River Plate U20

19 Feb 2027
Friday
Process
29 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

6 matches without a win for River Plate

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around River Plate are no longer polite ones.

Match

6 matches without a goal for River Plate

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Player ratings

Lautaro Pertusatti runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A falling-out at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

Graduation day at River Plate

4 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.

Market

One of our own: Luis Varela joins the River Plate first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Luis Varela is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

River Plate promote Santiago Perez from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Santiago Perez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

One of our own: Brian De Arrascaeta joins the River Plate first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Brian De Arrascaeta is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Gonzalo Pereira steps up from the River Plate academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gonzalo Pereira has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

In brief

Back issues
28 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

19 days out for Andrew Villanueva after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. River Plate will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Yonatan Irrazábal asks to leave River Plate

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Carlos Rodríguez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at River Plate

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miguel Terceros was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Yonatan Irrazábal gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

No place for Tobías Sosa in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation River Plate are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

In brief

27 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at River Plate

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Andrew Villanueva breaks a bone — 27 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Ramiro Bentancur asks to leave River Plate

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Tempers go at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at River Plate training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Terceros is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Miguel Terceros

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Inti López knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at River Plate, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

Damián Frascarelli is not saying it is over

“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 41 with 355 appearances behind him, and River Plate have to plan for both answers.

The dugout

Diego Sánchez has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Diego Sánchez has written the date down.

In brief

26 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Supporters organise against the River Plate board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Squad

34 days out for Andrew Villanueva after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. River Plate will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Words exchanged at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Felipe Chiappini falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Brian Ferrarés gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Inti López knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at River Plate, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

A season on the outside for Miguel Terceros

He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at River Plate has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.

The dugout

Damián Frascarelli gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Damián Frascarelli is on it.

Market

Santiago Tallarico placed on the list

River Plate have made Santiago Tallarico available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

25 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Andrew Villanueva out for 42 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason River Plate will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

José Arbío has said yes to Zira

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. River Plate have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Squad

A falling-out at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at River Plate training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Terceros is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at River Plate

9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

No hiding place for Facundo Pérez

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Facundo Pérez, and the manager let it.

In brief

24 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Andrew Villanueva breaks a bone — 50 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Mauricio Nievas arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Mauricio Nievas has, at River Plate, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Market

Gerónimo Blanco asks to leave River Plate

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

So close: Gerónimo Blanco’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Cerro moved on, Gerónimo Blanco reports back to River Plate, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

Market

River Plate turn down Inter for José Arbío

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Carlos Rodríguez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Brian Ferrarés stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Brian Ferrarés and River Plate agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Transfer targets

Deadline beats River Plate to Joaquín Zeballos

The clock did what Wanderers would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.

Transfer targets

Gimnasia La Plata tell River Plate: Jorge De Asis is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

In brief

23 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

It is over: River Plate are relegated

The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.

Market

Yonatan Irrazábal puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at River Plate, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at River Plate

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at River Plate is running low.

Market

River Plate say no — this time

The offer from Wanderers for Yonatan Irrazábal was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Transfer targets

Joaquín Zeballos due for a River Plate medical

Everything agreed with Wanderers, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Market

Lautaro Pertusatti wants more than River Plate are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Tempers go at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Nicolás Brun signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicolás Brun commits to River Plate for another 4 years.

The dugout

Lautaro Pertusatti gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

22 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Supporters organise against the River Plate board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Market

Diego Sánchez hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what River Plate can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Joaquín Freitas rejects the move

River Plate had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Flamengo, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Words exchanged at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Carlos Rodríguez

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Nicolás Brun falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

No place for Franco Valdez in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation River Plate are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

The dugout

Lautaro Pertusatti knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at River Plate, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Damián Frascarelli has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at River Plate will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

21 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Transfer targets

Tiago Caballero will not be coming to River Plate

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Olimpia is saying, and nobody at River Plate is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

A falling-out at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at River Plate training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Chiappini is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Transfer targets

Central Espanol tell River Plate: Mateo Urrutia is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Santiago Tallarico signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Santiago Tallarico commits to River Plate for another 4 years.

