Peñarol cruises past Montevideo City Torque with eyes already on the clásico against Nacional

A win without drama, with the mind already elsewhere. Peñarol beat Montevideo City Torque 1-0 at the Estadio Centenario in the first phase of the 2026 Copa AUF Uruguay, but the match served more as a training session with an audience than anything else. Diego Aguirre knew it, and he didn't hide that fact when breaking it down afterward.

"I thought the team looked good, they played a solid match. I think it helped give game rhythm to some players who don't get many chances, it did us good," the coach said in an interview with AUF TV. That sums up the reading of the game pretty well: a chance to rotate the bench and give minutes to players who haven't been regulars lately, just days before a clash that leaves no room for experiments.

Because Sunday is clásico day. And that changes the entire mood of the week at Aguirre's Peñarol. The coach himself admitted that these kinds of competitions, squeezed in right before such a tension-filled match, don't always sit well at first.

A schedule that demands getting used to

"It was a strange match. It's a competition you have to get used to in the middle of the season. Sometimes these games are a bit tough at the start, but as you go along, you find the motivation. For us it was good to compete and to see the players who don't get as many chances," Aguirre explained.

It was a strange match. It's a competition you have to get used to in the middle of the season.Diego Aguirre

The Copa AUF Uruguay has that particular quirk: it forces the big clubs to spread minutes around without losing sight of the main goal, which in this case is the Torneo Clausura. And that's the other side of the week for Peñarol: hosting Nacional on Sunday in a clásico that, as always, carries more weight than any other match on the Uruguayan calendar.

The lineup, nearly set

On that matchup, Aguirre was clear about how settled his starting eleven is. There isn't much mystery left, aside from one name he still hasn't nailed down.

"I have ten players, I'm missing one to finish setting the team. There's one spot that's still up in the air," the coach said, suggesting that most of the work is already done and that the final call comes down to a single position.

With the result against Montevideo City Torque secured and some players with fresh rhythm in their legs, Peñarol heads into the week with the advantage of not having taken on extra physical or footballing wear and tear. Now, all the attention shifts to the clásico, where Aguirre will look to confirm that last piece which, in his own words, remains up in the air.