Franco Mastantuono scored a hat trick and Mateo Pellegrino scored one goal for Fiorentina in their 4-2 win against Venezia.
Mastantuono had three goals and Pellegrino one for Fiorentina in their win. With Venezia leading 1-0, Mastantuono received the ball out wide, cut inside and scored from outside of the penalty area to draw Fiorentina level.
With the score at 1-1, Mastantuono would receive the ball and once more from outside of the penalty area, he would score, this time to get Fiorentina the 2-1 lead. With Fiorentina leading 2-1, Mateo Pellegrino would receive the ball and he would run towards goal to score Fiorentina’s third goal of the match.
At 3-1 for Fiorentina, the ball fell to Mastantuono and the Argentine would score his hat trick from close range.
something we have been missing is a fast player. lautaro and julian, no offense to them, but they are slow as hell. good for pressing, but they were like sitting ducks when they received the ball alone in the final third. either they need to start doing sprinting drills ASAP or we need to find a new winger. most full backs are extremely fast. (spence, reece james, ccurella, lopes cabral, and many more guys we faced).
ironically nico gonzalez is fast but the guy has nothing inside his head.
Saying Julian and Lautaro are “slow as hell” isn’t really accurate. Julian has recorded a top speed of around 33 km/h, and Lautaro has been around 30–31 km/h, depending on the competition and tracking system.
What matters more is how they use that speed. Both can be very explosive in short bursts, and they have excellent ball control while accelerating.
FIFA match data from Argentina vs. Cape Verde recorded Nico Gonzalez at 33.5 km/h, while Julián Álvarez was at 32.6 km/h in the same match.
Argentina has never really relied on pure speed as its identity. We’ve traditionally relied on a strong midfield, technical ability and ball possession. Fast wingers are a bonus, not the foundation of our style.
Caniggia and Claudio López were probably two of the fastest Argentine attackers of their generation, with Caniggia often reported around 36 km/h. Caniggia was literally nicknamed El Hijo del Viento because of his explosive speed.
What Argentina is missing right now isn’t necessarily a 36 km/h sprinter. We need creative midfielders who can break the lines and consistently feed Alvarez and Lautaro. If we can add a fast winger who can stretch defenses and attack fullbacks 1v1, that’s a bonus.
The bigger problem is that if the midfield can’t create those openings, having a 33 km/h winger doesn’t magically solve the problem. We need players who can receive between the lines, turn under pressure, beat the press and put Álvarez and Lautaro into dangerous positions.
Hope this gona re-ignite the mastuntuno we all know at river plate
Reading through the comments, I can already see the Mastantuono hype machine starting up again. This is exactly why Mastantuono gets criticized so much. He became River Plate’s youngest-ever goalscorer, and ever since then, fans have massively overhyped him.
A hat-trick is obviously impressive, but one great performance doesn’t suddenly erase the fact that his overall contribution at the Argentina U20 and senior level has been relatively modest compared with the hype surrounding him. Meanwhile, players like Echeverri have produced much more impressive numbers at the U20 level, and players like Soulé even after a good season was not even called up by Scaloni.
What bothers me even more is the preferential treatment. Giving Mastantuono Argentina’s No. 10 shirt was completely premature. That number carries enormous significance because of Messi and Maradona. In my opinion, handing it to a player who had barely established himself at senior international level was disrespectful to the legacy of that shirt.
Let Mastantuono earn the respect of the fans.
And look at how Nico Paz was treated compared with Mastantuono. Paz had been in the national-team setup since 2024, but it wasn’t until the October 2025 friendlies that Scaloni finally gave him a real opportunity, starting against Venezuela and playing significant minutes against Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Mastantuono was given opportunities much earlier despite having far less senior experience.
Only people who watched the highlights and judged him purely on goals and assists thought Mastantuono was a flop at madrid at 17. Anyone who actually watched madrid play knew he wasn’t.
He started around 30% of Madrid’s matches early on, and despite having to compete with senior players, he showed incredible maturity on the right flank. His positioning, football iq, and technical ability didn’t look like that of a 17 year old. How many 17 yrs old can walk straight into Real Madrid’s starting xi and keep their place for so long! It was because of Mbappe’s selfish play other bigger stars like Vinni , Bellingham , Rodgrigo were struggling which led to Alonso to be sacked and Mastantuono was also dropped!
I’ll still say it!! Mastantuono has a higher ceiling than any other Argentine prospect, even ahead of Nico Paz.
Spot on… Madrid fans even strated fan fights as
Mastuntuno vs yamal.. Its not a small thing they all know the potential of this lad
I think we should put the Mastantuono–Real Madrid situation into context. He was signed at 17, just like Vinícius was back then, while Rodrygo was already 18 when he joined. It took both of them three full seasons to establish themselves in the starting XI.
And this was during the Real Madrid banter era, after CR left, Hazard flopped, and Bale was constantly injured. They were already well over 20 by the time they started playing regularly.
And they did all of this at a club that loves Brazilians and hates Argentinians.
Meanwhile, Mastantuono’s competition was Mbappé, Vinícius, Rodrygo, Bellingham, Arda Güler and Brahim Díaz.
His main issue was mental block..Hopefully he fly from here. I believed in his talents from day 1. He has to improve in dribbling and finishing though. He just started 19. Give him time.
Finally, a statement from him. Like many, I began to doubt him big time. He started the season slow, but I hope he will continue like this now. He’s 19, so plenty of time to develop. He should be getting a lot of playing time at Fiorentina.
I’ve been watching him; he looked sharp and set up Jimenez with a great one-touch pass that would’ve been huge if it had gone in. Fiorentina’s a solid club with a good plan, and I’m sure he’ll bag a few more goals.
WOw incredible