Newell's Pull One Out Of The Hat

When Belgrano Cordoba defender Gastón Turus scored the first goal of the game in the eigth minute my thoughts were "here we go again." When midfielder Juan Maldonado put the home side up 2-0 some five minutes later I was sure that La Lepra were done, that this game was just going to be another painful reminder that the team just was not capable of scoring goals, and that the defensive lapses from last season were returning. On Twitter I called for Newell's to wake up...

Enter Pablo Perez in the thirty first minute, replacing defender Alexis Machuca. Perez positioned himself in midfield, with Cristian Díaz moving back to defense. It was as if the entire Newell's squad had pasted through the magical hat of Hijitus and become Super Lepra. Belgrano stopped getting as many chances. Ten minutes later and Sperduti placed a cross in to the area, Víctor Aquino heading a bouncing ball past Belgrano keeper Juan Carlos Olave.

Newell's were back in the game.

The second half belonged to Newell's and Newell's alone. In the sixty third minute Lucas Bernardi launched the ball forward to the feet of Ricardo Noir, who calmly took the ball and blasted it into the back of the net and the score was level.

Three minutes later and it was Noir again, this time with a header (after another cross from Sperduti.) Now after the game against Boca last week I stated that Noir had barely proved himself better than a player I have been known to call the Great Tree Stump. All I can say is I love it when any Newell's player proves me wrong.



Up next, the closest thing that La Lepra have to a clasico, as Colón de Santa Fe come to Rosario. There will actually be two mini-clasicos for Newell's this season, as Unión de Santa Fe have come up from the B. Just prior to the start of the Newell's Belgrano match these two teams played their true clasico, Unión taking a surprize 2-0 victory.

Newell's Set For The Copa Sudamericana

With Newell's Old Boys set to play their first round, first leg Copa Sudamericana match this Thursday, it's time to take a look at who we can expect to see out on the pitch... and, of course, a look at the team they'll face.

Rolando Schiavi will be missing, due to the red card he picked up when Emelec eliminated La Lepra from the Copa Libertadores. With that said, the question is show will replace him? Word is that the two players Sensini is looking at are Alexis Machuca and Nacho Fideleff, with Machuca being being reported as the more likely to make the starting eleven. No other changes are expected from the players who started over the weekend:

Peratta
Alayes, Machuca or Fideleff, Cichero
Vella, Mateo, Bernardi, Estigarribia
Formica
Sperduti, Borghello

It's interesting that Mauricio "El Gordo" Sperdutti has suddenly been moved from the right side of midfield after all the work that was put into searching and signing forwards who have produced so little so far this season. Considering his defensive short comings, up front may just be the best place for him. Had Sensini thought of that before hand he could have asked for a right sided midfielder rather than another striker.

The players expected to be on the bench (along with either Machuca or Fideleff) are Guzmán, Dolci, Scaglia, Domínguez, Velázquez, Rodríguez, Salvatierra y Dening. I really have to wonder about this... the last three players listed are all strikers, and Velázquez can play as either an attacking midfielder or up front as a striker... if the team is playing with two in the starting eleven, is there really a need for that many on the bench? I'm absolutely certain that Dening isn't needed... he's never done anything that I've seen from him.

It also means that there will only be one true defender available off the bench. Sure, Diego Mateo, or Vella could slide back from the midfield if necessary, and Dolci and Scaglia might do in a pinch, but I'd rather have another option myself.

While this game is at home, it will be far from easy as Newell's yet again get to face Estudiantes, current Apertura leaders, and the team opened the season by beating Newell's 1-0 at Estadio Marcelo Bielsa. Word is, however, that they are concentrating on the title chase as Juan Sebastián Verón, Rodrigo Braña, and Gastón Fernández are reported to not be making the trip to Rosario. Apparently they are either overconfident, or simply don't feel the Sudamericana is important enough to field their full strength. Whatever, hopefully Newell's can take full advantage of the situation and go into the second leg with a 2+ goal lead to work with.