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Adolfo Gaich scores for Benevento in 1-0 win vs. Juventus

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Adolfo Gaich scored for Benevento in their 1-0 win vs. Juventus.

Gaich scored his second goal of the season for Benevento, a crucial one against current champions Juventus. The Argentine intercepted a pass out from the Juventus back line, controlled the ball and struck it with his right foot to give Benevento the 1-0 lead. That win also keeps Benevento away from the relegation zone as they are in 16th place, seven points from relegation.

Still only 22 years old, Gaich has now scored two goals in five matches for his new club.

Champions League Quarter Finals draw, six Argentine players remain

Six Argentine players remain in the Champions League as the draw for the quarter finals took place.

We are down to the final eight teams in Europes grandest club competition and in those eight teams we have six Argentine players and one coach left. Sergio Aguero and Manchester City will want to make the semi finals as they get closer to a first ever Champions League final birth. Aguero host Borussia Dortmund in their first match on April 6 in Manchester.

A repeat of last year’s final is in the books as current Champions League holders Bayern host PSG in the first leg. One main difference for PSG this season is that they have Mauricio Pochettino at the helm to go with their three Argentine representatives. Angel Di Maria, who is the only Argentine remaining in the competition to have ever won the Champions League, along with Leandro Paredes and Mauro Icardi will look to get revenge for last year’s final. That first match is on April 7 in Germany.

In a battle of the two goalkeepers, it’s FC Porto’s starting goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin against Chelsea. Marchesin was one of the hero’s for Porto when they eliminated Juventus in the last round. While veteran goalkeeper Willy Caballero will not be starting for Chelsea, he will no doubt be supporting his team as they look for their second Champions League trophy in the last 10 years. That one will also be played on the same day as Bayern and PSG.

The third Champions League match involves Real Madrid and Liverpool, both without any Argentine players.

Ligue 1 players not released for March matches outside of Europe

It has been confirmed by the French FA that Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs will not be releasing players for matches outside of Europe this month.

The statement released by the FA mentioned that the clubs will not release their players during the March international FIFA dates. That would mean any friendly matches, qualifiers or tournaments which will be held outside of Europe will not have French based players.

For the Argentina national team, that would confirm that the likes of Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes would be ruled out for Argentina should the national team play any friendly matches outside of Europe.

As we reported last week, CONMEBOL announced that the South American World Cup qualifiers for the month of March have been postponed. Lionel Scaloni’s team were set to play Uruguay and Brazil.

However, there have been reports that Argentina will play Ecuador in Argentina, with what is likely to be a team consisting of South American based players.

Mauro Icardi scores, gets injured in PSG 3-0 win vs. Lille

Mauro Icardi scored for PSG but was also substituted out with an injury in their 3-0 win vs. Lille in the French Cup.

Icardi would score very early on in the match before being substituted out. A cross sent into the area was blocked by Lille goalkeeper Maignan but he was unable to hang on to it as Icardi would get to the loose ball and score to give PSG the 1-0 lead.

Mauricio Pochettino would substitute Icardi out after he had started limping. Angel Di Maria, who was substituted out of PSG’s last match due to a break in at his home, started the match along with Leandro Paredes and played the full 90 minutes.

Argentina 2021 Copa America matches confirmed

Argentina’s matches for the Copa America have been confirmed as they will play Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia in the group stage.

With no Australia or Qatar at the 2021 Copa America, each team will only play four matches in the group. For Argentina, it is four extremely familiar Copa America opponents. Lionel Scaloni’s team start the tournament at the Monumental vs. Chile, a team they have played in the last three Copa America tournaments.

Only four days after their first match, Argentina play eternal rivals Uruguay on June 17 at the Kempes stadium. The last time these two teams played against each other at a Copa America was the 2015 edition. Three days after that, on June 17 it’s against Paraguay back at the Monumental stadium.

The team close out their group on June 27 vs. Bolivia, a team they recently beat 2-1 in the World Cup qualifiers.

This year’s Copa will have 10 teams divided into two groups with four teams advancing from each group. Here Argentina’s matches and kick off times (local time) for the 2021 Copa America:
June 13 vs. Chile at 6pm at Monumental
June 17 vs. Uruguay at 9pm at Kempes stadium
June 20 vs. Paraguay at 8pm at Monumental
June 27 vs. Bolivia at 6pm at Monumental