Episode 443: Previewing the last weekend of the 2022 Liga Profesional

This week Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés gather to discuss three rounds of Liga Profesional action and preview Sunday’s two title-deciding Big Five clásicos – will Boca Juniors lift the trophy as expected, or can Independiente get a result in the Bombonera which could put Racing’s title hopes in their own hands as they host River Plate? We also look at the Independiente presidential elections of a couple of weeks ago with Santi’s wisdom, and discuss the news that Marcelo Gallardo is stepping down as River manager.

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Hand Of Pod · Episode 443: Previewing the last weekend of the 2022 Liga Profesional

Episode 431: The end of the road for Battaglia … and Gallardo?

This week, Sam, English Dan, Santi and Andrés catch you up with last weekend’s league action but spend the bulk of the podcast talking Libertadores, and in particular going over the eliminations of Boca Juniors, who reacted by firing Sebastián Battaglia, and River Plate, who (unsurprisingly) did not react by firing Marcelo Gallardo. Vélez Sarsfield, Talleres(!) and – confirmed after we finished recording – Estudiantes are Argentina’s three representatives in the last eight, but they’ll have to fight their ways past five Brazilian sides to taste glory.

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Hand Of Pod · Episode 431: The end of the road for Battaglia … and Gallardo?

Episode 285: River shock Boca to win the Supercopa (that almost rhymes …)

The two hundred and eighty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés look back over a weekend of Superliga action that, erm, neither of them managed to catch an awful lot of. Among the bits they did see were last minute wins for Boca Juniors and River Plate, and an entertaining game between Independiente and Argentinos Juniors which saw El Rojo cement third place in the Superliga. There’s also discussion of Wednesday night’s Supercopa Argentina, which saw River turn in their best performance of the last six months or so to spring a surprise, beating Boca 2-0 to lift the trophy. The prize itself isn’t of huge importance, of course, but the repercussions for both clubs’ seasons could be – most notably, could this be the springboard for a revival in River’s fortunes?

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Last week, Mystic Sam beat Mystic Liam 10-6. This time out, Mystic Nate steps up to take a beating (yes, Sam’s getting cocky …)

Mystic Nate
Central v Chacarita
Colón v Lanús
Argentinos v Newell’s
Temperley v Huracán
San Martín v Gimnasia
Talleres v Defensa y Justicia
Racing v Patronato
Arsenal v Vélez
River v Belgrano
Atl. Tucumán v Boca
Banfield v Unión
Tigre v Independiente

Mystic Sam
Central v Chacarita
Colón v Lanús
Argentinos v Newell’s
Temperley v Huracán
San Martín v Gimnasia
Talleres v Defensa y Justicia
Racing v Patronato
Arsenal v Vélez
River v Belgrano
Atl. Tucumán v Boca
Banfield v Unión
Tigre v Independiente

Episode 245: reviewing the Superclásico and preparing for the end of the year

The two hundred and forty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is the penultimate one of 2016, and Sam and Andrés meet to discuss Boca Juniors’ 4-2 away win over River Plate in what – even as River sympathisers – we cant deny was a tremendously entertaining Superclásico. Carlos Tevez was superb, and as well as praising his performance we also look at the reports he might be off to China soon. For River, there’s a chance for some compensation in the form of the Copa Argentina final against Rosario Central, which is played on the evening this podcast goes live, and could see one – or both – of the managers, Marcelo Gallardo for River and Eduardo Coudet for Central, leave their club. All this, and there’s still one more round of league action to preview, thanks to the one-week delay to the season kicking off back in August. As a result of that, we’ll be back next week with an unusually festive edition.

