River Plate 1995-2002

How does a manager go from winning the Copa Libertadores and dominating Argentine football to taking charge of Oxford United in League Two — and just how great was River Plate under Ramón Díaz?

Season 5 of By Far The Greatest Team heads to Buenos Aires for the story of River Plate between 1995 and 2002, focusing the lens on one of the most successful managers in the club’s history.

With no guest on hand to provide adult supervision, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney attempt to navigate the wonderfully complicated world of Argentine football: two championships in a single season, relegation decided through three-year averages and a domestic structure capable of making the English pyramid appear almost straightforward.

At the centre of everything is Ramón Díaz.

A prolific striker nicknamed El Pelado, Díaz emerged alongside Diego Maradona in Argentina’s victorious 1979 World Youth Championship team before enjoying a successful playing career with River Plate, Napoli, Inter Milan, Fiorentina, Monaco and Yokohama Marinos.

He returned to River as manager in 1995 and inherited a club packed with talent, expectation and pressure.

What followed was an extraordinary period of success.

Across two spells, Díaz led River to five Argentine championships, the 1996 Copa Libertadores and the 1997 Supercopa Sudamericana. He did so while continually rebuilding his team and helping to develop an extraordinary succession of footballers.

Enzo Francescoli, Ariel Ortega, Hernán Crespo, Marcelo Salas, Marcelo Gallardo, Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola, Juan Pablo Ángel, Germán Burgos, Celso Ayala, Roberto Bonano and Juan Pablo Sorín all played significant roles during the Díaz era.

The episode traces River’s journey from their 1996 Libertadores triumph over América de Cali through three consecutive domestic titles, victory in the final edition of the Supercopa and Díaz’s return to win the 2002 Clausura.

Jamie and Graham explore how River repeatedly replaced one outstanding player with another, combining an exceptional academy with intelligent recruitment and a footballing culture that expected attacking talent to flourish.

But understanding River also means understanding Argentine football itself.

Why were the traditional season-long championships replaced by the Apertura and Clausura? How could a club become national champion after just 19 matches? Why was relegation calculated using average points across three seasons — and what would have happened if the Premier League had adopted the same system?

There is also the small matter of Boca Juniors.

Jamie and Graham explore the history and mythology of the Superclásico, the cultural identities attached to River and Boca and why the rivalry cannot be explained simply as rich against poor. They also consider how Díaz’s success compares with the achievements of Carlos Bianchi, whose great Boca side would soon become River’s dominant rival at home and in South America.

The episode asks where Díaz belongs among Argentina’s finest managers, how his River record compares with Marcelo Gallardo’s modern reign and why his achievements remain relatively underappreciated in Europe.

Finally, the story takes an unexpected turn towards the Kassam Stadium.

In 2004, one of South America’s most decorated coaches arrived at Oxford United, bringing an Argentine backroom team with him and creating one of the most unlikely managerial appointments in Football League history.

How did it happen, why did it end so quickly and has any manager ever arrived in English football’s lower divisions with a more extraordinary CV?

🔑 Takeaways

• Ramón Díaz’s journey from playing alongside Diego Maradona to becoming River Plate manager
• How the Apertura and Clausura created two Argentine champions every season
• Why relegation was calculated using average results across three campaigns
• What English football might have looked like under Argentina’s unusual league system
• How Díaz led River to five domestic championships and two major continental trophies
• The importance of Enzo Francescoli, Ariel Ortega, Hernán Crespo and Marcelo Salas
• How River’s academy produced Marcelo Gallardo, Pablo Aimar and Javier Saviola
• The history, culture and mythology surrounding the River Plate–Boca Juniors rivalry
• How Díaz compares with Carlos Bianchi, Marcelo Gallardo and South America’s other great managers
• Why River’s failure to win the Intercontinental Cup matters when assessing their greatness
• The extraordinary story of Díaz’s unexpected spell in charge of Oxford United
• Whether sustained domestic dominance, continental success and constant regeneration make River Plate’s 1995–2002 side one of the great teams of its era

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How great were they?

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