“A year ago, when River finished last, the words River and relegation, did not seem possible in the same sentence says Daniel, a fan of River Plate. One of Argentina’s and indeed the world’s greatest sporting institutions, the giants of the game are facing just that — dropping down a category and having to play in the B league — this Sunday when the second leg of a two-way playoff will determine its future.” SI

“In the fourteenth episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam, Dan and Dan are once again back on the fernet (after an alcohol-free episode 13), whilst Seba is dry as ever. We discuss the two giants of Argentine football; Boca Juniors, who had another Riquelme-inspired win, and River Plate, who scored an absolutely fantastic goal which their latest wunderkid was at the heart of.” Hand Of Pod

“Followers of the Argentine top flight had a crazy few days of football at the weekend, with four legitimate goals disallowed in different matches and a veritable bloodbath on the pitch at Boca Juniors, who saw one player get his jaw broken and another laid out cold and stretchered off in a neck brace – both entirely accidentally.” ESPN

“The weekend’s games from the fifth round of the 2011 Torneo Clausura are only getting written up all together now, due to my housewarming on Saturday night. Saturday saw Boca Juniors lose away to San Lorenzo in the weekend’s clásico, and Argentinos Juniors finally claim a win, against Arsenal de Sarandí, after opening with four straight draws. On Sunday, Racing visited Colón and thrashed them 4-0 to go out on their own at the top of the table. River Plate hosted Vélez Sarsfield and Leandro Chichizola, the goalkeeper who’s been so impressive filling in for Juan Pablo Carrizo, committed a howler to concede his first goal of the tournament, handing Vélez a lead they eventually turned into a 2-1 win, Santiago Silva bagging a double. All these goals and the others from the weekend are right here.” Hasta El Gol Siempre

“When the call came from HIS people, my first reaction was to panic. “Do you want me to change the name? In bed with Maradona not appropriate? Should this be In bed with Pelé? or Messi? or…..erm……Derek Mountfield?”” In Bed With Maradona

“Boca Juniors at long last claimed another win on Sunday with a 1-0 defeat of Quilmes in La Bombonera. After recent talk of veterans – including on the Hand Of Pod – it was 20-year-old Cristian Erbes who got the only goal of the game midway through the second half. Elsewhere on Sunday, Vélez Sarsfield kept the pressure on Estudiantes with a 4-0 away tonking of Godoy Cruz. The hosts qualified for the 2011 Copa Libertadores all the same though, courtesy of Newell’s Old Boys dropping points in a 0-0 away draw to San Lorenzo. Highlights from these and the day’s other two games – a 3-1 win for Tigre over Huracán, and a 0-0 draw between Lanús and Independiente – are here right now, as are all the weekend’s scores and scorers.” Hasta El Gol Siempre

“Boca Juniors recorded a much-needed win in their first match since Juan Román Riquelme’s latest injury, beating Arsenal de Sarandí 2-1 in La Bombonera thanks to goals from Martín Palermo and Sergio Araujo. Elsewhere on Sunday River Plate and San Lorenzo drew 0-0 in a dreadful match, Racing and Quilmes drew 1-1, and Gimnasia La Plata and Vélez also shared points to ensure Estudiantes will finish this round – which continues on Monday – at the top of the table. All the highlights are right here, and Martín Palermo’s goal, by the way, might just be the most Martín Palermo goal ever scored.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“River Plate have beaten Boca Juniors in a competitive match for the first time in over three years, with a 1-0 win in El Monumental on Tuesday. Former Boca defender Jonatan Maidana scored the only goal of a game River dominated, and in which Boca star Juan Román Riquelme was non-existent in the first half before being taken off at the break. Boca coach Claudio Borghi might well not be manager very much longer now. I’ll post all the round fourteen scores, and a longer highlights video, after having some food and a couple of drinks, but for now here’s the goal.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

Superclásico Apertura 2010: live updates
“My first superclásico in Argentina does not, sadly, mean I’ve got press accreditation for this one, but it does at least mean that I can watch the game on a proper telly and thus the updates here on HEGS will be closer to live than ever before.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“A midweek clash between two mid-table teams that brings a country to a standstill? Sam Kelly builds up to Rive Plate v Boca Juniors, the biggest match in the Argentine calender.” (In Bed With Maradona)