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Mystic John’s fourteenth round predictions (last week Mystic Sam and Mystic Peter got 7/15)
Huracán v Talleres
Godoy Cruz v Gimnasia
Sarmiento v Aldosivi
Estudiantes v Defensa y Justicia
Unión v Racing
Atl. Rafaela v Patronato
Independiente v Banfield
Belgrano v Central
Lanús v San Lorenzo
Arsenal v Vélez
Boca v Colón
Newell’s v San Martín
Olimpo v River
Quilmes v Temperley
Tigre v Atl. Tucumán

Episode 242: Teo gonna Teo, River slump and Estudiantes still lead

The two hundred and forty-second episode of Hand Of Pod brings together Sam and Andrés to talk about a weekend in which the football was overshadowed in many press pages by Teo Gutiérrez once again being Teo Gutiérrez. The Rosario Central forward was sent off for his goal celebration during a 1-1 draw in La Bombonera. Elsewhere, River Plate lost 1-0 away to Newell’s Old Boys, and there are rumours beginning that Marcelo Gallardo could leave the club if he fails to bring home the Copa Argentina (the semi-finals of which will be played next week). Estudiantes still lead the league, and have found a replacement for injured goalkeeper Mariano Andújar at last, while the relegation situation is beginning to clarify a little even with twenty games still to go (we’re sticking our necks out now and saying Atlético de Rafaela will go down). There’s also news about the television rights negotiations.

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Mystic Michael’s eleventh round predictions (last week Mystic Chris got 4/14)
Temperley v Lanús
Talleres v Arsenal
Colón v Newell’s
Tigre v Quilmes
Banfield v Estudiantes
Atl. Tucumán v Belgrano
Rosario Central v Olimpo
River v Huracán
Aldosivi v Vélez
Sarmiento v Godoy Cruz
San Lorenzo v Boca
Racing v Independiente
Defensa y Justicia v Patronato
Gimnasia v Unión
San Martín v Atl. Rafaela

Episode 227: Farewell Diego Milito, and previewing the weekend’s championship final

The two hundred and twenty-seventh episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, English Dan and Andrés discuss the last weekend of ‘regular season’ action from Argentina’s Torneo de Transición 2016, which saw a lot of dead rubbers including an emotional farewell to Diego Milito as the Racing legend played his final match. Also discussed are where River Plate’s campaign went wrong, and the meaningful games which saw Argentinos Juniors relegated, San Lorenzo qualify for Sunday’s championship final against Lanús and Godoy Cruz left having to face Estudiantes for a place in next year’s Copa Libertadores (to the losers: probably also a place in next year’s Copa Libertadores. It’s very silly). All this and much more await!

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Last week, Mystic Alex got 5/15. This weekend, the panel’s predictions for the two matches are unanimous that Estudiantes will beat Godoy Cruz to third place, while Andrés and Dan think Lanús will win the title, and Sam thinks San Lorenzo can do it.

Episode 193: River Plate win the Copa Libertadores, and plenty of goals in the league

The hundred and ninety-third episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam joined by Andrés, Peter, Joel and special guest Richard Martin to talk about River Plate’s 3-0 win over Tigres UANL on Wednesday night, and the third Copa Libertadores title it gave the club. The role of Marcelo Gallardo in using and adapting River’s tradition and expectations, the key players in the win and where the squad might go next are all discussed, before we move on to talk about a goal-packed weekend in the Primera División which ended with Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo tied on points at the top (River, three points behind them, didn’t play at the weekend and have a game in hand). There’s no football this weekend in Argentina due to primary elections, but Mystic Joel instead tells you what to bet on in the political sphere (not really). HOP is sponsored by Argentina Independent, a fine English-language source of news from Argentina and across Latin America.

