In the midst of an unprecedented sporting crisis for Marcelo Gallardo as a coach, it's not hard to imagine that what for the average fan seems like terrible news—facing an on-form Boca at La Bombonera this Sunday—is seen by the Muñeco as an opportunity. MG has always thought this way, counter-culturally, which is one of the secrets to his success at River: for the coach, the illusion of winning has always been much greater than the fear of losing. Something that seems obvious but has been counterintuitive in Argentine football for many years, and which Gallardo applied in his first cycle in all the most crushing clashes against the eternal rival, especially in the final of finals, a clash that no River fan or Boca fan seemed willing to tolerate beforehand precisely because of that feeling of a historical cross that the loser would carry forever. 'Give it to me, give me that match,' the coach would enthuse, even knowing that in those 180 minutes, which later became 210, the perspective of everything he had already won was also at stake, including, of course, many decisive superclásicos. This time, the visit to La Bombonera comes at an unprecedented moment, not even comparable to that 2018 Super Cup final, with a River side that is broken, carrying tons of frustrations that paralyze it but that have also shown the Muñeco himself paralyzed and without direction in his recent decisions. A process of decline down a slippery slope that puts the coach's future at risk: although everyone, starting with himself, expected that by this point in the year his continuity would be defined with a contract on the table until 2029 under the Di Carlo management, the team's trajectory and the fans' explosion have led MG himself to start reconsidering what's next and to postpone a decision. In this sense, qualification for the next Libertadores 2026, which is seriously compromised today, and this Sunday's Superclásico appear as crucial items that are intimately related. Because if River stumbles at the Alberto J. Armando, it will be one foot and a half out of the CL26. Likewise, winning the clásico could represent a positive turning point for the final stretch of the year: perhaps even that wouldn't be enough to secure a ticket to the Copa group stage, avoiding the uncomfortable playoffs, but it would imply a renewal of energy to face the tournament's playoffs, to decompress the suffocating atmosphere of the last few days, and to extend the Muñeco's own legend against the cousins. In fact, the superclásicos are the only two great joys of this second cycle, the two focal points of light among many slaps. The two victories, at La Bombonera and the Monumental, are the little that stands out in an irregular second cycle. And they are matches that Gallardo has always liked, separate tournaments in which, after the away 'suplentazo' last year and the 2-1 this season with Mastantuono's great free-kick goal, the coach wants to continue making history and closing the gap in the historical record until he turns it around. A win against CABJ would be an almost unprecedented event, as River only managed three consecutive wins at La Bombonera once in its entire history, between 1975 and 1976. Now they go for two, with that last 1-0 with Lanzini's goal and the 2-0 away in 2023, even during the Demichelis era. Of course, it's a double-edged sword, but at this point, with a team that shows no reaction, it seems more appropriate to go into a match against Boca than to receive Riestra, Sarmiento, or Gimnasia at home again: in symbolic terms, the commitment is already of specific weight—a change of scenery that can lift the cycle off the canvas or sharpen a fall that is more and more painful every day.
