Justice prevails among the finalists of the 2025 Clausura tournamentwho will meet their champion this Saturday evening (or perhaps early Sunday morning if there is extra time and penalties). Run And studentsface to face in the stadium Mother of the cities of Santiago del Estero Starts at 9 p.m. Led by Nicolás Ramírez and broadcast by ESPN Premium and TNT Sports, they are the two Argentine teams that have performed best in the Copa Libertadores this year and deserve to be in the final of another competition that rewards the ability to face direct elimination duels. Without going any further, both challenged the powerful Flamengo, the eventual champions of South America, even more than Palmeiras did in the final.
Racing has proven it. The 35 years in which he was not a champion and the dry spell between the Apertura 2001 with which he won were long over Merlo mustard and the 2014 Transition Tournament led by Diego Cocca. The Academy He has made a leap in quality and today believes that he is more than everyone else. “We will be champions,” said Gustavo Costas, a son of the house, when he signed on as the club’s coach for the third time. They treated him as crazy, a prejudice that his attitude on the sidelines doesn’t help to hide, but he already has the Copa Sudamericana under his belt, which he won against Cruzeiro in Asunción last year South American Cup Winners’ Cup against another Brazilian (Botafogo) and now as a racing coach he has the chance to become champion at local level for the first time.
Costas is not a team that exudes talent or overwhelms rivals as if they were opponents at a lower level. In fact, he experienced difficult moments that presented the coach with some questions that also worried his players. For example, they suffered four defeats in five games between August and September, including an unexpected home loss to Tigre and a painful 4-1 loss to Argentinos in La Paternal.
However, there is something that is not so easy to see in the numbers, but which reflects Racing’s greatest strength: as was once said about Gallardos River, Costas’ team – largely due to the influence of the experienced coach – is tailor-made for playing mata-mata. They have a different motivation for taking on these duels. Racing has the personality to withstand one, another, and another blow. So the team was promoted after the painful elimination against Flamengo and is now in a new final, having left River in the round of 16 and Boca in the semi-finals.
“Some time ago I told the boys that nobody is going on holiday until December 21st (laughs). We all think that. You have to say: we are a big team that has to win and finish every game in order to win and fight at the top,” said Costas, encouraged and full of confidence. Now no one thinks he’s crazy anymore. He believes what he says, his players believe him and they die for him on the field, and from the outside there is no choice but to believe the same.
“I’m proud to have eliminated Boca. We eliminated River and Boca and I couldn’t have imagined that when we were excluded from the Copa Libertadores with Flamengo, but we changed the chip and are in the final,” emphasized Gustavo. And he continued with his message of success: “I want Racing to win. No matter whether we play well or badly, we want to win. That’s what we have in mind.” He also has the certainty that his goalscorer, Adrian “Maravilla” MartinezAt the right time, they left their ten-game drought without a goal behind them. It will be a latent danger.
A similar analysis can be done for students. He was close to finishing in the top 8 during the regular season and missing the playoffs. The defeat in the last game against the Argentinos brought him to the edge of the abyss and he began to rely on other results that eventually worked in his favor: it was the draw of Belgrano (10th) against Unión, the tie of Huracán (11th) against Barracas Central and the defeat of Defensa y Justicia (12th) against Newell’s. And Pincha clung to the extra life given to them to claim stunning victories against Central (round of 16), Central Cordoba (quarter-finals) and in the classic against Gimnasia (semi-finals), all 1-0.
“Racing and Estudiantes are two of the best teams in the country. They have the prize of reaching the last game and seeing who is better. We have arrived at the moment where we have to arrive, we have arrived well and we are doing well. We are fair winners, the team is doing well and they are showing it,” says Domínguez happily.
Estudiantes doesn’t shine either, but it has something. Maybe it’s because of the good mix of experienced and younger players he has in his squad. Or the hierarchy of another very good coach. It is no coincidence that he is playing in his sixth final in the last two years and is looking for his fourth title in this period, adding to the 2023 Argentine Cup, the 2024 League Cup and the 2024 Champions Trophy. And now he also has the opportunity to become a champion in Santiago del Estero, the land where he forged his power Pablo Toviggino -Chiqui Tapia’s henchman-, in the middle of the dispute between the AFA and Juan Sebastián Verón.
About The Author