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Episode 191: River Plate reach the Copa Libertadores final, Boca stay top of the league and more

The hundred and ninety-first episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés in a good mood after River Plate’s qualification for the final of the Copa Libertadores for the first time in 19 years. A 1-1 draw with Guaraní in Asunción, with Marcelo Gallardo signings Tabaré Viudez and Lucas Alario combining for the crucial goal, proved decisive and next week River will face Tigres of Mexico in the first leg (we didn’t know this when we recorded). As well as River in the Copa, there’s also a full weekend of Argentine league action to look back on, including River reserves’ 5-1 tonking of Atlético de Rafaela, and wins for San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors (on Carlos Tevez’s return to La Bombonera) which mean it’s still Boca-San Lorenzo-River in a 1-2-3 at the top of the league table. Andrés also has a preview of this weekend’s biggest league match, the clásico rosarino between Newell’s Old Boys and Rosario Central. HOP is sponsored by Argentina Independent, a fine English-language source of news from Argentina and across Latin America.

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Mystic Sam’s eighteenth round predictions (last week: 7/15)
Aldosivi v Temperley
Gimnasia v Crucero del Norte
Sarmiento v Tigre
Unión v Banfield
Independiente v Atlético de Rafaela
Vélez v Olimpo
Huracán v Estudiantes
Newell’s v Central
Quilmes v Racing
Godoy Cruz v San Lorenzo
River reserves v Colón
Lanús v Defensa y Justicia
Belgrano v Boca
Chicago v San Martín
Arsenal v Argentinos

Episode 163: Carlos Tevez returns to the Argentina fold, and just how good are River Plate?

In episode 163 of Hand Of Pod, Sam is joined by Peter and Andrés to discuss Carlos Tevez’s return to the Argentine national team, ahead of the upcoming friendlies in England against Croatia at Upton Park and Portugal at Old Trafford. After that, we spend a good while wondering just how good this current River Plate team are, after Marcelo Gallardo’s boys beat Estudiantes 2-1 in the Copa Sudamericana on Wednesday evening to make it 29 matches unbeaten in all competitions – equalling River’s best unbeaten run of the professional era, and leaving them just two short of the longest unbeaten run in the club’s entire history. Does this say more about the current state of the Argentine league than anything else? After that, we look at the rest of the league. Listeners’ questions include just how things are going for Juan Román Riquelme’s Argentinos Juniors.

As ever, Mystic Sam’s previews for this weekend’s matches are below. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher, and follow us on Twitter.

Mystic Sam’s fourteenth round predictions
Banfield v Olimpo
Godoy Cruz v Belgrano
Gimnasia v Racing
Quilmes v Vélez
Central v Atlético de Rafaela
Tigre v Lanús
San Lorenzo v Boca
River v Estudiantes
Arsenal v Independiente
Defensa y Justicia v Newell’s

Episode 155: Bianchi sacked, River go top, Di María’s star showing for Argentina & more

The hundred and fifty-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod is a rather long one, because we’ve had a lot to cover; Sam, Peter and Andrés are joined by a special guest, the Sydney Morning Herald’s Sebastian Hassett, who’s been touring South America since the World Cup finished. We have two rounds of domestic action to look back on since the last episode, and those have included the sacking by Boca Juniors of Carlos Bianchi, their victory (and impressive performance) over Vélez Sarsfield in the first match of new man Rodolfo Arruabarrena’s spell in charge, River Plate going top of the table with another couple of very good showings, Tigre manager Fabián Alegre finally being sacked after a year of solid defending but disappointing attacking… oh, and also a few Copa Sudamericana games, the Avellaneda clásico in which Independiente beat Racing 2-1, and the small matter of an Ángel Di María-inspired Argentina thrashing Germany 4-2 in Düsseldorf on Wednesday – we take it as an excuse to discuss the impact he could have for Manchester United, as well as looking at how Gerardo Martino’s Argentina might be made up.

Mystic Sam’s predictions for the sixth round are below. Don’t forget you can subscribe to us on iTunes and Stitcher, and follow us on Twitter.

Mystic Sam’s sixth round predictions
Atlético v Gimnasia
Vélez v Newell’s
Estudiantes v Belgrano
Banfield v Independiente
Central v San Lorenzo
Godoy Cruz v Defensa y Justicia
Racing v Lanús
River v Tigre
Olimpo v Boca
Quilmes v Arsenal