Juan Antonio Pizzi stopped being the coach of Racing: who are the 3 main candidates to succeed him

Juan Antonio Pizzi stopped being the coach of Racing Club (EFE / Juan Ignacio Roncoroni / Archive)
Juan Antonio Pizzi stopped being the coach of Racing Club (EFE / Juan Ignacio Roncoroni / Archive)

After the 1-0 defeat to Independent in the Libertadores de América stadium, Juan Antonio Pizzi stopped being the coach of Racing Club at the request of the president Victor White. Ruben Capria, manager of the Academy, was the one who communicated the position to the DT, 53, who will not coach this Sunday against Newell’s Old Boys, from 20:15 in the Cylinder.

It is awaiting the official confirmation and if the breaking of the link was by mutual agreement or there will be an economic compensation for the technician, since he had a valid link until December 31 of this year.

Although Avellaneda’s classic was the straw that broke the camel’s back for the leaders, Pizzi had been much questioned since the tough 5-0 win against River in the Argentine Super Cup in March and which was added to the defeat in the final of the 2021 League Cup against Colón de Santa Fe 3-0 and the unexpected elimination in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores against São Paulo from Brazil.

In addition to President Víctor Blanco and manager Rubén Capria, the leaders Miguel Jiménez, Alfredo Chiodini and Christian Devia formed the conclave. From this moment, Racing begins in the search for a new coach. There are three names that sound the loudest. One is that of Gabriel Heinze, whose profile attracts all parties, but at the same time they know that his arrival implies “giving him the keys to the locker room”, due to the personality of the former defender, recently laid off by Atlanta United.

Further back arises Guillermo Barros Schelotto, an old desire of Víctor Blanco, who at the time of the election of Pizzi had remained on the sidelines. Another option is to Alexander Medina, today in Cordoba workshops, who is unhappy with the T leadership because they dismantled the campus. Although a unilateral rupture would force him to have to compensate the Cordovan club. Antonio Mohamed? Diego Dabove? Alternatives in dance, for an election that has just begun. And will Capria continue in the role in which he relieved Diego Milito?

Juanchi, a former attacker for Barcelona and the Spanish national team, arrived at Racing with the backing of his good record, especially in San Lorenzo (the first stage, in which he was champion) and the Chilean team (champion of the Copa America 2016, although later he did not reach the World Cup). In January, at the time of their selection, the referents had indicated to the leadership their preference for a counselor with an offensive proposal, given that they came from being under the baton of Eduardo Coudet and Sebastián Beccacece. Pizzi won the bid, but he never managed to inject a defined identity into the team, beyond reaching the final of the last Professional League Cup, which he lost to Colón.

The Racing team will have a free Tuesday, while on Wednesday they will return to practice. They would be in charge on an interim basis of a historical as Claudio Ubeda, who also sounded like a candidate to succeed Pizzi.

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