Independiente finished second in both of Argentina’s league competitions in 2068, in a season that was very much a case of “so close, yet so far.” But manager Trebor Mahtal, now 84, chose to remain positive, especially given the high amount of potential at the club.
That said, he did delve into the transfer market over the summer break. The most intriguing signing was Paraguayan attacking midfielder Bryan Domínguez, who has 20 flair and 16 technique and vision, for £975,000 from Cerro Porteño ahead of the likes of Manchester United and Sporting. Mahtal also bolstered the defence with powerful centre back Victor Hugo Pavas for £2m from Atlético Nacional and signed midfielder Matías Díaz for £3.5m from Huracán.
Mahtal was worried about the lack of goals from strikers and toyed with moving attacking midfielder Nicolás Alderete up top. But he decided to stick with Franco González, who’d shown plenty of progression, to start with. And the Zambian stuck with his narrow 4-3-3 approach with “late developer” Alderete and star man Marcelo Iardino the main threats in behind the striker.
Second Season At Independiente
The Argentinian bookies backed Independiente for a shot at Liga Profesional, predicting them to finish 4th with 10/1 title odds. River are 7/4 favourites followed by Racing Club (4/1) and Instituto (11/2), with other favourites including Belgrano (11/1), Boca Juniors (18/1) and Rosario Central and Talleres (33/1).
The season began with Independiente gaining revenge on Rosario for the Copa de la Liga Profesional Final defeat with left back Juan Riquelme inspiring a 3-1 victory. A few days later, centre back Facundo Garcia scored twice, Alderete bagged three assists and Domínguez scored on debut in a 5-0 thumping of rivals Racing. Alderete’s bright start continued with two goals in a 3-0 victory at Banfield before González finally got his first goals of the season and ended a 16-hour drought with a brace in a 4-1 domination of Talleres.
The imperious start continued as Independiente won their first 10 games, including giant centre back Jéferson heading his first goal to help a rotated side beat Tigre 1-0, before a 3-1 defeat at Instituto. Exciting midfielder Lucas Sgaramella and González got them back on track with a 2-1 win at Unión before Sgaramella’s late winner nicked a 2-1 at Temperley. Sgaramella ran the show at home to Rafaela, scoring two before Iardino capped the victory off, before a nice moment saw Jorge Navarrete, who suffered two knee ligament injuries last season, decide a 3-2 thriller at home to San Lorenzo. And a typically dominant 4-1 win at Central Córdoba, with goals by González, centre back Carlos Tissera, midfielder Matías Campos and Iardino, took them 7 points ahead of River and 8 points clear of Racing with five games remaining.
Game 1 – Huracán (8th, home): A ruthless Independiente maintained their momentum as Iardino scored early on before an Alderete brace downed Huracán 3-0. Racing beat Rosario 5-3 to move into 2nd ahead of River, who were denied in Superclasicó by Boca’s 95th-minute equaliser.
Game 2 – Alte. Brown (28th, away): Independiente faced a 35-day break before a trip to bottom-side Almirante Brown. But they picked up where they left off as holding midfielder Nahuel Cordero scored two delicious long-range goals either side of a Jéferson header. Racing won 4-2 at Gimnasia, but River didn’t play as they were at the Club World Cup, where they lost to Porto in the quarter finals.
Game 3 – Estudiantes de la Plata (19th, home): Independiente would secure the title with a win at home to Estudiantes. And they got a flyer as that man Cordero cut inside two players and curled a beauty into the top corner. Another brilliant goal doubled the lead as Alderete collected a loose ball 30 yards out, beat three men and smashed the ball into the far corner. Estudiantes didn’t even muster a shot on target and Independiente cruised to an easy win.
Independiente won Liga Profesional!
Independiente celebrated that success with Iardino inspiring a 5-1 win at a tired River. And they went on to win the league by 13 points, finishing with 76 after an incredible 25 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, scoring 66 and conceding just 16. Iardino was the best player in the league with a 7.90 average rating and was the 9th top scorer with 14 goals and 4th top assister with 10.
