the holding midfielder role. The stitches in his knee have been removed and he will be pushed in the coming days, aiming to regain rhythm and be able to face Sarmiento. If he doesn’t make it, Agustín de la Cuesta will wear the 5.

Another River case to monitor closely in these hours is Sebastián Driussi, still without medical clearance from the tear in his left biceps femoris suffered in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals against Palmeiras, but with a chance of being called up again. After almost three weeks of separate work and five matches out, the forward is close to getting the green light from the doctors, and his inclusion in the squad is not ruled out—at least.

The certainties the Muñeco has are that he will not have the six players called up to South American national teams (Gonzalo Montiel, Lautaro Rivero, Marcos Acuña, Kevin Castaño, Juan Fernando Quintero, and Matías Galarza) nor one of the two suspended players: Juan Carlos Portillo, sent off in Rosario last Sunday.

Therefore, it will be a “patched-up” eleven, featuring several River players with little recent playing time such as Paulo Díaz, Milton Casco, and Santiago Lencina, among others who are in line to start at the Monumental.

River’s possible eleven against Sarmiento Franco Armani; Fabricio Bustos, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Paulo Díaz, Milton Casco; Giuliano Galoppo, Enzo Pérez or Agustín de la Cuesta, Santiago Lencina; Ignacio Fernández; Facundo Colidio and Miguel Borja or Maximiliano Salas.

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