Applaud, don’t stop applauding… Estudiantes closes an unforgettable, unique and perhaps unrepeatable year. Second title in a week, the fifth with Eduardo Domínguez as coach, the 16th in its history… You can’t believe what this team has achieved in 30 days, a crazy month, managing to reach the top of Argentine football, being the envy of the greatest, in an unbeatable position with the Copa Libertadores and three finals ahead of them. Students of Miracles have done it again. Clap, don’t stop applauding.
Last night they beat Platense 2-1, winning the Champion Trophy for the second time in a row and capping a spectacular season. He won it in the last 10 minutes with goals from Lucas Alario, the player Domínguez had used and who had not performed all year. There was no longer a single reason for him to lift the ban. He made this whole Barba team.
It was very difficult for Estudiantes to win this game. He didn’t look solid or fresh to play. Of course, the wear and tear that came with so many top games took its toll. But when it came to defining the game, he did it like the winning teams, the greats, who have reasons to sit at the table of the best. El Pincha is one of them and this place deserves it.
The first half wasn’t about football, but about fights and tension. There was a lot of fighting and nothing was played out. In midfield the leg was strong and always at the limit of what was allowed. In this regard, Platense felt more comfortable, although at times he went over the edge and two minutes later two of his players were booked for strong plays.
Domínguez’s team missed Tiago Palacios. They had no one to stop the ball and at the same time they played with great intensity and speed, without clarity or intelligence. It was played to the rhythm of Squid. Only Edwuin Cetré was able to cause danger in a few moves with runs down the left side. On the other hand, Joaquín Tobio Burgos never managed to receive a free ball. In the middle, spaces continued to be “glued” and shrunk, making the lack of a player with the playmaking skills and attributes more apparent.
Central defender Nacho Vázquez played a separate game with Estudiantes “9” Guido Carrillo. In the first half, the brown team won clearly, always ahead of the player who is furthest up the field and who can always find something by rubbing the lamp. The defender, who is one of the highlights of his team, also showed a lot of hierarchy.
As I said, the Colombian Cetré was the most dangerous player in a team that, despite his weakness, took a leading role and was absent both on and off the field. It was a first half where you could follow him closely at kickoff, because if Rey Hilfer gave even an inch of leeway, things could get out of control.
Estudiantes suffered from the poor first half from Medina, Tobio Burgos and Ascacibar, but it is also true that their rivals put so much pressure on them and committed so many fouls that made things more difficult for them. It was Cetré against the world and on the last play an infringement committed against him gave him a stopped ball that Losas parried down.
But at the start of the second half there was a move that ruined the fight and the football. There was poor defense on the side of the penalty area and Franco Zapiola, with a strong right foot, nailed the ball between many legs and made it 1-0 after five minutes and with the second shot on goal.
Then the Barba team began to play exhausted and without ideas. But he tried to do what he hadn’t done before. Passes and possession of the ball to enter the penalty area. He had a very clear shot, but Carrillo took a while to finish it, several crosses into the penalty area led to nothing and he strengthened a rival who, if eager before, became stronger after the goal. Platense didn’t play well, or rather, he didn’t shine, but he had intensity and, above all, he knew how to play the game. Of course, he took advantage of his calm and his rival’s exhaustion, but he did it well and with the weapons that served him.
Estudiantes showed mental and physical fatigue throughout the game. Logical for a team that played the way they did last month. But this team must be killed in order for them to actually die. Domínguez made changes and the team improved, to the point that they played with absolute magnificence in the final 15 minutes. With José Sosa, Fabricio Pérez, with Cetré, who was unstoppable, with Ascaibar, who improved, and Lucas Alario, who saved his entire arsenal for this final. In 10 minutes he did everything he couldn’t do in a year. First he equalized with a header after a clearance from Pérez and in the first minute of stoppage time he scored the second goal. After a corner he appeared as the goalscorer Pincha was looking for and scored the deserved 2-1 because he had courage and didn’t give up again. And deservedly so, because the game was not surpassed by its rival, apart from the logical exhaustion of the hustle and bustle.
In the final minutes, Estudiantes were a huge team and that’s why they managed to twist the arm of a tough rival. They won the second title in a week, the fifth in the Domínguez era and the 16th in their history (or 19th if you include all the successes between amateur sports and national cups). Terrible moment for Estudiantes, which also qualified to take part in three more cups next year, two of them against Rosario Central.
A team that ended the year in the best possible way, perhaps unlike any other time in its history. He is insatiable and in that greed he raised another glass. Health students, so much joy in one piece can do harm… In this case it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Note originally published in: https://www.eldia.com/nota/2025-12-21-2-30-41-aplaudan-al-mas-campeon-estudiantes-sumo-otro-titulo-deportes
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