The Least Balanced Rivalry in the World

Just read this from the very beginning, and the first words that come to mind to describe it are: HOLY HELL. You have done brilliantly. The way you have transformed this club is incredible, and it's safe to say that the smartest decision the club ever made was to hire Jorge, and trust him to make the right signings to help the club move towards challenging for silverware. I honestly didn't expect the transition to be so quick, but you managed it via shipping out players for high fees, and replacing them with players that are of equal [or better] ability for less money: cha-ching!

Well done mate, I'll be following this, and look forward to the next installment!

Another outstanding performance eliminating Atletico & Barcelona! Unreal! A win in this tournament will be the last thing you could possibly win.

Is this some kind of mode that you implemented in the game or just something that happened in the game?

As our mission goes on, individual seasons may get repetitive. The goals are clear, there is no much mystery with it: win the league in May, win Libertadores in November, repeat. After years doing it, and succeeding at it, we are still 1 Superliga and 2 Libertadores short of our target. The format of the world title has changed so much that getting will be an uphill battle, so I'm sad to announce that we may never get the title Estudiantes got in 1968.

Transfers

To avoid the setbacks of last season, I decided to spend more of the money we keep getting, so instead of buying raw players to develop, I pulled the trigger on some top quality players already matured in Argentinean football. They are still young players, considering that the more experienced are already playing in Europe.

Mauricio Ramírez, 18: quite an exciting piece of centre-back coming from Uruguayan football, with quite a strong mind for someone his age. He's also good with the ball on his feet, and will certainly grow up to be a world-class player.
Leonardo Polito, 21: as Central falls apart, we get some of their best spoils, as we did with Newell's. Polito is a promising goal-keeper that can become very good at the national level.
Sebastián Guerra, 19: defensive midfielder of fantastic quality, playing top football despite the young age. Will come directly into the first team.
Silvio Bareiro, 20: very good option for the bench or even a rotation with Horacio Bauzá. Even though he hasn't the potential of the most promising players, he can also become very good for the Argentine game.
Luciano Bejega, 16: I put a lot of effort on guaranteeing the services of the 16-year-old left-back, and I'm positive that he will grow to be one of the best players in Argentina.
Darío Rojas, 21: the young deep-lying playmaker was playing brilliantly at River, so I decided he would come to play brilliantly for us.
Federico Losas, 23: with the departure of Malpartida, we are still short of a great goal-keeper. Losas is not as brilliant, but he can deliver lots of good performances, I'm positive of that.
Ariel Kent, 19: the polivalent midfielder comes to complete a strong tryad of new exciting signings for the midfield.
Máximo Galeano, 21: sharing the same family name of one of the biggest writers in the Spanish language of all times, the young striker came to Gimnasia to do for us what he's been doing against us for two seasons: causing problems.


In the same window, the record for the biggest ever transfer in Argentine football has been broken twice: first, just a few days before the Clubs World Cup, Man City came with the then-record-breaking sum of €35 million, later matched with the sale of the Peruvian Leonel Vega to Betis. In the dying moments of the transfer window, however, Hertha came with €39 million for Sebá Rodríguez and the record was broken again.

New Stadium

Due to the magnificent commercial success of our club, the board announced, without me asking for it, plans for building a new stadium in La Plata, with space for more 12 thousand fans than our current venue. With a bigger stadium, we expect to make more money from gate revenues.

Season Preview

Again, we are expected to win. With the signings we made, I expect to win more comfortably and playing more suitable football than we did last season. River, Vélez, and Boca are expected to fight a spicy fight for the second place. At the other end of the table, the line for the relegated seems well-drawn, and, for the first time since the first season, Newell's and Central, the rivals of Rosario will play in the same division.

Copa Argentina

6th Rnd Gimnasia 2-0 Argentinos Juniors: for the first time since quite a while, we played some decent football in the cup and got comfortably through.

Replies

@MidKnightDreary, @ScottT, @TheLFCFan the lads made the price of the ticket to Qatar worth it. They delivered far more than I expected

@Jack I was surprised by how poor Barça played, but then watched them in real life and... nevermind.

@Feliks, thank you mate, it's always pleasant to read feedback like this

@J_ames from this perspective, it's really great to see how well it turned out considering that in the beginning, the squad was poor, resources were scarce, and the club had no assets

@OneMoreGame I'd really love to close the story with a win at this competition in 2029, but there is a looong way until then

answering your question: the competition is on game database itself, having their first edition in 2021

You've reinvested the money quite well. There are some really promising and exciting talents in the mix of the signings made. Congratulations on the new stadium due to be built. It only highlights what a fantastic job you have done.

