Marcelo Gallardo, River Plate’s idol and coach with the most titles, announced on Monday (23) that he will lead his last game as head of the club next Thursday (26), when the team will face Banfield at the Monumental Stadium, in the Apertura tournament of Argentine football.
In his second stint as River Plate coach, Gallardo was unable to reverse the disappointing 2025 campaign, which ended without titles or qualification for the 2026 Copa Libertadores. Currently, the team is experiencing a poor start to the season, with three consecutive defeats in the championship.
“I am overcome with emotion and profound sadness that we were unable to achieve our goals,” said Gallardo, visibly dejected, in a video posted on the Buenos Aires club’s social media.
“Words of gratitude to this huge club and its fans for their unconditional love, even in the most delicate moments like this, when things didn’t go as planned,” he added.
After shining in his first spell at River Plate (2014-2022), winning 14 titles, Gallardo has accumulated 35 wins, 32 draws and 18 defeats since returning to his favorite club, in August 2024.
The game against Banfield, in the seventh round of the Apertura, now has the feel of a farewell for a club legend, who even has a statue of him at the Monumental Stadium.
On Thursday, however, River Plate will be without two important players due to injury: Juan Fernando Quintero and Franco Armani, two of the so-called “heroes of Madrid”, the team led by Marcelo Gallardo that won the 2018 Copa Libertadores at the Santiago Bernabéu against arch-rivals Boca Juniors — perhaps the greatest triumph in River’s history.
Criticized for poor performance
But the glory days appear to be behind him, amid criticism of the 50-year-old coach for assembling a squad that has underperformed despite huge investment.
The team has suffered 12 defeats in its last 20 games in all domestic competitions, the most among top division teams in that period.
In the current tournament, River Plate lost 1-0 to Vélez Sarsfield, on Sunday (22), placing tenth in the group and 21st in the general classification, among 30 teams.
Furthermore, he scored just four goals in six league games, and none of them were scored by his attackers, one of the team’s weaknesses.
One of the most repeated criticisms is that Gallardo built the team to order, and under his command the club invested more than US$70 million (R$361 million) in reinforcements.
Despite the trust of the institution and the board, the team failed to qualify for River’s most desired competition, the Copa Libertadores, and this year had to settle for the Copa Sudamericana.
The new board led by Stefano Di Carlo had even extended his contract until December 2026. But Gallardo will have to continue his journey elsewhere.
“I sincerely hope that this institution, which has grown enormously in recent years and is a model throughout the region, will soon achieve good results on the field to further strengthen what River represents to the world”, he declared in the video released this Monday.
After the announcement, the sports press that covers daily life in Núñez put several former River players in the running for candidates to replace Gallardo, a traditional characteristic of the club.
Among the names with the greatest consensus are Eduardo “Chacho” Coudet, current coach of Alavés, in Spain; Ramón Díaz, who led Inter de Porto Alegre until the end of last year and is without a club; and Hernán Crespo, São Paulo coach.
