Hand Of Pod

Episode 279 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés meet to discuss the opening weekend of football in Argentina in 2018, which included a Talleres win over San Lorenzo, giving Boca Juniors the chance to open a six-point gap at the top of the Superliga table - a chance the champions took in beating Colón. River Plate lost away to Huracán and, more worryingly, showed no signs of having adapted their gameplan over the summer break. Unión continue their fine form of 2017, and are now third, while Gabriel Heinze's spell at Vélez Sarsfield got off to a good start with a 1-0 away win over Defensa y Justicia. Newell's Old Boys almost suffered the indignity of dropping points to Arsenal de Sarandí, but were bailed out at the last minute.

Hand Of Pod returns for 2018, with a new logo and exciting plans for the new year. Sam and Andrés are your hosts for episode 278, in which we look back over a transfer window that was mostly uneventful but all the same takes an age to summarise, because as we might have mentioned before there are too many clubs in the Argentine top flight. Lucas Pratto became the Millonarios' most expensive signing ever, Carlos Tevez is back at Boca Juniors, and how have Independiente opted to replace Atlanta-bound Ezequiel Barco? All these questions and more are up for discussion. It's good to be back!

The final episode of Hand Of Pod in 2017 brings together Sam, English Dan, Andrés and Peter to discuss Independiente's entertaining run to the Copa Sudamericana title, after they beat Flamengo 4-2 on aggregate in an enthralling final which saw its second leg in the Maracanã on Wednesday night. Why they deserved the title, and how Ariel Holan has turned the team around are among the topics for discussion. Will Holan stay? How good is Ezequiel Barco? These questions are also considered. We also have a look at the Superliga weekend which saw Rosario Central beat Newell's Old Boys in the clásico rosarino, and Boca Juniors claim a win which ensures they end 2017 top of the league. Oh, and River Plate won the Copa Argentina! It's a lot to cover, and this is an extended episode as a result. Enjoy.

The two hundred and seventy-sixth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Andrés join Sam to look back on a weekend of Superliga action which saw yet another disappointing showing from River Plate, while Atlético Tucumán got an encouraging win ahead of their trip to Mendoza to play River in the Copa Argentina final on Saturday. Boca Juniors got back to winning way to keep their noses in front of San Lorenzo in the title race, and Defensa y Justicia won a five-goal thriller against Godoy Cruz. As well as all this, we've another continental final to look forward to, with Independiente preparing to take on Flamengo in the Copa Sudamericana showpiece, whose first leg is in Avellaneda on Wednesday night.

The two hundred and seventy-fifth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and English Dan joined by a very special guest, because Phil Carney - author of the Lanús in English Twitter account - has flown down to Buenos Aires all the way from Manchester for a few days. Unfortunately his first visit to the city wasn't enough to help Lanús to their first Copa Libertadores title, as they were totally outplayed by Grêmio in Wednesday night's final second leg; we review that match, and Lanús' run in the tournament, as well as last weekend's Superliga matches. A second straight defeat for Boca Juniors and a good run for San Lorenzo means we have a title race, all of a sudden (they're now tied on points, though Boca have a game in hand, after San Lorenzo wrapped up a victory shortly after we finished recording). And there's praise for Independiente, who not only beat Racing in the clásico with a reserve team but also advanced to the Copa Sudamericana final in a thrilling second leg on Tuesday night.

The two hundred and seventy-fourth episode of Hand Of Pod sees Andrés and Sam discuss a weekend of Superliga action which saw Boca Juniors lose for the first time in the league this season, thanks to probably Racing's best performance so far - and which brought more bad news for Boca late on with an injury to Darío Benedetto which will probably keep him out until the end of the season. River Plate also lost the weekend, but finally won on Wednesday to end a run of six league games without a victory, while San Lorenzo went second and Independiente and Lanús both started continental ties this week: Independiente in the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals, and Lanús in the Copa Libertadores final. Both lost 1-0, but it's all still to play for ...

The seventh anniversary episode of Hand Of Pod sees Sam and Andrés get together for a chat about two friendlies which brought more problems to light than reason for optimism for the Argentine national team. A 1-0 win over Russia on Saturday was rather dull, and a 4-2 defeat to Nigeria on Tuesday has set alarm bells ringing well and truly regarding what the best tactics and formation are, and whether certain players ought to still be playing for Argentina at all. We also have a quick look over the Copa Argentina semi-finals, which resulted in a River Plate v Atlético Tucumán final, and discuss the FIFAGate fallout after Alejandro Burzaco's first two days of testimony in New York.

In the two hundred and seventy-second episode of Hand Of Pod, Sam and Andrés discuss a dark week for River Plate, as elimination at the hands of Lanús in the Copa Libertadores last week was followed by defeat in an entertaining superclásico against Boca Juniors on Sunday. That win meant Boca still have a 100% record and are now seven points clear at the top of the Superliga table, with Unión in second place. As well as league talk, we also look at the main issues Jorge Sampaoli has to deal with as Argentina prepare to play Russia on Saturday and Nigeria on Tuesday in friendlies.

In episode 271 of Hand Of Pod, Sam and English Dan have an afternoon conversation about two big continental ties: the all-Argentine Copa Libertadores semi-final which saw Lanús come back from 3-0 down on aggregate to beat River Plate 4-3 and advance to the first Libertadores final in the club's history, and Racing's Copa Sudamericana exit at the hands of Paraguayan giants Libertad, which it's fair to say was somewhat less thrilling. Independiente should keep the Argentine flag flying (their Copa Sudamericana quarter-final second leg was going to plan as this episode was uploaded), and Boca Juniors extended their lead in the Superliga, winning as River and Lanús (who both fielded reserve sides) both lost; they're now six points clear of second-placed San Lorenzo, ahead of this weekend's visit to River Plate, which we of course preview.

There was no league football in Argentina over the weekend, so episode 270 of Hand Of Pod sees Sam, Andrés and English Dan discussing knockout competitions instead - we have a review of the Copa Argentina quarter-finals, which saw second tier Morón make it to the semi-finals, where they'll play River Plate, and a review of the first leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-final between River and Lanús, as well as a look at the Copa Sudamericana quarter-final first legs so far.