River Will Play Twice in Under a Week After Schedule Shakeup Tied to Argentina Squad

With the Argentina national team factoring into the equation, the LPF had to shuffle the fixture list, leaving River Plate with a peculiar quirk in its calendar: the club will play twice in under a week, even though one of its matchday 11 games has been pushed all the way into mid-October.

The Liga Profesional confirmed the scheduling for matchdays 11 and 12 of the 2026 Clausura Tournament, and the eleventh round's calendar was altered specifically to work around Argentina's upcoming friendlies. While most teams will wrap up that matchday between Friday, October 2 and Monday, October 5, two matches have been held over for later.

Boca Juniors has a particularly busy stretch coming up: the club hosts Unión on Friday, October 2 for matchday 11 at La Bombonera, then just a week later travels to face Instituto on Friday the 9th for matchday 12. Two straight Fridays with Boca in the spotlight.

River's situation is the one drawing the most attention. Its matchday 11 clash with Sarmiento won't be played on the original date at all. Instead, it's been moved to Wednesday, October 14, in Junín, airing on TNT Sports starting at 7:00 p.m. But before that, on Saturday, October 10, the Millonario will already be back in action for matchday 12, hosting Estudiantes de Río Cuarto at 9:30 p.m. at El Monumental.

How Matchday 11 Shapes Up

The round kicks off with a Friday, October 2 doubleheader at Independiente's stadium: the home side hosts Instituto at 7:15 p.m., and later that night, at 9:30 p.m., Boca takes on Unión. That same Friday, Independiente Rivadavia of Mendoza faces Gimnasia in Zone B action.

The weekend brings several notable matchups: Defensa y Justicia against San Lorenzo on Saturday at 2:45 p.m., and Newell's hosting Lanús at 5:00 p.m. Sunday features the Córdoba derby between Talleres and Belgrano at 5:00 p.m., along with Huracán-Aldosivi and the meeting between Estudiantes de Río Cuarto and Racing. Monday closes out the round with Vélez-Platense, Banfield-Rosario Central and the matchup between Estudiantes and Gimnasia de Mendoza.

What's Ahead for Matchday 12

The twelfth round gets underway on Friday, October 9 with four matches, including the previously mentioned Instituto-Boca game at 7:30 p.m. The following day, alongside River-Estudiantes de Río Cuarto, there's also Barracas Central-Huracán, Central Córdoba-Estudiantes and Tigre-Banfield.

Sunday, October 11 features the bulk of the action: San Lorenzo-Deportivo Riestra, Platense-Argentinos, Rosario Central-Independiente Rivadavia, Racing-Belgrano and the nightcap between Talleres and Independiente at 9:30 p.m. The round wraps up on Monday the 12th with Lanús-Vélez and Gimnasia de Mendoza-Newell's.