Argentine football giants Boca Juniors and River Plate are experiencing one of the darkest periods in their modern history.
The start of the second half of the season in the local top division (Torneo Clausura) has turned into a real disaster for the two most popular clubs in the country, who instead of fighting for the title are in the bottom half of the table. Fans in Buenos Aires are already talking about a historic crisis, after their favorites continue to disappoint.
The tragedy of "Monumental": River Plate is at the bottom
According to the current ranking published by the sports section of Fox Sports (foxsports.com), the situation of the "millionaires" from River Plate is downright tragic. After playing the first 4 rounds of the Clausura, the team led by Eduardo Caudet occupies the last 15th place in its Group B with an asset of 0 points.
River Plate has registered four consecutive defeats, the last two of which were particularly painful – 0:1 at home to Rosario Central and 0:1 as a guest to CA Tigre. The statistics from the matches on the Soccerway website (soccerway.com) show complete lack of ideas in attack for the giants from “Monumental“, who have not yet scored a goal in this part of the championship.
🔵 Boca Juniors: Collapse on the international stage as well
The situation in the camp of the eternal rival Boca Juniors is no rosier. The “Genoese“ occupy the unenviable 9th place in Group A with only 5 points won from 4 matches. The team, led by Rodolfo Arruabarena, has only one win, two draws (the last 1:1 against Velez Sarsfield) and one loss.
The problems for Boca have also spread to the international stage. As reported by the official portal of CONMEBOL Sudamericana (conmebol.com), the team suffered a shocking 0-1 home defeat to Paraguayan underdog Deportivo Recoleta in the first leg of the 1/8 finals of the tournament, which calls into question their survival in South America.
🧠 Expert analysis: Where did the giants go wrong?
Sports analysts in Argentina point to several main reasons for the unprecedented collapse:
- Tactical predictability: Eduardo Caudet has relied on an overly aggressive press at River, which leaves huge empty spaces in defense, easily exploited by rivals like Tigre.
- Lack of leadership: Boca Juniors lack a clear creative midfielder. Rodolfo Arruabarrena constantly rotates the formation, which destroys the synchrony between the lines and leads to a lack of goal instinct.
- Psychological breakdown: The pressure from the media and fans in Buenos Aires paralyzed the young players on both teams, leading to gross individual errors in the defensive plan.
🤬 The anger of the fans: "Shame on the jersey"
Social networks literally overflowed with angry comments from the supporters. On the platforms "X" (until recently Twitter) and Instagram River Plate supporters write: “0 points and 0 goals in 4 games is an insult to the history of this club! Everyone out!“.
Boca fans are not far behind after the draw against Deportivo Recoleta: “Losing at the 'Bomboniera' to a Paraguayan underdog is the bottom. Aruabarena must go today!“.
Over the coming weekend, the two giants will be looking for a mandatory way out of the crisis. Boca Juniors travel to Platense while River Plate host Argentinos Juniors in a bid to earn their first points of the season.