Lionel Messi and Argentina are in in Santiago tonight hungry for a win, against a Chile squad going through changes. It will be Chile’s first match without manager Jorge Sampaoli, who resigned in January. The resignation came just six months after Chile’s victory at Copa America 2015, when they defeated Argentina in a penalty-kick final.
Chile’s new manager, Juan Antonio Pizzi, will make his debut tonight. Pizzi is an Argentine, but played in and for Spain in the 1990s. His most recent stint was with Club Leon in Mexico, and this will be his first time managing a national team.
Argentina will have Messi on the field tonight, but will miss two players that had strong performances in Champions League this month. Juventus forward Paulo Dybala and PSG’s Javier Pastore will both miss the match due to injury, and their status for next week’s qualifier is in doubt as Dybala has already returned to Italy.
Here are the basics:
DATE: March 24, 2016
CHANNEL: beIN Sports
KICKOFF TIME: 7:30 p.m. Eastern
LOCATION: Estadio Nacional de Chile
LIVE STREAM: Click here for all the live stream information
THE LINEUPS
Argentina: Romero, Mercado, Otamendi, Funes Mori, Rojo, Biglia, Kranevitter, Banega, Messi, Aguero, Di Maria
Chile: Bravo, Isla, Jara, Medel, Mena, Diaz, Gutierrez, Matias, Beausejour, Pinilla, Orellana
Find out how to watch this game in Spanish at AhoraMismo.com: