Rubén Darío Insúa Returns to San Lorenzo for a Third Stint to Rescue a Club in Crisis

Returning to a place you already know by heart feels different from arriving for the first time. That is what's happening to Rubén Darío Insúa, who was confirmed this Monday as San Lorenzo's coach once again. It is not his first time, nor his second: this is his third stint in charge of the Ciclón, and it comes right when the club needs him most.

The club's leadership reached an agreement with El Gallego to take over the bench left vacant by Néstor Gorosito after his departure. The timing could not be more delicate. San Lorenzo sits tenth in Zone A of the Torneo Clausura, with 10 points from eight matchdays, outside the places that would send them to the round of 16. Looking at the Annual Table, the picture is no better: the team has 32 points, far from the zone that would currently secure a spot in the 2027 Copa Sudamericana.

On top of that come the eliminations from the Copa Argentina and Copa Sudamericana, plus a blow that stung inside the club: the loss to Huracán at the Nuevo Gasómetro snapped a streak of 25 years without losing at home to that rival. Insúa isn't arriving to make a simple tactical tweak. He's arriving to try to halt a decline that had been building match after match.

How the club introduced him

Insúa himself had dropped a hint on social media, posting photos from his different eras at San Lorenzo with the message "Returning to the place where I was always happy." Then came the club's official announcement: "What you planted at San Lorenzo, we keep it in mind every day. But this story isn't over yet. We're going to go after what's missing," the club posted on its social channels, alongside a video of the coach.

And also, I used to listen to my father when I was little, he'd say that San Lorenzo had to be defended every day, all the time and in every way. And that it had to be looked after. And I plan to honor my father's memory all the time.Rubén Darío Insúa

A bond that goes back much further

To understand why this news carries extra weight, you have to go back to 1961: Insúa was born seven blocks from the Viejo Gasómetro, the son of a lifetime club member. At 12 he joined the youth academy, and in the 1978 Nacional tournament he made his first team debut. In 1982 he was one of the standout figures in the promotion from the B Nacional, converting the penalty that sealed that return against El Porvenir.

As a coach, his first stint (2002-2003) remains unforgettable: champion of the first Copa Sudamericana in history, with a 4-0 win over Atlético Nacional in Medellín and a 0-0 draw in the return leg at the Nuevo Gasómetro. He led the team in 47 matches during that spell, with 20 wins, 12 draws and 15 losses.

His second stint, between May 2022 and April 2024, also left its mark: sixth place and qualification for the Sudamericana in 2022, third place and a Copa Argentina semifinal in 2023, which came with a ticket to the Libertadores. That amounted to 99 matches in total, and several players later praised his influence as a developer of talent, beyond the results.

Now the challenge is different: reviving a team battered by coaching changes and a rough run of results. The next fixture offers no breathing room: San Lorenzo will visit Independiente on Sunday in Avellaneda and, a week later, will host Boca at the Nuevo Gasómetro, before the pause for the FIFA date. For the fans, El Gallego needs no introduction. He has already shown, twice, that he knows what needs to be done when San Lorenzo is in trouble.