River gets Tobías Andrada back for October 10 clash with Estudiantes de Río Cuarto

After a long break, River finally has a date to get back to competitive action: on Saturday, October 10, the club will host Estudiantes de Río Cuarto for matchday 12 of the 2026 Clausura. The team had asked not to play the previous weekend, so Leonardo Ponzio decided to make the most of these 21 days without official competition and put together something like a mini preseason. And just as that week of work was getting underway, some news arrived that lifted the squad's mood.

Tobías Andrada trained normally on Monday, alongside his teammates, and was medically cleared. That means he is now available for the match against Estudiantes de Río Cuarto. The defender had been carrying a right thigh injury suffered against Huracán, a problem that even kept him off the Argentina national team call-up list for the FIFA window that wraps up this Tuesday.

Why does getting Andrada back matter so much right now? Because River has six matchdays left before the playoffs and still has plenty at stake in the second half of the season. The goal is significant: the team is chasing the 2026 Clausura title, which comes with a direct berth to the 2027 Copa Libertadores. Somewhere in between sits a date circled in marker on the calendar, the Superclásico on November 1 at Boca's stadium, which means every player who logs training minutes counts double.

A different kind of week in Ezeiza

The squad had returned to training last Tuesday, after two days off that Ponzio gave the players following the win over Vélez. Sunday and Monday were free, and only after that did this stretch begin, designed to have the team sharp heading into the close of the year. Besides Andrada, River hopes to soon have Thiago Almada back (if he's not ready for the October 10 match, he should be available for the away trip to Sarmiento de Junín on the 14th) along with Aníbal Moreno.

During the FIFA window, the team didn't sit idle. It set up two training matches in Ezeiza against Atlético Escobar, of the Federal A division, split into two 45 minute halves: in the first, the starters won 1 to 0, and in the second, the reserves routed their opponents 5 to 0. It was the third friendly practice match in a matter of weeks, following the sessions against All Boys and Estudiantes de Buenos Aires.

That stretch of matches gave Ponzio a chance to keep evaluating options and keep the group's competitive rhythm up while there were no official games. The most notable recent form line was the 3 to 2 win over Vélez Sársfield, with goals from Sebastián Driussi, Ángel Correa and Lucas Beltrán, a result that served as a gauge heading into this decisive stretch of the tournament.