River Plate vs Boca Juniors: starting lineups
“The superclásico will be upon us in around four and a bit hours, at 7pm local time (10pm Greenwich Mean Time) with Argentina’s two biggest clubs doing battle in what has become a mediocre middle-of-the-table clash, but which will grab all the attention of the country’s football-watching public anyway. The latest indications are that each team’s most important player will play, after a late injury scare for one of them during the week: Juan Román Riquelme has shaken off a knock in training to feature for Boca, and Matías Almeyda returns after a spell out injured for River. Former Boca defender Jonatan Maidana is also in the River lineup, whilst Jesús Méndez, the midfielder who started out at River, is playing for Boca. Both XIs are right here…” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

Roman returns as the gladiators prepare to do battle
“After the will-he, won’t-he saga surrounding his contract negotiations, after the repeated demonstrations, in nearly every match, of how much his team are missing him, and after a long injury layoff, Juan Roman Riquelme returned for Boca Juniors on Saturday. Perhaps fittingly, he did so against his first club, Argentinos Juniors – who also happen to be the club that current Boca manager Claudio Borghi took to the title back in May.” (ESPN)

“This weekend Argentines were in fine form in Spain, Portugal and Mexico, whilst in the USA a Boca Juniors legend might have played his last game, as Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s Columbus Crew exited the MLS playoffs. The selección’s first-choice centre back pairing both had poor weekends, though. Martín Demichelis’ Bayern München dropped points, whilst Walter Samuel injured his cruciate ligaments and will miss the match against Brazil later in the month, as well as quite some time thereafter. All this and more, right here…” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“Juan Román Riquelme – and, lest it be forgotten, Claudio Borghi – took on their old club, Argentinos Juniors, and lost 2-0 thanks to two late goals in quick succession after a late nightmare by Boca Juniors goalkeeper Cristian Lucchetti. Riquelme had a few moments, but by and large lacked precision – as you’d expect, him having been out for six months. Elsewhere today, Racing and Arsenal de Sarandí drew 2-2 in an entertaining match, Gimnasia beat Quilmes 1-0 in a very dull one, and Godoy Cruz and Newell’s drew 0-0 with visiting goalkeeper Sebastián Peratta putting in a phenomenal performance. All the highlights are right here.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“Wednesday was quite a day to be in Buenos Aires. Aside from the national census – which was done by closing every business in the country and ordering people to stay at home to be counted rather than simply sending forms out and asking people to return them – the country’s former president Nestor Kirchner died suddenly of a heart attack in the morning. This might not have been such a pressing issue in terms of national affairs, but for the fact that Kirchner was also married to the current president, and was widely expected to succeed her following next year’s elections.” (ESPN)

“‘It’s like we’re girls, in England it happens all the time.’ So said Estudiantes captain Juan Sebastián Verón last week, after a photo of River Plate winger Erik Lamela’s bloodied and bruised knee circulated in the media. ‘Verón’s right, you can’t come out showing what they did to you,’ said Godoy Cruz playmaker David Ramírez. ‘For me he’s a poof. I get hit hard, but I also tackle hard, because that’s football’, ‘Mincing about and showing his leg isn’t a manly thing to do,’ opined Argentinos Juniors midfielder, Néstor Ortigoza.” (The Football Ramble)

“River Plate and Racing made it a second damp squib of the weekend in terms of matches I’ve attended, with a 1-1 draw in which the hosts were comfortably outplayed for the first half, and perhaps just slightly the better team in the second. Colombian genius Giovanni Moreno got Racing’s goal, and Diego Buonanotte came off the bench at half time and scored River’s equaliser within a minute.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“Argentinian football coaches, it must be said, are a weird mob. Like artists or rock stars or politicians, it takes a certain type of person; a certain type of ego and a particular temperament, to be a successful coach, especially in Argentina. ‘Eccentric’ could be one word to describe the typical Primera Division coach. ‘Nutjob’ sounds better and is probably more accurate, even if Microsoft Word doesn’t acknowledge it as a real word.” (Argentina Football World)

