From glory to grind - ‘El Muñeco’ bows out as costly comeback unravels

I am not going to lie to you, dear reader, this week's column almost did not see the light of day. 

This writer agonised over whether to join the rest of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol and go on strike over Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia's current legal woes, in what would have been a laudable gesture of solidarity. He ultimately decided that this week's bombshell news simply had to be dissected no matter how bad the AFA's plight and despite sharing its ambivalent feelings towards the ARCA (ex-AFIP) tax agency. Besides, having just had two weeks off at the beach it did not feel fair to my poor editor to disappear again. And the strike is still a week away, let us see how we feel then.

The big story is, of course, the end of Marcelo Gallardo's second spell at River Plate. The end for ‘El Muñeco’ came in subdued fashion, a 1-0 defeat to Vélez on Sunday night which marked River's third consecutive Liga Profesional reverse. Twenty-four hours later, in a pre-recorded message released via the club's social media channels, the River legend confirmed he would be stepping down following Thursday's clash with Banfield at the Monumental. 

Gallardo got a rousing send-off from River fans as he said farewell once more, the faithful choosing to remember the glory days of his initial tenure: two Copa Libertadores crowns, a total of 14 major titles and near-complete dominance over arch-rivals Boca. That, coupled with his exploits as a player during the Millonario's previous golden age of the mid-1990s, safely establishes him alongside the likes of Ángel Labruna, Ramón Díaz and Norberto Alonso in the upper tier of River's pantheon of club idols. But there is no getting away from the fact that his return proved a categoric, not to mention costly failure for both him and the team. 

After returning in 2024 in what was a surprise return to the Monumental barely 18 months after his initial emotional exit, Gallardo was backed by a level of financial muscle almost unheard of in Argentine football. The coach spent around US$90 million over the course of two years, bringing back stalwarts from his first spell – the likes of Nacho Fernández, Enzo Pérez and Juan Fernando Quintero – players of international calibre, including several World Cup winners, and his pick of talents from across Argentina and South America. But the results never matched the investment and his attempts to recapture the previous magic floundered. 

Gallardo resigned with a record of 35 wins in 85 games since 2024, a strike-rate of less than 50 percent and well under his win percentage of almost 54 percent from 2014-2022. In the last two years River failed to lift a single piece of silverware and their two attempts at regaining the Libertadores both ended in resounding defeat. In 2025 the Millonario even missed out on qualification for the Libertadores for the first time under Gallardo's watch – a setback which had already warmed his seat regardless of the contract extension signed towards the end of the year. 

River are not the first team to find that a returning legend is no sure guarantee of success (just ask rivals Boca Juniors). It is so hard to catch that magic in a bottle which creates a dominant team that trying to do so twice is not far short of a fool's errand. If he wishes, Gallardo should have plenty of options to revive a coaching career which started so promisingly but which has now stalled after his abortive stint in Saudi Arabia and now this unsatisfactory ending in Núñez. 

The Millonario remain flush with cash and, recent struggles aside, in good stead and will have their pick of top coaches as replacements, with ex-club star Eduardo Coudet looking the most likely choice at the time of writing. Coudet, if confirmed, will be tasked primarily in finding a regular outlet in the opposition area, something which eluded his predecessor and contributed to this untimely downfall amid an indifferent run of results. 

Never go back, they say; Gallardo is just the latest top coach to find out the hard way that the second time around, unlike Frank Sinatra's view of love, is very rarely lovelier.