Gago shuts down talk of rift with Aránguiz after Universidad de Chile's loss to Colo Colo

An awkward question, a curt answer, end of story. Or at least that's what Fernando Gago tried to do in his press conference this Friday, when he had to step in and put out a fire that, according to him, doesn't even exist.

The story goes back a bit. Universidad de Chile fell 2-1 to Colo Colo in the Superclásico played at the Estadio Nacional, and after the match an uncomfortable version of events started making the rounds: that Charles Aránguiz, one of the squad's key figures, had been upset about being substituted during the derby. The story picked up steam fast, as tends to happen when a big club loses and a heavyweight name is involved.

Gago, far from dodging the topic, went straight at it to cut it off at the root. When he was pressed again about the supposed conflict with the midfielder, he didn't hold back.

There's no problem, change the question on me. I only just heard about it. There's absolutely nothing to what's been said. There's no problem, none at all. Let's not go looking for a problem where there isn't one, that's why I'm telling you, take the chance to ask me something else because there's no problem here. Everything is fine.Fernando Gago

The reporters pushed further, wanting to know if Aránguiz had explicitly asked to come off during the match. That's when the Argentine coach stopped hiding his irritation: "Are we going to talk about the same thing again? I already talked about it, I already said it, that's it," he replied, making clear that as far as he was concerned, the chapter was closed before it ever opened.

Correa and gestures that aren't his to judge

The press conference also touched on another hot topic from the Superclásico: the obscene gestures made by Colo Colo forward Javier Correa, which sparked controversy outside the match itself. Gago, true to his style, preferred not to weigh in on matters outside his own locker room.

"Look, there's something I'll always say, it's not my place to talk about a player who isn't from my club, to talk about it you have to be inside it," he explained. And he went a bit further, with a reflection on the role of players as role models: "Players make mistakes, it happened to me too. As the years go by there's more information out there, and we have to try to be some kind of example, but I don't agree that a player should be an example, because human beings make mistakes. Teachers, the people who get up early to put food on the table for their families, those are examples, not players."

He wrapped up the topic with a thought that sums up his approach to the microphones pretty well: "I don't believe in weighing in on something after it's already happened, it's done. If you ask me, I wouldn't act that way today. Maybe I did at some point, but I'm telling you now I never would."

Between the defeat, the rumor of an internal rift, and a controversy that wasn't even his own, Gago left just one clear certainty: at Universidad de Chile, according to him, there's no fire to put out behind closed doors. It remains to be seen whether the next match confirms the calm the coach worked so hard to convey.