Tigre pulls the plug on Diego Dabove after loss to Vélez

It's over. After nearly two years on the bench, Diego Dabove is no longer Tigre's head coach. The loss to Vélez on the final matchday of the Clausura was the last straw in a situation that had been building for weeks, and the club decided to close out a cycle that had it all: a sky high peak and a decline that ultimately proved unsustainable.

Because it has to be said: Dabove had his moment of glory. Remember that thrashing of River that ended up costing Marcelo Gallardo his job, the same Gallardo now in charge of Ecuador's national team? That match stands as one of the defining images of his time at Victoria. The problem is that soccer isn't measured by a single game, and what followed was a steady erosion that became harder and harder to hide.

The defeat to Vélez wasn't just another loss: it was Tigre's third straight defeat in the Clausura, a tournament in which the team fell well short of its goals. With 12 points, Matador sits outside the playoff spots and nine points off the cup qualification zone in the overall standings. To make matters worse, the team won just once in its last eight games. That stat alone explains much of why Dabove is out.

On top of that poor domestic run came the cup eliminations: Tigre was knocked out of the Copa Argentina by Independiente Rivadavia and also bowed out of the Copa Sudamericana against Montevideo City Torque. None of the fronts on which the team competed ended well, and that weighed heavily on the decision.

A nearly two-year cycle with an even record

Dabove had arrived at Tigre in January 2025 and coached 77 matches since then. The final tally: 29 wins, 25 draws and 23 losses, for a win rate of 48.48 percent. The team scored 85 goals and conceded 69 during that stretch, numbers that paint the picture of a steady Tigre side, one without major slumps but also without the consistency needed to break into the top tier.

The standout name of that era was Ignacio Russo, who established himself as the club's top scorer and the player with the most appearances under Dabove: he played in 76 matches and scored 22 goals. He was on the field for practically every match Dabove coached, which says a lot about his consistency and importance to the team.

A competition by competition breakdown makes clear why the cycle came to an end: eliminated in the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana, knocked out in the round of 32 of the Copa Argentina, no playoff qualification in the Apertura and now, out of the top eight in the Clausura. Too many fronts open, and none resolved the way Tigre needed.

With Dabove gone, the club will now have to search for a new coach to try to turn around a season that, as things stand, has left Tigre far from where the team aspired to be.