River Plate will seek to recover the Copa Libertadores because “it is everyone’s dream,” said coach Marcelo Gallardo on Monday on his return to the South American giants.
Gallardo won 14 titles in his first spell at River, adding the Copa Libertadores in 2015 and 2018, his eight and a half years from 2014 to 2022, before coaching Al Ittihad of the Saudi Pro League from 2023 to 2024.
“The big objective is to aim for everything that is at stake and basically concentrate on the Libertadores,” Gallardo said in his presentation at River’s Monumental Stadium.
“It’s everyone’s dream [the name Libertadores], it’s the dream we all have. We will do everything possible to be able to play this festival with a lot of determination and to be able to move forward, and of course with the illusion of winning”. he.
Victories over bitter rivals Boca Juniors in the 2014 Copa Sudamericana and the 2015, 2018 and 2019 Libertadores have marked Argentine football and the history of the rivalry between the country’s top clubs.
“The first thing I feel right now is a lot of emotion, which is like combined feelings, with the fact that I left recently but it turns out that I never left,” Gallardo said.
“I’m where I belong, where I sit, and there are a lot of expectations about what we can do from here. “
Gallardo takes over after the departure of Martín Demichelis, who resigned after a series of poor effects this year after being in 2023.
“There is a lot of work to do, which is obviously underway. The activity is advancing and we have to try to be very precise with a concept and a message that has a quick impact,” said Gallardo.
River hosts Huracán in the Argentine league on Saturday in the first match for the greatest technical success in the club’s history.
Reuters data used in this story.