Rosario Central v Penarol, Rosario, Copa Libertadores

The first game on my trip to Rosario was a big one - Rosario Central v Uruguayan heavyweights Peñarol! The match was the first leg of the Copa Libertadores qualifying round. Rosario Central had entered the competition by winning the 2023 Copa de La Liga Argentina. The game finished with a 1-0 win for Central, giving them a narrow advantage to take into the second leg

The match was played at the Gigante Arroyita stadium, one of the stadiums used in the 1978 World Cup. En route to the stadium, my taxi driver mentioned how he had missed the games in 78' after being detained by the dictatorship!

The club was founded by a group of British workers from the Argentine Central Cordoba Railway company and its first president was Colin Calder who hailed from Dingwall in Scotland.

To get to Rosario I took the bus from Terminal Retiro in Buenos Aires to the Terminal Mariano Moreno in Rosario. The journey took around 4 hours including one short stop. From the station in Rosario it was a fairly easy 25-minute walk to my hotel in the city centre.

Estadio Gigante de Arroyito

Match Facts

Competition:	Copa Libertadores Qualifying Round
Clubs:	Club Atletico Rosario Central (1) v Penarol (0)
Stadium:	Estadio Gigante de Arroyita
Capacity:	51,000
City:	Rosario
Country:	Argentina

How to buy tickets for Rosario Central

If you’re not a club member, it’s not easy to get tickets for Central games - I didn’t see any options available online on the club website. The only option I could find was via the Homefans football travel website, who put me in touch with a local guide, a diehard Central fan called Maxi

I ended up paying well over 100 Euros for the tour but it was worth it and would have been challenging to do on your own.

How to get to Estadio Gigante de Arroyoita

To get to the stadium I took a taxi from the city centre. It’s only a few miles but it took longer than usual due to the heavy traffic and roadblocks. To get back to the centre I took an Uber. You could probably walk back to the centre if you were stuck but I wouldn’t recommend it, especially at night.

Intensity Level - High

This was officially a 'partido picante'! There were around 1,000 Peñarol fans in attendance and there was a high police presence. There were quite a few incidents before and during the match including Central fans dropping metal railings onto the Peñarol fans below. A Peñarol player also appeared to be hit by a missile thrown from the home stand.

Rosario - key locations (Centre and Stadiums)

Tips for visiting the Estadio Monumental

• Bring the minimum essentials to the stadium (no bags)

• Don't go on your own - go with a tour/guide

  
  

Where to buy the Official Rosario Central shirt?

There is a small official club shop in the centre which has a good selection of club shirts and training kits. I bought a training shirt here for around £20. The Sport 78 store on Calle Cordobo also had a good selection of Central and Newell’s shirts at decent prices.