That is some real funding no matter how good the players were! Great to see it being pumped back in with talented new players. Excited to see the new stadium as well

Imagine my surprise. Even more massive sales. I wonder how much Europe has contributed to the new stadium!

Okay, what you do with so much money in Argentina - playas & narcoticos.

The story is on that level that I expect at least double!

Winning the title last season was a relief after a wobbly season. On the bright side, we can say that we have something to aim for even after so many consecutive titles: play convincing football. No more wobbling. We made those huge investments in the midfield exactly to stop an eventual drop in form.

Superliga Argentina - Rounds 1 to 21

And I can say I'm satisfied with the result. Although it may seem to be hard to motivate the players to smash small clubs, the lads are stepping up to the game whenever they face a tougher challenge, and it's been brilliant to see.

Highlights

R1 Gimnasia 2-0 Racing Club: we started with two hard games against two tough opponents, and Racing brought us an interesting challenge. Our team, however, got the reigns of the game and sacramented the win with a late goal.
R2 Gimnasia 2-1 River: as River are getting back on track, they are becoming a tough team to beat. In this duel, Bareiro got us ahead, but a display of sheer lack of experience from our right-back Mario Alvarez has made us vulnerable and they tied it right after it. We managed to fend off River's attempts throughout the whole second half, being rewarded with a penalty in the 87th minute and a subsequential red card, making it all even. Sucari, the ex-River man, buried the penalty into the back of the net.
R3 Nueva Chicago 0-4 Gimnasia: Sebá Rodríguez found a sweet way to say goodbye with a hat-trick. Maybe he was motivated to get a better salary in Germany, we'll never know for sure.
R5 Estudiantes 0-2 Gimnasia: San Esteban got his 10th Clásico win in another tougher than expected game. Rojas got us ahead in the early second half, but the comfort goal came only 4 minutes in injury time.
R9 Boca Juniors 0-2 Gimnasia: they say that winning in La Bombonera is one of the toughest things in football, but here we are doing it quite frequently.
R10 Argentinos Juniors 0-4 Gimnasia: if I accepted selling Sebá Rodríguez, I did it because I knew that we had someone to step up for his vacant spot. Rodrigo Olivera did amazingly well in the Club WC and got my trust to jump into the first squad. And he's been delivering, as his hat-trick shows.
R15 Vélez 1-0 Gimnasia: funny enough, Vélez took our invincibility away with a deserved win and now are the only invincible team in the league at this point.
R17 Gimnasia 2-2 Independiente: after an exciting 2-0 lead in the first half, we looked good for an overpowering win. Instead, the boludos decided to give an easy win away in a matter of ten minutes.
R21 Gimnasia 2-0 Boca: our superiority over Boca has kept on going, this time with collaboration of a red card. Olivera and Galeano, my striking duo, got the goals of the evening.

San Esteban's Clásico Platense Count: 10-4-1
All Time Clásico Platense Count: 60-68-67

Superliga Argentina - Current Standings (Round 21)

We stand out 9 points ahead, with 18 wins in 21 games, and, again, dominant. With 8 ties, Vélez show up in second place yet to be defeated and could do way more harm to us if they could win more games. And look who's there in 4th place! After poor performances in the last years, they finally seem to be growing stronger to be a rival once again. It'll be interesting to follow their development.

Copa Argentina - Final Stages

Guys, you won't believe it. This episode will have more than one cup game.

6R 2-0 Argentinos Juniors: Galeano got two in the first half and then all we had to do was to take control of the actions and guarantee that nothing funny happens.

7R 4-1 Chacarita Juniors: the game was tighter than it looks like: Chacarita had the same amount of shots and the double of our ball possession. Our lads, however, have been spot on in front of goal and we got away with the undeserving win.

QF Estudiantes 1-0 Gimnasia: the Pincharratas confirmed their good moment knocking us out of the cup, catching us napping thinking about Libertadores and all over the place on the pitch.

Estudiantes went on to lose the cup in the final.

Copa Argentina review

San Esteban's Clásico Platense Count: 10-4-2
All Time Clásico Platense Count: 60-68-68

Copa Libertadores 2025 Knockout Stages

We can't have it easy on the draws, can we? It's either Grêmio or Palmeiras. The algorithm of these draws irritates me sometimes.

