These are happy days for River Plate fans. Last week, they defeated Boca Juniors in the Superclásico and caused the dismissal of Fernando Gago. Now, just a week after that event, they’ve humiliated Vélez Sarsfield at El Monumental, and fans didn’t miss the chance to send a message to Guillermo Barros Schelotto in memory of the 2018 Copa Libertadores.

River Plate still remembers the victory over Boca Juniors in the 2018 Copa Libertadores

Back then, Guillermo Barros Schelotto was still the coach of Boca Juniors, where he had arrived in March 2016 after playing for the club during his career as a footballer. He managed the team for 117 matches and won the Argentine Professional League for two consecutive seasons (2016/2017 and 2017/2018). However, matches against River Plate were always his weak spot… and the loss in the 2018 Copa Libertadores final held at the Santiago Bernabéu sealed his fate.

That memory still lingers among River Plate fans, who hadn’t faced him again since that Copa Libertadores final, as he later moved to LA Galaxy and then became head coach of the Paraguay national team. However, since he was announced as the new Vélez Sarsfield coach on March 19, River Plate fans had marked Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s visit to El Monumental as a moment they wouldn’t let pass—and welcomed him as if he were descending into hell.

River Plate displayed a banner targeting Barros Schelotto

From the moment his name was announced over the stadium’s loudspeakers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto was loudly booed. However, the most controversial moment was a banner shown in one of the stands at El Monumental that wasn’t caught on TV. “No one beats us,” was the phrase it displayed. The same phrase Barros Schelotto had said in March 2018 after losing the Argentine Supercup to River, back when he was still coaching Boca Juniors.

A bold provocation by the River Plate fans that, nonetheless, ended in a thrashing of a Vélez team that hasn’t managed to find its form under Guillermo Barros Schelotto, with just 14 points after 16 matches. “I have nothing to say. I came to coach Vélez. I’ll only talk about today’s match,” he said after the game when asked in the press conference about that Copa Libertadores final loss at the Santiago Bernabéu, which undoubtedly marked a turning point in Barros Schelotto’s career.