“Since we’re now halfway (and a bit) through the 2010 Torneo Apertura, I thought I’d compile a very brief ‘report’ on each team so far, and how they’re doing in relation to what they’d have hoped/expected at the start of the season. I’m aiming for a short summation of each side, so don’t expect a big essay. And I’ll be starting at the top of the table and working down. I do this after having had a few pints to drink on Thursday evening, so bear with me if I’m a bit blunter with your team than you’d have liked. Here goes…” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“I’m late with Friday’s goals, for which I apologise. Estudiantes went five points clear at the top of the Torneo Apertura on Friday with a 2-0 win over Olimpo. On Saturday, San Lorenzo lost away to Lanús by the same score, thus missing the chance to go second. Arsenal de Sarandí beat Banfield 1-0 on Friday, but Saturday’s other three matches all finished in draws – Argentinos vs Godoy Cruz is the only goalless match so far. You can see highlights of all six matches so far this weekend right here.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“Argentina lost to Japan for the first time in their history on Friday, thanks to an 18th-minute goal from Shinji Okazaki. Only Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano really did themselves any sort of credit, and a side clearly as worn out by the long voyage from Europe as were Spain when they travelled to Buenos Aires last month left the pitch deflated. Diego Milito, Esteban Cambiasso and Mario Bolatti were all injured. Seba over at Mundo has some thoughts on what this means for Sergio Batista as manager, and here are the match highlights for your viewing pleasure (if you’re Japanese, or Diego Maradona, that is).” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“There’s something of the ‘Pre-Italia 90 Robert Robson’ about Claudio Borghi. A good man, with a fine record at Colo Colo and Argentinos Juniors, Bichi is now in the extreme glare at stuttering Boca. Sam Kelly reports from Argentina.” (In Bed with Maradona)

“Last weekend was somewhat lacking on the goals front, but Saturday and Sunday more than made up for that with an absolute deluge. Only two matches featured fewer than two goals: Arsenal’s 1-0 away win over Quilmes on Friday, and Estudiantes’ win by the same scoreline away to San Lorenzo, which leaves Seba Verón & Co. five points clear at the top of the table. Saturday’s goals didn’t get posted last night because I was celebrating a friend’s birthday, but you can watch them here along with Sunday’s, and all the scores. Boca Juniors lost, River Plate drew away to Banfield in a highly-charged match, and Gimnasia La Plata and Argentinos Juniors served up a partidazo on Saturday. All this and more, right here…” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“River Plate only managed a draw in the final match of the eighth round of the Torneo Clausura. They were playing Quilmes, a newly-promoted side and as such key opponents in River’s own battle against the relegation promedio as well as supposedly easy targets for three points in the chase for the title. River were dominant throughout the match, and it was difficult to recall more than a couple of chances for Quilmes, but the visitors came away with the result thanks to a healthy dose of good fortune, as much as anything. I was there, and here’s my attempt at making some sense of it.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“There were Argentine goals in seven European leagues this weekend, as well as plenty in Mexico from players both old and new to that league. Carlos Tevez’s strike for Manchester City against Chelsea was the highest-profile one of the weekend, but Fernando Cavenaghi also got on the scoresheet, getting his first two since his move to Real Mallorca, and also among the goals were Ezequiel Lavezzi, Christian Giménez and more. There was also an early retirement, as Luciano Galletti was forced to call time on his career on Monday. All this and more is right here…” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“After last week’s contrasting results, in which Estudiantes lost to All Boys and Boca convincingly beat Colón, the celebrations switched on Saturday when Estudiantes beat Boca 1-0 thanks to a Marcos Rojo strike in only the first minute of a lively game. Earlier in the day, champions Argentinos Juniors had claimed their first win of the season by the same scoreline against Banfield. Elsewhere Lanús beat All Boys to bring them back down to earth after last week’s brilliant win, and after Independiente’s win yesterday, another of the sides who lost their manager earlier in the week won; Colón, who broke San Lorenzo’s unbeaten streak so far this season thanks partly to a controversially disallowed goal for the visitors. All the goals are right here.” (Hasta El Gol Siempre)

“It’s been an interesting week in the Argentine football world, and several clubs will be eagerly waiting for the weekend’s football action to start, so they can put behind them some of the developments of the past few days. Estudiantes, who a year ago stood with the continent at their feet after winning the 2009 Copa Libertadores, were humbled last weekend by newly promoted All Boys (who added a second big scalp to their defeat of Boca Juniors a few weeks earlier), and on Wednesday night exited the Copa Sudamericana – the continent’s second-string tournament – to Newell’s Old Boys.” (In Bed with Maradona)