The Copa Libertadores entered its final stretch: River opens its semifinal series at the Independiente stadium against Palmeiras, a team that arrives undefeated at this stage. The referee is the Uruguayan Leodán González and the VAR is in charge of the Chilean Julio Bascuñán. Televisa ESPN.
El Millonario jumped onto the playing field with the intensity that impressed him in much of the Gallardo cycle. In five minutes he has already reached the bottom twice, with the left lane as the preferred route of attack. First, it was Borré, with a shot, who sounded the alarm. Then, a loan from Suárez to Carrascal led to a clash between a defender and the goalkeeper that almost ended in the opening of the scoreboard.
The Verdao, meanwhile, opposed a direct game, with balls to Luiz Adriano, with the idea of taking advantage of the spaces that the Argentine team offered in their ambition. The quest was to get to the Armani neighborhood with few touches. But River’s asphyxia put him in an awkward position. At 20 minutes, the local arrived again: Montiel threw a precise cross and Borré failed to connect with precision in the heart of the area.
He MillionaireSince the arrival of Marcelo Gallardo as coach, he got used to contesting this kind of definitions, since this will be his third semi in a row, and fourth of the last five editions. They managed to lift the Cup in 2015 and 2018, while in 2019 they succumbed in the final against Flamengo from Brazil.
He Doll seeks to cross out a pending subject that remained from his stage as a footballer, since he faces the club that eliminated him in this same instance but in 1990. In the first leg, played at the Monumental, he won by 1 to 0, while in the return the Brazilians thrashed by 3 to 0 and later they would be proclaimed champions .
That antecedent is the only one among the Millionaire and the Verdao in decisive instances, since the previous ones were in the group stage of the defunct Mercosur Cup (in 1999 and 2001). The balance of these six clashes is a victory for the Argentines, three draws and two wins for the Brazilians.
Those of Núñez reached the semifinals after leading Group D, where they faced Liga de Quito from Ecuador, San Pablo from Brazil and Binacional from Peru. Then, he eliminated Athletico Paranaense in the round of 16 (tie 1 to 1 in Brazil and 1 to 0 in Avellaneda) and beat Nacional de Uruguay (2 to 0 at home and 6 to 2 in Montevideo).
The home team has been undefeated in 13 games (10 wins and three draws) and his last loss was on November 3 against Banfield, for the first date of the Diego Armando Maradona Cup (it was his only fall since the ball rolled again in this part of the continent). Despite the lack of public and not playing in the Monumental (it is in the process of being remodeled), River became strong in the Libertadores de América on the international level, since it won its four duels and only scored one goal.
His last presentation was the 2 to 2 of the Superclásico against Boca in The Bombonera, a result that allows him to be expectant also of the local tournament, since he shares the top of the Championship Zone A together with the Xeneize with eight units.
Another scary fact is the shocking record of the Millionaire since he was eliminated by Lanús in the semifinals of the 2017 edition. After that game he played 37 games for the Copa Libertadores and only succumbed in four (the first leg of the 2018 semifinals against Gremio – he also agreed to the next round -), 1 to 0 against Boca in 2019 (they also agreed to the definition of the tournament), the final against Flamengo in 2019 and their inaugural match against the Quito League in Ecuador, where the Doll led an alternative squad.
For this commitment Marcelo Gallardo received good news, since Milton Casco was discharged and is the starter.
The Brazilian team, for its part, also has several arguments to dream of staying with eternal glory. The São Paulo club is the only undefeated in the tournament, scoring 29 goals in favor and only receiving 4 goals against. He Verdao led Group B with 16 units, leaving behind Guaraní from Paraguay, Bolívar from Bolivia and Tigre. Then he thrashed Delfín from Ecuador and Libertad from Paraguay.
Now with the Portuguese Abel Ferreira at the helm of the team, Palmeiras resurfaced in the local tournament (he is in the qualifying zone for the next Copa Libertadores) and is a finalist in the Brazil Cup.
Despite Felipe Melo’s absence of weight (in November he suffered an ankle injury and he is expected to be in optimal condition for the return), the visit has a squad with players to fear, such as Paraguayan Gustavo Gómez, Rony or the young Gabriel Veron, one of the sensations of Brazilian football, who is waiting in the substitute bench. Palmeiras suffered a last-minute setback: Luan felt a lumbar pain in the warm-up and Alam Empereur replaced it.
However, it is worth noting that the Brazilians were not classified among the best four of the contest for 20 years. They were champions for the first and only time in 1999 (just eliminated River in this instance) and the last final they played was the following year, when they fell to Boca de Carlos Bianchi. He also disputed the 1961 and 1968 definitions.
The return match will be on Tuesday, January 12, at the Allianz Parque in San Pablo. The winner will qualify for the grand final, which will take place on January 30 at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
Trainings:
River: Franco Armani; Gonzalo Montiel, Robert Rojas, Javier Pinola, Milton Casco; Ignacio Fernández, Enzo Pérez, Nicolás de la Cruz; Jorge Carrascal, Rafael Santos Borré and Matías Suárez. DT: Marcelo Gallardo.
Palm Trees: Weverton; Marcos Rocha, Alan Empereur, Gustavo Gómez, Matías Viña; Gabriel Menino Patrick de Paula, Danilo; Gustavo Scarpa, Rony and Luiz Adriano. DT: Abel Ferreira.
Stadium: Liberators of America (Independent)
Referee: Leodán González (Uruguay)
WHERE: Julio Bascuñán (Chile)
Time: 21.30
Television: ESPN
Chance or cabal? The place that Palmeiras chose to train before the Copa duel against River