2nd Round vs. Grêmio

1st Leg Grêmio 2-1 Gimnasia: after a match of harsh tackles and no much development, it seemed to be a 0-0 until Grêmio opened the scoreline at the 72nd minute. We got to tie it back later on, but they found a winning goal in the dying moments. The defeat is a bummer indeed, but the result is reversible.

2nd Leg Gimnasia 1-0 Grêmio: Galeano got us the goal we needed to advance in the criterion of the away goals. I hate this criterion, but it has come in handy this time.


Quarterfinals vs. Palmeiras

Guess who, huh?

1st Leg Palmeiras 0-4 Gimnasia: As they had a player sent off minutes after our first goal, I knew that we could get something big here, so I threw the kitchen sink at it, getting a result that allows us to go at peace to the second leg.

2nd Leg Gimnasia 2-2 Palmeiras: with the qualification in the bag, the entertaining 2-2 match didn't mean much really.


Semifinals vs. Atlético Mineiro

After the fiasco in the Club WC, Atlético Mineiro wanted to shake it off with a third Libertadores title.

1st Leg Gimnasia 2-1 Atlético: we started well with an opening goal at the 2nd minute, but it didn't take them too long to find an equalizer. Olivera found a second goal in the dying moments of the first half to crown a bittersweet victory. We can't afford to lose the second leg.

2nd Leg Atlético 0-1 Gimnasia: and we fortunately didn't. In another early goal, Olivera got us back the away goal we conceded in the first match. Sucari even missed a penalty, but the important is that they never managed to fight back.


In the Final, we'll face Flamengo, the richest club in the continent, and fond of a very controversial take in Brazilian football during the coronavirus pandemic. It will be interesting to meet them, as we have met them only in the Club WC, but never in Libertadores, and I am eager to beat an institution whose current board is treating the pandemic with that much insensibility.

Replies

@ScottT and @Jack as Europe take away my players whenever they play well, I have no other option than Portoing my way to the top. Fortunately, Argentina is a limitless source of great players

@TheLFCFan actually, a sponsor is paying for half of the stadium, even though we didn't need this money

@OneMoreGame playas in Argentina are freezing cold and narcoticos aren't really their thing there (we actually don't take much drugs in South America, we just sell them to the crackhead yankees)

League is becoming easy now. Dominant all the way through and although you slipped up against Velez, they seem to prefer draws. The Libertadores draws haven't been kind but you have dealt with them nicely. I look forward to seeing another one, won

Dominant in everything beside the cup... One day you'll get your hands on it. Surely?

Great work all around. A massive shame to go out to your biggest rivals in the cup but I suppose that's all made up for with a final in the continental competition!

Some of the young lads you've signed are going to generate monstrous transfer fees in the coming years! Exciting times ahead for the club, and the new stadium will have a full trophy cabinet in no time. Fingers crossed we can add the Copa Libertadores in there

Velez proving once again to be your main rival.

However I don't see you dropping the title soon, your team is just better at everything than the other Argentinian teams.

Flamengo is just the next team to beat and to add another Libertadores. Is the record for consecutive titles close?

VH: Señoras y señores, you know the drill. Final de Copa here in the Hernando Siles up here in La Paz! 3,640 metres above sea level, it's Gimnasia again!, this time, playing Flamengo. Your thoughts for the match, Cisco?

FB: Sí, sí, sí, Tín, Gimnasia is at it again! Who could tell that the team that spent almost 100 years without silverware would be representing Argentina for the third time in four years in the Copa Libertadores Finale?

VH: Well, they say those good things come for the ones who wait, maybe some centennial viejito is there finally having the time of his life!

FB: or maybe he died in his 90s and had really bad luck!

VH: jajajaja, quizás, Cisco! The director is here telling us to shut up because the information about the teams is about to show up, señoras y señores: the line-ups for today's game:


VH: Cisco! San Esteban has made a lot of changes for the final in the past years, but no change in the line-up this time!

FB: San Esteban trusts the team that has been playing and he's not wrong! Darío Rojas has been brilliant in the creative sector, and this formation seems to bring up the best on him. In recent interviews, he's expressed his satisfaction with a formation with two hungry strikers up front, and with Guerra guarding the defense, the two wing-backs are free to supply them at the wings.

VH: Flamengo seems to come with a line of 5 in the midfield, will they give up on their 4-2-3-1 formation today, Cisco?