The dugout

Ramiro Bentancur gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

River Plate are still strangers to each other

11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Joaquín Freitas is in the works

River Plate have made the call to Flamengo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

Felipe Chiappini knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at River Plate, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

20 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Carlos Rodríguez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Too dear: River Plate walk away from Pablo Lago

$36.0K was the most the club would pay and Juventud were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Yonatan Irrazábal

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yonatan Irrazábal, and the manager let it.

Squad

A row about effort at River Plate

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Romero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Gonzalo Pulido stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Gonzalo Pulido and River Plate agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Miguel Terceros is in the works

River Plate have made the call to Santos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

River Plate try to borrow Tiago Caballero

Olimpia have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

The dugout

Inti López knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at River Plate, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

When it matters, Maximiliano Burruzo plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

19 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Yonatan Irrazábal asks to leave River Plate

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at River Plate

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Lautaro Pertusatti signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lautaro Pertusatti commits to River Plate for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

River Plate make their move for Pablo Lago

$15.0K on the table at Juventud. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Boardroom

Santiago Ruiz will join River Plate for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Santiago Ruiz has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means River Plate have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Pablo Lago

River Plate asked and Juventud said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Words at River Plate training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Brun is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Transfer targets

River Plate try to borrow Nicolás Sosa

Racing have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

In brief

18 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at River Plate has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

The dugout

Vitinho says River Plate went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Words exchanged at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at River Plate training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Viudez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Pablo Olivera

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Brian Ferrarés knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at River Plate, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

17 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ramiro Bentancur

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramiro Bentancur, and the manager let it.

Squad

River Plate are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief

16 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Carlos Rodríguez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Yonatan Irrazábal

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Nicolás Brun falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Facundo Pérez signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Facundo Pérez and River Plate agree another 4 years.

The dugout

Maximiliano Burruzo gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maximiliano Burruzo is on it.

Market

Still no signature from Lautaro Pertusatti

2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what River Plate could get for him.

In brief

15 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Yonatan Irrazábal hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what River Plate can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Felipe Chiappini

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Santiago Mier has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and River Plate will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

Squad

The formation has left Isaías Sierra behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. River Plate will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

The dugout

Lautaro Pertusatti knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at River Plate, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

14 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at River Plate spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

Words exchanged at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at River Plate training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Romero is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

A step back for Santiago Romero at River Plate

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

Market

River Plate and Lautaro Pertusatti are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

The dugout

Felipe Chiappini asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

13 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Santiago Romero says River Plate went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

A falling-out at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Pablo Olivera falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Nicolás Brun signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicolás Brun commits to River Plate for another 4 years.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Maximiliano Burruzo

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at River Plate

17 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

In brief

12 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Carlos Rodríguez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at River Plate

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Olivera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ramiro Bentancur

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramiro Bentancur, and the manager let it.

Squad

The formation has left Pablo Viudez behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. River Plate will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

The dugout

Inti López knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at River Plate, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Maximiliano Burruzo has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at River Plate will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

Lautaro Pertusatti runs his contract down

2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs River Plate money.

Market

Yonatan Irrazábal placed on the list

River Plate have made Yonatan Irrazábal available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

The dugout

A door opens for Vitinho

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

11 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Damián Frascarelli: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” River Plate have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Brian Garino stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Brian Garino and River Plate agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Pablo Olivera gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Brian Garino is a square peg at River Plate

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

The dugout

Rodrigo Hernández has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at River Plate will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

10 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Pablo Olivera keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” River Plate may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Yonatan Irrazábal

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

A row about effort at River Plate

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Olivera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

One of our own is behind an import at River Plate

He is 34, he has been here since he was a boy, and the shirt he grew up expecting has been given to somebody flown in for it. That grievance belongs to the town as much as to the player.

Squad

A promotion for Gastón Rodríguez

Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Gastón Rodríguez has moved up it.