Ordinarily, Mahtal would depart after winning a trophy. However, European leagues were about to kick off, so any vacancies had just been filled, and he fancied a crack at Copa Libertadores while he could. He decided to see out his Independiente contract until the end of the season. Ahead of the second half of the campaign, Independiente received a mass of interest in their star players, and Mahtal sanctioned the sale of centre back Tissera to Valencia for a club record £40m. He largely focused on Libertadores, which saw them make another slow start to Copa de la Liga. But a decent end to the campaign saw them climb to 4th and sneak into the playoffs, only to lose 1-0 at Boca in the quarter finals.
Tough Copa Libertadores Group
Independiente got a tougher group than last season, alongside holders Nacional, Brazilian side Palmeiras and Venezuela’s Caracas. They started by gaining revenge on Nacional with González scoring the only goal and getting another as Iardino scored twice off the bench in a 6-1 win at Caracas. A rotated side impressed by only losing 1-0 at Palmeiras, but they repaid the favour with Sgaramella scoring the only goal at Libertadores de América. Mahtal was punished for rotating with a 2-0 defeat at Nacional, but Navarrete and Jorge Penaranda braces led a 4-1 win over Caracas to qualify 2nd behind Nacional.
A tasty second round clash saw Mahtal face his former club Colo Colo. They took control in the home leg with Alderete and Iardino braces inspiring a 6-1 victory before a rotated side lost 3-1 away to ease through. Uruguay’s Wanderers followed in the quarter finals, and Iardino, Campos and Alderete inspired a dominant 3-1 home win before Iardino scored the only goal in Uruguay. All Argentine semis followed as Independiente took on Instituto, while River, who had knocked out holders Nacional in an 8-5 epic, took on Racing Club. The home leg was up first again, and González and Campos secured a comfortable 2-0 win, with the only downside being Riquelme suffering a damaged kneecap. Mahtal rotated the first 11 for the league game between the legs, which was rewarded as a solid defensive effort and Alderete’s penalty after an hour sent them through.
54,000 Buenos Aires residents made the short ferry trip across the Rio Plata to Montevideo, descending upon Luis Suárez Park, the home of holders Nacional, to see Independiente take on River Plate, who crushed Racing 7-2 in the semis. This game was a repeat of the 2064 Final, which River won amid a run of four in five years. Independiente last won Copa Libertadores in 2058, and also lost the 2059 Final to Instituto.
Mahtal rested players for the Copa de la Liga quarter a week before and had a clean bill of health, with Riquelme just about back fit. So he lined up:
Sabato; Munoz, Garcia, Jéferson, Riquelme; Campos, Cordero; Sgaramella; Alderete, Iardino, González
Subs: Penaranda, Bravo, Pavas, N Ramírez, Domínguez, M Díaz, T Díaz, L Ramírez, Aguilar, Ciaccheri, Navarrete
Independiente started well and, after 11 minutes, a nice move from a throw in saw Cordero play it inside for Iardino to sweep the ball into the bottom corner. But, out of nowhere, River equalised just before the break as a good tackle rebounded to their striker Rivero to slam home. An uneventful second half took it to extra time, which was even less interesting until River nicked it with a deflected strike from the second phase of a corner and added another as Mahtal went attacking.
Mission Achieved In Argentina
Mahtal had achieved his aim of winning a trophy with Independiente, albeit finishing on a slightly sour note with the Libertadores Final defeat. But the Zambian had enjoyed his time in Buenos Aires and left the club in a really good place, both financially and in terms of the vast potential. Indeed, three of Independiente’s young stars made the NxGn 2069 list with Jéferson, who made his Brazil debut in November, in 30th, Domínguez 40th and Pavas 50th.
This season’s star man was undoubtedly Iardino, who led the way with 24 goals and 14 assists ahead of Alderete (21 goals and 16 assists) and González (19 goals and 12 assists) Sgaramella chipped in with 12 goals and Cordero scored 8 with 13 assists.
But it was time for Mahtal to move on, as he now had just four of the 26 letters waiting to be ticked off on his Alphabet Challenge. He departs Independiente after 697 days and 117 games, of which he won 85, drew 10 and lost 22, scoring 240 and conceding just 106. And a 72% win rate was the same as his record at Colo Colo and the joint-seventh best of his 45-year career.
Where would Mahtal end up as he sought out his 25th club? Join us on Monday to find out!
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