River grinds out 2-1 win over Atletico Tucuman on tough pitch, stays atop Clausura group

River won again, this time with rain, mud and a bit of suffering thrown in. Leonardo Ponzio's team came away with a 2-1 win over Atletico Tucuman on the road, at Estadio Monumental Jose Fierro, in matchday nine of the 2026 Torneo Clausura, and remains in the mix at the top of Group B. But beyond the result, what stands out is how much the team's identity has changed since Ponzio took charge.

The analysis came from Leonardo Astrada, a River legend, on the ESPN F90 program hosted by Sebastian Vignolo. Astrada didn't mince words: in his view, the Millonario's improvement isn't magic or coincidence, but a natural process that was bound to happen sooner or later.

River has good players, this was just a matter of time. This doesn't happen overnight, like what's happening to Vojvoda at Racing. What's happening with Ponzio at River would have happened the same way with 'Chacho' Coudet, I want to believe that. He changed some things, sure, credit where it's due. He's put his stamp on it, his message.Leonardo Astrada

The former central midfielder went further and pinpointed the concrete tactical difference: before, he said, River played more toward its own goal than forward, and any mistake came at a steep price. "Before, River would get hit on one chance and concede a goal, and from there the team would just die," he explained, noting that now the team tries to play, to push forward, even if the result doesn't always match the intent with the desired sharpness.

Astrada was also self-critical about the attacking side of things: he acknowledged that River, despite generating plenty of chances, isn't sharp in front of goal. By his reading, given the number of chances the team created in the first half, it should have gone into the break with a wider lead over Atletico Tucuman, the Decano managed by Julio Cesar Falcioni. That lack of finishing, combined with physical fatigue, opened the door for the home side to get back into the match.

The commentator also addressed the rough foul by Arambarri on Canelo, a challenge from behind that stirred controversy: "He could have been sent off... He gets more leg than ball. With the pitch in the state it was in, it's tough," he said, referring to the condition of the field after the rain.

Ponzio's read from the inside

Ponzio himself addressed the match with his characteristic sobriety. He summed up the win with a line that captures the flow of the game well:

We played the way we wanted to, and on this pitch you sometimes suffer. We played, we suffered and, most importantly, we won.Leonardo Ponzio

The coach praised his players' physical effort in the rain: "The effort they put in today is worth valuing. It's hard to sustain the intensity that's demanded from the outside. In the moments when you can't, you have to form a solid block, today they didn't get at us much." He also admitted there's unfinished business with set pieces, an area where he acknowledged there's still work to do, and asked for patience and mental rest for the squad ahead of the upcoming break for FIFA date.

"The hardest thing in soccer is creation. The hardest thing is defending against our own players. The message is to stay calm, it's going to come," Ponzio concluded, satisfied with his attacking players' performance despite the narrow scoreline.