FB: I don't think they are doing it, Tin. With this formation, they can easily change back to a two-lined midfield as they fancy. I'd bet that Iván Sopegno wants to be cautious in the first few minutes, and will change the formation according to the unfolding of the events. The elegant Anderson Talisca, in that sense, will have to play a little bit to the back of what he's used to, and Nico López will have to run from the back. It will be interesting to see how Flamengo will be able to create.

VH: Are you prepared, Cisco?

FB: Let's do this, Tín!

0'
She's rolling for the last time in the Copa! The Finale of the Copa Libertadores 2025 is underway!

14' 0-0
Belmonte opens to the left to Chan, he has a nice crossing position!
PAULO HENRIQUE ON THE VOLLEY!, blocked by Pereyra
NOW NICO LÓPEZ ON THE VOLLEY!
IT FLIES UP THE BAR!

21' 0-0
Edu.
Chan.
Belmonte.
On the right-wing with Paulo Roberto.
HE FIRES IT!
PEREYRA ON THE BLOCK AGAIN, BUT IT'S STILL ALIVE
PAULO ROBERTO!
IT GOES OVER!

27' 0-0
Nico has it, gives to Belmonte
Belmonte lays left to Edu
HE GETS PAST MARIO ALVAREZ, HAS A GO!
LOSAS!
LOSAS WITH A GOOD SAVE!

38' 0-0
Pesenti puts it back in play
Galeano looks for space, HE TURNS AROUND BEAUTIFULLY, CROSSES!
BAUZÁ!
Weak, weak, the goalkeeper had no trouble getting to it.

39' 0-0
Belmonte again, Flamengo does not do anything without giving it to him first
Paulo Henrique, plays to Paulo Roberto
PAULO ROBERTO TRIES IT!
LOSAAAAS... LOSAS?
HE FUMBLED IT AND GOT IT BACK OVER THE LINE, THE FLAMENGO PLAYERS ARE CLAIMING A GOAL!

41' 0-0
VH: Cisco, has the VAR officials get to a verdict?
FB: NO GOAL!
VH: NO GOAL!

45+2' 0-0
Pereyra tries a long pass to Pesenti
Bad call! Nico intercepts it.
And they come on the counter! Talisca.
TALISCA FINDS EDU WITH A BRILLIANT PASS, HE FIRES IT!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL QUE ES DE FLAMENGO, CISCO!

Edu gets the first goal of the game from a brilliant through ball by Talisca and Gimnasia concedes a goal right before half-time.

FB: No, no, no, Tín, not now! What a terrible moment to give the ball away on the defensive midfield and concede. Gimnasia has been poor the whole game, and the bad call from Pereyra crowns this performance with a deserved goal. San Esteban must get his lads back on the pitch with a different attitude for the second half, Tín.

VH: And speaking of which, Cisco, the referee blows the whistle. It is half-time.

Half-time

FB: Los Lobos are not deserving anything better than they have on this game. A poor performance, a few steps behind their opponents and maybe showing that Brazilians are eager to get back to the top of the continent. Flamengo dominated the actions of the first half, missed a couple of chances, and finally found their goal after Gimnasia made a childish mistake on the exit.

45' 0-1
The second half is underway! Gimnasia has 45 minutes to wake up on this game.

56' 0-1
Alvarez gets it over Edu
Bauzá has it. HE CROSSES!
Easy save for Ednaldo from Pereyra's header.

57' 0-1
Alvarez gets the throw to Olivera
HE FLIES PAST GERMÁN CHAN
HIS ANGLE IS TIGHT, WILL HE CROSS?
He shoots it and Edvaldo taps it wide
Bad choice from Gimnasia's top scorer

60' 0-1
Belmonte plays it to Talisca
ANOTHER BRILLIANT PASS FROM TALISCA TO EDU
EDU CROSSES, SÉRGIO MURILO!

SUCARI SACRIFICES HIMSELF AND BLOCKS THE SHOT!

62' 0-1
Paulo Henrique to Nico López
He gives it to Paulo Roberto, back to Nico
HE FINDS PAULO HENRIQUE AGAIN IN A GOOD POSITION
HE GOES FOR IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

WOO HOO HOO THAT WAS CLOSE!

FB: Phew, Tín! Phew! The ball flies millimitres away from the post, I think they'll have to repaint it.

66' 0-1
Substitution for Gimnasia. Alvarez out, Sforza in.

FB: With this substitution, Ariel Kent will play as a wing-back as Sforza will get his spot as a Mezzala.

72'
Substitution for Flamengo. López out, Hlozek in.

