The Boca Juniors coach, Hugo Ibarra, who made his debut on the bench a few months ago, and River Plate's coach, Marcelo Gallardo, the most successful in the club's history with 14 titles, will face each other this Sunday for the first time as coaches after playing six Superclásicos as players.
The Superclásico on Sunday at 5:00 PM, which will be played at La Bombonera, corresponding to the eighteenth round of the League Tournament, will be the first in which these two historic players will face each other as coaches.
The Xeneize and the Millonario faced each other on six occasions with Ibarra and Gallardo on the field. There were four draws and two victories for the auriazules.
However, the current coach of River Plate scored two goals in Superclásicos where Ibarra was on the opposing team.
The first Superclásico with El Negro and El Muñeco was on October 25, 1998, and ended goalless.
On May 9, 1999, Boca Juniors won 2-1.
On March 26, 2006, April 19, 2009, and October 25, 2009, they drew 1-1. Gallardo scored both goals for the team from Núñez in 2009.
Then they faced each other again on March 25, 2010, and Ibarra's Xeneize won 2-0.
TEAMMATES IN THE ARGENTINE NATIONAL TEAM
The former right-back of Boca Juniors and the former creative midfielder of River Plate played only one official match together, on February 3, 1999, with the Argentine National Team jersey.
That day, both started in the 2-0 victory against Venezuela in a friendly match that marked Marcelo Bielsa's debut as the coach of the Albiceleste.
Gallardo scored the second goal and took the corner kick that Walter Samuel converted into a goal to score the first.
Ibarra, on the other hand, was substituted in the 23rd minute of the first half due to an injury.
They were also close to playing together in Monaco.
The current coach of Boca Juniors was signed by the Ligue 1 team at the end of July 2003, just a few days before Gallardo left the club after winning a league title, a Supercup, and the League Cup.
With the European club, Ibarra reached the final of the 2003/04 Champions League before signing for Espanyol de Barcelona in a brief stint in the Spanish competition.
THE FIRST TIME AS COACHES
Ibarra and Gallardo will face each other for the first time as coaches of Boca Juniors and River Plate, respectively, this Sunday, which will be the 258th official Superclásico.
And they will do it with a very positive record for the former auriazul player, who is now in charge of the team: Ibarra has faced his biggest rival 15 times and has only suffered two defeats.
Both teams have 29 points, four less than Atlético Tucumán and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, who are the leaders, and two less than Huracán and Godoy Cruz, with 17 out of 27 rounds played in the League Tournament.