River Plate and Boca Juniors are two of the biggest clubs in South American football—never mind the hostile participants of the Superclasico—so it’s natural for the Buenos Aires rivals to dominate the talking points in the 2014 Argentine Clausura.
River, who finished a disappointing 17th in the Inicial Championship that ended in December, will look to Teofilo Gutierrez to start up top and lead the attack for Los Millonarios.
Alongside the Colombian in manager Ramon Diaz’ three-pronged attack this season will likely be Juan Carlos Menseguez and the repatriated Fernando Cavenaghi, who scored 55 goals for the club before a £6.5 million move to Spartak Moscow in 2004.
The return of “Cavegol” and the heightened ambition of Gutierrez as he looks to become Colombia’s number-one striker in Rademal Falcao’s absence should see River manage considerably more than the 12 goals they scored in 19 matches last term. Given an already competent defence in front of goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see them return to the top half of the table by the end of the season.
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Boca, meanwhile, came seventh in a competitive Inicial that left them just four points back of champions San Lorenzo and will no doubt be expecting to contend for the title once again over the next few months.
Manager Carlos Bianchi, currently in his third spell with the club he took to a memorable Apertura, Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup treble in 2003, will be counting on midfielders Fernando Gago and Pablo Ledesma to keep things tidy in front of a patchy defence, and a string of good performances from Agustin Orion should see the goalkeeper go to the World Cup in June.
Emanuel Gigliotti, who scored eight goals last semester, will be expected to carry the attacking load once again, although he should benefit from the service of winger Diego Perotti—recently secured on loan from Sevilla.
Other contenders
Newell’s Old Boys benefited from a revitalized Maxi Rodriguez during the Inicial, and a reprise of those performances could well be enough to send the 33-year-old former Atletico Madrid and Liverpool attacker to the World Cup. Valencia midfielder Ever Banega has also arrived on loan in search of regular football.
Lanus were the Inicial’s top goal-scorers and could well be Argentina’s best bet in the Copa Libertadores, where they’ll face Cerro Porteno, O’Higgins and Deportivo Cali in the group stage.
The reigning Copa Sudamericana champions also boast an elite defender in Paolo Goltz and are marshalled by midfielder Diego Gonzalez. Manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto has already told his players that fixture congestion will not be used as an excuse if they can’t achieve their goals this season.
Velez Sasfield are in something of a transition following the exit of manager Ricardo Gareca, who guided the club to a trio of titles between 2009 and 2012. Jose “Turu” Flores, his former assistant, is now in charge at Estadio Jose Amalfitani and opened his tenure with a 1-0 win over Arsenal de Sarandi in last month’s Supercopa.
Former Genoa marksman Lucas Pratto paced El Fortin with seven goals during the Inicial, and attacker Mauro Zarate scored goals in four consecutive matches in October.