FB: I think Nico was tired. Adam Hlozek plays in the same function as Nico.

72' 0-1
Ariel Kent has it. Left to Guerra.
Rojas. Back to Guerra, Gimnasia moves forward as they have to!
Bauzá. Galeano. Olivera
BACK TO GALEANO
HE FIRES IT FROM OUTSIDE OF THE BOX!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

QUE

ES

DE GIMNASIA!

MARVELOUS! BRILLIANT HIT TO THE TOP LEFT CORNER, NO CHANCES FOR EDVALDO! GALEANO GETS IT BACK, CISCO! WE ARE PRETTY MUCH ALIVE ON THIS CONTENTION!

FB: PLEASE, NEVER TAKE SAN ESTEBAN FOR GRANTED! Gimnasia came back with a different attitude, much more like it! A brilliant paso-y-me-voy action, no more than one touch to the ball each with the exception to Galeano, who clears the defender and fires it to the top corner! It's 1-1 and the game is on!

77' 1-1
Double substitution with Flamengo. Wesley Fernandes comes in to replace Germán Chan; and Nicolás Benedetti will replace Paulo Roberto.

FB: we'll see a big formation change now. The two wing-backs are coming to the bench as Flamengo sends a defender and an attacking midfielder on the pitch. They will play on a fluid 3-4-2-1 now.

78' 1-1
Pesenti was feeling tired and will be substituted. Gabriel Herrera comes on.

82' 1-1
Rojas.
Guerra. Paulo Henrique with a tight marking.
Brilliant turn around to give it to Bauzá!
GALEANO! HE OPENS ON THE RIGHT WITH ARIEL KENT!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

QUE ES DE GIMNASIA!

QUE GOLAZO, QUE LO PARIÓ! I FORGOT WORDS! CISCO!

FB: BRILLIANT, TÍN! ABSOLUTE BRILLIANT! GALEANO OPENED TO THE RIGHT CORNER À LA PELÉ AND ARIEL KENT FIRES IT TO THE OPPOSITE BOTTOM CORNER À LA CARLOS ALBERTO TORRES! A BRILLIANT REPRODUCTION OF ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC GOALS OF ALL TIME! BUT THIS TIME AROUND, ARGENTINA SCORES IT AND BRAZIL SUCKS IT HAHA!

89' 2-1
Ariel Kent is about to be substituted
And here comes the stand ovation!
Kent gets out, Roberto di Santo gets in!

FB: San Esteban subs off his hero today to send in a defensive-minded player. He doesn't want to give it away now.

90' 2-1
Sucari heads it away, but it's not cleared out!
PAULO HENRIQUE FINDS HLOZEK
GOOOOOOOOOO-

The flag's up, it's offside!

FB: Díos mío, thank you Lord for that flag. The decision was correct, Adam Hlozek was offside.

90+2' 2-1
The defender is going nuts, Mammana runs with it through the centre.
Plays it to Bedenetti.
HE GOES FOR IT!
OVER THE BAR!

90+3' 2-1
Rojas recovers the ball and goes for the counter
Sends it down the line to Galeano
GALEANO AVOIDS A CHALLENGE FROM THIAGO MAIA, HIT IT BEAUTIFULLY!

WIIIIIDE!

90+5' 2-1
THE REF WHISTLES IT! GIMNASIA GETS LA TRIPLETA! NOW THEY ARE JUST ONE COPA SHORT OF THEIR RIVALS, WHAT A CATCH-UP!

FB: Los Basureros are getting in this decade what they missed out on their history. Fans: enjoy! This moment is yours!

Match Report / Competition Review / Dream Team

Replies

@TheLFCFan there you have it (and sorry for the delay)

@ScottT maybe?

@Jack lifting the Copa Libertadores is always beautiful, innit?

@J_ames I honestly hope I can keep them and do something fun in the next CWC. And yeah, this new stadium will be born with a lot of tradition in there

@OneMoreGame Vélez is stepping up over Boca and River, but I'm glad that we are miles ahead

Clubs with consecutive Copa Libertadores titles:
1) Independiente (4) - 1972-75
2) Estudiantes (3) - 1968-70
3) Gimnasia (2) - 2024-25
Boca Juniors (2) - 2000-01
São Paulo (2) - 1992-93
Santos (2) - 1962-63
Peñarol (2) - 1960-61

Congratulations to Gimnasia! To come from behind and win it in the dying embers of the game... What a way to win the Libertadores!