Tobías Reinhart rues the miss that could have leveled the Superclásico for Universidad de Chile

Some misses weigh heavier than others. And Tobías Reinhart's miss on Sunday at the Estadio Nacional is going to linger for a good while at Universidad de Chile. The Argentine midfielder, one of the fresh faces on the blue squad, had the chance to tie the Superclásico right at his feet when the score was 1-1, struck a left-footed shot, and watched the ball sail over the crossbar. Minutes later, Colo Colo flipped the result and walked away with a 2-1 win.

The loss leaves the U 13 points behind their fiercest rival, a gap that's starting to sting in the standings and that complicates any hope of competing on equal footing in the short term. The team from Ñuñoa (the ground where Colo Colo plays as the home side) didn't show its best version, especially in the first half, but came out with more purpose in the second, pushing to get back into the game. That's when Reinhart's chance appeared, the clearest one the blue side had all afternoon.

Reinhart himself didn't shy away from self-criticism once the match ended. With the disappointment still fresh, he explained how he experienced the play that could have changed everything:

It fell right for my left foot and I missed it. Sometimes it goes in and sometimes it doesn't. I went for a shot with a bit more power on it and it just missed. A shame. On the second one I was a little past the goal, I wasn't sure if a teammate was coming in behind me to let it run through, so I decided to try to finish it myself. It just didn't happen today.Tobías Reinhart

Beyond the missed chance, Reinhart also spoke about how the Superclásico unfolded overall and how the blow of losing to the archrival landed just as the team was trying to fight back:

Bitterness and frustration. We struggled a bit in the first half, but in the second we came out well, looking to get it back, and we had our chances. It just wasn't meant to be.Tobías Reinhart

A blow to morale in the middle of adapting

For a new signing who's still getting a feel for the scale of these rivalries, this wasn't the best possible baptism. The U needed a win to close the gap and, above all, to snap the string of poor results against Colo Colo in recent head-to-head meetings. Instead, they ran into yet another disappointment that only widens the distance in the table.

The truth is the match had an even final stretch, with the U pushing for the equalizer and generating some real danger, something it hadn't managed in the first half. That improvement, however, was overshadowed by the final result and by that shot that sailed just wide of the mark. The next challenge for Reinhart and his teammates will be picking themselves back up fast: in Chilean soccer, and even less so after a clásico, there's no time to dwell on what went wrong.