Talleres vs Rosario Central
Talleres continue to struggle under Jorge Sampaoli. On Monday night, they were outplayed from start to finish and lost 3-1 away to Gimnasia Mendoza. As a result, Talleres are bottom of Group A in the Torneo Clausura with just three points and are increasingly falling away from the Copa Sudamericana qualification places in the overall standings: they are four points adrift after winning just one of their last eight league matches (two draws and five defeats). In addition, Talleres have lost their last three matches at the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes. Centre back Román Riquelme is suspended for Monday after being sent off in the last match. Even though they fielded a completely alternative side, Rosario Central produced a more than respectable performance last weekend and beat Barracas Central 1-0 away, with a first-half goal from Alan Rodríguez. The result confirmed El Canalla’s excellent form in the league: they are now unbeaten in four matches (three wins and one draw) and have 10 points in Group B of the Torneo Clausura, just two behind leaders Argentinos Juniors. They have also climbed to fourth in the overall standings, just one point behind the final Copa Libertadores qualification place. On away turf, this was their second consecutive victory in domestic competitions. Before their next league match, Central lost 1-0 at Corinthians on Thursday, August 20, for the second leg of the Copa Libertadores round of 16 (1-0 on aggregate). Rosario Central suffered a painful defeat at Brazil that eliminated them from Libertadores but I still rate them higher than this awful Talleres that lost 4 out of 5 games, conceding 10 goals and looking like they want coach Jorge Sampaoli out of the team as soon as possible, something that will happen with a bad result today.