Racing Hit Four Past Olimpia in Final Warm-Up Match

Olimpia ended their pre-season campaign with a tough 4-1 defeat against Argentina’s Racing Club de Avellaneda at the Defensores del Chaco stadium. The Paraguayan side had shown promise in earlier friendlies, but struggled against a well-drilled Racing squad led by Gustavo Costas.

The home side started brightly, nearly scoring through a slick move between Redes and Alcaraz that Ferreira failed to finish. But from the tenth minute onward, Racing took control. Their superior cohesion and tempo began to overwhelm an Olimpia team still rebuilding after a poor first half of the year.

A mistake in Olimpia’s buildup play led to Racing’s opener just before halftime, with Adrián Fernández beating goalkeeper Gastón Olveira. Early in the second half, a Santiago Solari cross resulted in an own goal by Gustavo Vargas, doubling the visitors' lead.

Alex Franco brought some life to Olimpia after coming on, and his through ball set up Sebastián Ferreira for a classy chip over Gabriel Arias to make it 2-1. But Racing responded with two more goals. Zuculini capitalized on a rebound after a move involving Salas, and Di Gregorio sealed the win with a stunning strike in the final minute.

Olimpia’s next challenge is their Clausura debut on July 6 against Nacional. After a promising start to their pre-season, this heavy defeat exposed vulnerabilities the team must address quickly.