Their own triumph over Instituto and the defeat of Talleres with Lanús left River a few steps away from a new Olympic round in the local tournament. And that tranquility in the domestic sphere is key for the team of Martin Demichelis have a clear head to face another important international commitment when this Tuesday (starting at 9 pm) they receive The Strongest in search of qualification for the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores.
In this match against the Bolivian team, River not only faces a sporting challenge. Also, there is a lot at stake from the economic side. Is that in access to the mata-mata are in progress more than 23 million dollars. Therefore, the match against The Strongest is not only crucial in terms of football, but also for the coffers of the club.
Already with access to the round of 16, among prizes for the pass to that instance, for winning at home in each group stage match (300 thousand dollars) and for estimated collection for the one-on-one match in Núñez, it represents close to five million dollars. And if you keep going, the sum grows.
Each club that reaches the round of 16 will be guaranteed $1,250,000; those who go to the quarterfinals, 1,700,000 dollars; the semifinals, 2,300,000 dollars and whoever wins the Cup, will take 18 million dollars. These are the prizes that Conmebol arranged for the final part of the maximum continental competition, which in case of being a champion amount to 23,250,000 dollars.
From the symbolic, in addition, for River It would be an affront not to reach the round of 16, something that has not happened for 14 years. And since he played in the Cup again, in 2015, only in that edition was he on the verge of being eliminated, in Gallardo’s first Libertadores as coach. He went through the window, with 7 points, and later he was champion.
River fell 3-1 on his visit to Bolivia. This Tuesday he seeks revenge. Photo: EFE/ Javier Mamani
Now, in his first Cup as coach, Demichelis also reached the last day of the group stage without having guaranteed qualification, although with a more favorable situation since in the previous definition his team depends on itself to achieve the aim. If he beats The Strongest, he’ll get into the next phase.
The results that favor River: What happens if they don’t get the three points or tie?
If it draws, then it will depend on the result of Fluminense with Sporting Cristal. They will need the Peruvians not to win, because if not, they will be third in the group and will go to the Copa Sudamericana. On the other hand, a victory for the Brazilians will put it in the same way. And if there is equality at the Maracaná, they will begin to carve out the number of goals, since the difference in goals between Sporting Cristal and River is the same (-2) but Núñez’s team so far has more goals in favor (9 against 7).
Meanwhile, if River loses, it will be eliminated from the Libertadores, since The Strongest (with 6 points) would pass it and it will have to wait for Fluminense to beat Sporting Cristal to have a chance of finishing third and getting into the South American.
Those are all the possibilities that can occur on Tuesday night. In any case, in River you don’t think about mathematics or watching the other game. The head is set to do the best in the Monumental to ensure classification without depending on anyone.
In fact, they reached the last date in second place and with a favorable scenario to qualify after the great 2-0 win over Fluminense at the Monumental that paved the way for them. And the victory of Sporting Cristal also helped The Strongest at the height of La Paz.
Ezequiel Barco celebrates his goal in the great triumph of the Millionaire against Fluminense at the Monumental. Photo: EFE/Juan I. Roncoroni
With the cupbearer chip activated since Friday, when the squad immediately resumed training after the 3-1 loss to the Institute, Demichelis dropped the message that there is no place for relaxation since a bad night at the Monumental could end in a nightmare that would tarnish a prolific run to the local title.
“We are not going to be hypocrites and not recognize that the end is near, but as I tell the players, this is day by day and I do not want anyone to think that we are already the champions, because today there was no stage, medal delivery , nothing…”, were the words that Demichelis gave after the victory over Instituto. And he reinforced that message in subsequent practices. Micho knows that there is a lot at stake. And he is clear.
Demichelis defines the team to face The Strongest
Looking ahead to this Tuesday’s match, in which River will play against The Strongest and define the qualification for the round of 16, Martín Demichelis must define who will be the replacement for Leandro González Pirez, who suffers from a left hamstring strain, an injury that suffered in the match against the Institute. And he has two applicants: Emanuel Mammana or Robert Rojas.
The Paraguayan will concentrate again after being left out of the list against the Institute. Although he had returned in good condition from his participation with the Paraguayan National Team, Demichelis decided to leave him out. A few days before, the player’s representative had said that it was time for Rojas to leave River. However, he later backed down. In the middle, the River coach had a talk with the Paraguayan defender, who assured him that his intention is to continue at the club.
“The statements of a person (by the representative of Rojas, Diego Serrati) that I do not know, does not change my way of being. If I have to be guided by that type of thing, I could not make accurate decisions. The things that I had to talk about I talked about them with Robert in person and with the squad. I already said it, this is not the time to talk about the transfer market because River is very big, “said Demichelis about it.
And he added: “You have to win, qualify for the Libertadores round of 16 and finish the League well. The calendar makes many representatives get confused and so are the players, but Rojas will continue to be an important player for us because he had been doing very well “.
Regarding the rest of the team, Enzo Díaz will surely return to the starting lineup instead of Milton Casco and we will have to see what happens with Enzo Pérez. If he plays from the start, Pablo Solari would come out. The rest of the headlines, if there were no last-minute problems, would be: Franco Armani, Andrés Herrera, Paulo Díaz, Rodrigo Aliendro, Nicolás De La Cruz, Esequiel Barco, Ignacio Fernández and Lucas Beltrán.
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2023-06-26 21:33:23
#millions #played #game #Strongest