In brief

9 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jose Silva

19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. River Plate lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Yonatan Irrazábal asks to leave River Plate

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

A falling-out at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Pablo Olivera falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Lautaro Pertusatti

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at River Plate

15 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

In brief

8 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Jose Silva out for 26 days

26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. River Plate lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Carlos Rodríguez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ramiro Bentancur

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Lautaro Pertusatti knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lautaro Pertusatti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Maximiliano Burruzo gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maximiliano Burruzo is on it.

Market

Lautaro Pertusatti runs his contract down

3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs River Plate money.

In brief

7 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at River Plate training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Olivera is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

Ramon Rios steps up from the River Plate academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ramon Rios has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

One of our own: Juan Pereira joins the River Plate first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Juan Pereira is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

No place for Gastón Rodríguez in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation River Plate are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Facundo Pérez

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Gastón Rodríguez brings the grey hairs River Plate lacked

At 34, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.

The dugout

Rodrigo Hernández gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Rodrigo Hernández is on it.

Market

No place for José Arbío in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” José Arbío has his answer from River Plate; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

6 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Damián Frascarelli

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

5 matches without a win for River Plate

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around River Plate are no longer polite ones.

Match

5 matches without a goal for River Plate

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Words exchanged at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Pablo Olivera falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

No hiding place for Yonatan Irrazábal

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yonatan Irrazábal, and the manager let it.

Market

Still no ink between River Plate and Lautaro Pertusatti

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at River Plate, another week without a signature from Lautaro Pertusatti.

Squad

Pablo Olivera loses the armband

The captaincy has been taken off Pablo Olivera. River Plate will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Eduardo Perez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the River Plate dressing room was either.

In brief

5 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Yonatan Irrazábal puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at River Plate, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Yonatan Irrazábal

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

4 matches without a win for River Plate

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around River Plate are no longer polite ones.

Match

4 matches without a goal for River Plate

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

A falling-out at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Rodrigo Rodríguez

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

River Plate come up short against Plaza Colonia

Plaza Colonia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Alejandro García

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

14 new faces, and River Plate are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

In brief

4 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The small margins put River Plate out

Out, 0‑1 to Rentistas, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Damián Frascarelli

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Rodrigo Rodríguez

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Carlos Rodríguez in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at River Plate this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

3 matches without a goal for River Plate

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Pablo Olivera falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Ramiro Bentancur gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Eduardo Perez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

The dugout

Cristian Techera does not fit this one

Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.

In brief

3 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Cup progress for River Plate

A 2‑1 win over Oriental, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

Rodrigo Hernández wins it after the whistle should have gone

107 minutes played. Rodrigo Hernández found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Oriental went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Rodrigo Hernández at 21 — 7.91

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rodrigo Hernández did not need any: 7.91, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

6 saves: Yonatan Irrazábal was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

River Plate count the cost of losing Carlos Rodríguez

16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Tempers go at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Maximiliano Burruzo

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

River Plate come up short against Danubio

Danubio left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Maximiliano Burruzo in the eights

A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

2 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Yonatan Irrazábal keeps River Plate in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

A falling-out at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

River Plate beat the market to Mathías Aguiar from Montevideo City Torque

Montevideo City Torque will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Mathías Aguiar has pre-agreed a move to River Plate, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Yonatan Irrazábal

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

One of our own: Ignacio Rodriguez joins the River Plate first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ignacio Rodriguez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

River Plate promote Thiago Rios from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Thiago Rios has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

River Plate promote Rafael Hernandez from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rafael Hernandez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Felipe Cabrera steps up from the River Plate academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Felipe Cabrera has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Match

A bad afternoon for River Plate against Liverpool Montevideo

0‑1 to Liverpool Montevideo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

1 Edition

The River Plate Gazette

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Yonatan Irrazábal asks to leave River Plate

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Carlos Rodríguez stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Carlos Rodríguez and River Plate agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at River Plate

Carlos Rodríguez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

A bad afternoon for River Plate against Penarol

0‑1 to Penarol, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

A row about effort at River Plate

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Olivera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at River Plate

13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Eduardo Perez answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Player ratings

Tomás López was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Market

Talks stall between River Plate and Lautaro Pertusatti

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

In brief