Thiago Almada rides a hot streak into his first Superclasico with River

Some games are the ones a player needs to finally feel settled at a new club. For Thiago Almada, that game arrives on Sunday. River travels to face Boca at La Bombonera, and the midfielder will play his first Superclasico in the River jersey right as he starts finding solid footing after a rocky stretch.

He arrived with expectations sky high. A World Cup champion with the Argentina national team, well traveled across several leagues, and the subject of an investment that various outlets pegged at around 20 million euros, making him the most expensive signing in Argentine soccer history. River went after a player with dribbling ability, a change of pace, and a scoring touch, someone capable of deciding a game on his own. His first months showed flashes of that quality, but he still needs the kind of consistency that would make him an indispensable figure for the team.

An injury that stalled the momentum

The adjustment period was not easy. Almada arrived without a full preseason, and just as he was building rhythm, he suffered a strain in his left quadriceps on September 19 against Huracan. The injury kept him out of the October FIFA window with the national team and interrupted a process in which he badly needed minutes to find his footing.

The player himself summed it up plainly after the match against Belgrano: "I came in without a preseason, building up rhythm, and then got hurt, just bad luck." The comment goes a long way toward explaining the up and down player he looked like in his first weeks in Nunez.

But the last two weeks have changed the picture. On October 18, he scored a brilliant individual goal in a 3-0 win over Belgrano in Cordoba, creating the play himself from start to finish and finishing it with quality. After the match, he was candid about what the goal meant to him:

It was a really nice goal, but the most important thing is that we won and that the group is united with the coaching staff. I'm leaving very happy. It helps me build confidence.Thiago Almada

A week later he started against Racing and played 89 minutes in a 1-0 win, adding the game time he had been missing. "I'm feeling better and better and I'm getting ready to be at my best," he said, showing a player who is starting to feel at home right before the toughest date on the calendar.

Ponzio's backing and the demands of La Bombonera

Leonardo Ponzio publicly backed him after the Racing match, comparing him to Angel Correa: "I see Angel and Thiago the same way. There's a gap in experience, but beyond that Thiago does the hardest thing to do in soccer, which is create, play, and score goals." He also put his finger on one of the player's challenges: "Every opponent we face knows who to mark and who not to, and that's where the difficulty comes in sometimes when games get messy."

It's a clear hint at what River needs on Sunday: finding him the ball between the lines, in spaces where he can turn and take players on, not in areas where opponents already know how to close him down.

On the special atmosphere of derby week, Ponzio was direct with the group: "We have to make sure the group trains like any other week, that we give them the tools for what's coming this weekend, and that they relax and enjoy it." He added something about the makeup of the squad: "A lot of the guys here were born at this club, a lot of them want to be here, a lot of them wanted to be here, so they're in an ideal moment to face this challenge."

The recent history doesn't favor River: Boca won 1-0 at the Monumental on April 19, on a penalty from Leandro Paredes. When asked about the upcoming derbies, Almada chose caution: "We know what these games are and what they mean, but we have to take it match by match." Racing is already behind him. Now comes La Bombonera, with a chance to start writing his own chapter in the most anticipated match in Argentine soccer.