While the Monumental de Núñez convulsed and chaos took over the streets around the stadium, the Radio Miter reporter babbled to his colleagues next to him in the press room.
“That’s not natural.”
In a system designed for a team of its size not to fall, River Plate was relegated to the second division of the Argentine Championship by Belgrano, in 2011. The 1-1 draw elevated the Córdoba team to the elite. The moment went beyond sport and became a historic event in the country. It became a reference in journalistic, cultural, humorous programs and songs from the stands about the day the giant “went to B”.
The fall introduced the phrase “this stain cannot be erased” into the Argentine vernacular.
Fifteen years later, River Plate and Belgrano face each other again in a decisive match. This Sunday (24), at 3:30 pm (Brasília time), they decide the national title — broadcast on ESPN/Disney+. The game will be at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium, in Córdoba. Belgrano fans sold out their quota of 20,000 tickets in 45 minutes.
The final is in 2026, but it’s as if everyone still lives in 2011. There’s more talk about the relegation game than about the definition of the trophy. There is even a memory that striker Mariano Pavone missed the penalty that practically sealed River’s fate that year at 24 minutes and 5 seconds of the second half. The date of this Sunday’s clash is 5/24.
River fell despite the intermediate system created by the AFA (Argentine Football Association) to prevent the relegation of the big ones. The drop is not defined in just one championship, but based on an equation that takes into account the points from the five previous tournaments. With the second worst average in 2011, the Buenos Aires club had to play a playoff against Belgrano, second in Serie B.
To stay at the top, they needed to win at least once (or get two draws) and avoid a negative goal difference. In the first game, at the Julio César Villagra stadium, the Giant of Alberdi, Belgrano won 2-0.
River fans were photographed praying at the Western Wall in Israel. To illustrate the drama of the moment, the image was on the cover of “Olé”, the country’s main sports daily, with the pun “Isreal” (“is real” or “is real”, in English).
On the way back, at Monumental, the club with the second biggest fan base in Argentina needed to win by two goals. In a climate of suffocating pressure, referee Sergio Pezzotta had the dressing room invaded at half-time by “barras bravas” and threatened with death if he did not award a penalty for the home team.
Pezzotta gave the penalty, which was wasted by Pavone. “I never saw that match again”, the judge would confess years later. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Finishing is an exaggeration. It’s not finished. Those organized began throwing bombs and objects on the pitch two minutes before the end. The war moved to nearby streets, with police running out of pepper spray and using batons and rubber bullets. Home windows were broken; parked cars, set on fire. A fan attempted suicide.
“And whoever doesn’t jump”, the Boca fans began to sing, jumping, “go to B”. The joke began to be sung at each confrontation with the rival, defined in the term “superclassic”.
The cannons were aimed at former president José Maria Aguilar, who led River between 2001 and 2009, considered the most disastrous season in the club’s history, responsible for the crisis that resulted, two years later, in relegation.
“You will never again be able to walk freely through the streets of the Argentine Republic!”, said, shouting, while the Monumental was burning, Atilio Costa Fiebre, “partisan rapporteur”, narrator 100% identified with the club whose games he broadcasts. The fashion would be widely imitated years later by Brazilian radio stations.
Belgrano’s coach in 2011 was Ricardo Zielinski. Belgrano’s coach in 2026 is Ricardo Zielinski. The goalkeeper 15 years ago, who later mocked the River fans on every visit to Monumental, was Juan Carlos Olave, now an assistant coach.
The revelation of the Cordoba club that afternoon in June 2011 was midfielder “Mudo” Franco Vázquez, now a midfielder and leader of the squad at 37 years old.
The 2026 final is a single game under the Argentinian competition system, a swollen championship with 30 teams, a political tool of the AFA president, Claudio “Chiqui” Tápia, to stay in power. Sixteen qualified for the round of 16, with the knockout phases always involving a match at the home of whoever had the best campaign. The exception is the final, with the location decided in advance to be on a neutral field.
This year it will be in Córdoba, the city of Belgrano, which surprised and reached the decision. The memories of 2011 even erase the fact that the two teams were on the verge of elimination in the previous stages but overcame each other.
In the round of 16, River was behind until stoppage time, but drew with San Lorenzo and went through on penalties after the opponent missed two kicks. If I converted just one, I would be classified.
In a similar situation, Belgrano drew with Argentinos Juniors in the semifinals in the last play of the match and saw their rival waste the shot in the penalty shootout that would have given them a place in the decision.
The discussion about relegation also leaves behind the fact that, after returning to the elite, River Plate began the best period in its history. There have been 19 titles in these 15 years, seven of which are international. There were two Libertadores, one of them, in 2018, against Boca Juniors.
But the arch-rival fans, despite this, continued for the following years to remember that the draw with Belgrano is “the stain that cannot be erased”.
