Marcelo Gallardo steps down as River Plate head coach

Argentine football giant River Plate announced on Monday that club legend Marcelo Gallardo is stepping down as head coach. Gallardo confirmed the decision shortly after in a video shared through the club’s social media channels. “Thursday will be my last game [as River head coach],” he said. “I can only thank this massive club and its people for their undying love, even through the worst moments.” Gallardo, affectionately known as El Muñeco (the doll), departs in the midst of a three-game losing streak with River sitting 10th in Group B of the 2026 Torneo Apertura. The club has lost 11 of its 15 First Division games and 13 of its last 20. “I’m flooded with emotion and pain for having failed to secure our objectives,” Gallardo added. “Huge thanks to everyone who believed in my staff and me.” He went on to say his heart “goes out to the fans” and that he hoped River, “which has become a model club in South America,” can find better results soon.  It has been a difficult second stint for Gallardo at the helm of the Millonario.  He returned to River in August 2024 to replace Martín Demichelis. That year, he oversaw 25 matches, with 10 wins, 10 draws, and only 5 losses. Things took a turn for the worse in 2025. River lost the 2023 Supercopa Internacional (played in March 2025) against Talleres (Córdoba) on penalty kicks. They then fell in the Apertura quarterfinals to Platense and in the Torneo Clausura round of 16 to Racing Club. On the international front, the Millonario was ousted from that year’s Copa Libertadores by Palmeiras in the quarterfinals and dropped out of the Club World Cup in the group stage. River’s most successful coach ever Gallardo’s second stint at the club pales in comparison to his first time around, when he became the most successful River coach in history with 14 titles.  At the time of his departure in December 2022, he had coached the Millonario in 425 games, winning over 53% of them. The most important to them, undoubtedly, was the win in the 2018 Copa Libertadores final against historic rival Boca Juniors.  Many news outlets reported at the time that he had offers from several clubs in Europe. Despite these reports, he took over Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia in November 2023.  Despite signing a record contract worth a reported US$20 million, he coached only 33 matches, with 15 wins, 4 draws, and 14 losses, before departing amid rumors of a strained relationship with the club’s star, French striker Karim Benzema. There’s no official word yet on who’ll be his replacement. River’s match at home against Banfield on Thursday, February 26, was supposed to be Gallardo’s farewell. That’s now in question, as the match and all corresponding games to matchday nine of the Liga Profesional have been suspended as part of a protest by the Argentine Football Association against the government.