Pity played impressively. It's so frustrating that he can't be playing like this every week and be consistent. Oh well, boquita got beat in that shithole of a stadium. Good times are ahead of us, gentlemen!
I wanted to kill Batalla for the ********up that gave Boca life, but he redeemed himself in the end... What a pair or back-to-back saves! Alario.... cuando no? Always there with the goals in the important games. Ponzio and Maidana, absolute warriors who excelled today. Driussi continues to be on fire... Scorching season from Seba Mayada is anazing and probably the most multifunctional playeron the planet. Overall great game from everyone, can't find any negatives to say... Nacho I thought was imprecise and not yet fully ready, but he ended up being key stealing the ball at the end for the third goal that sealed the game. GRANDE RIVER! Gallardo no te vayas nunca.... y boca preparate, que hace rato que te vengo avisando que el fantasma de lavolpe esta vivo
This game was sooooo similar to the Ramirazo back in 2014. Both games River dominated, then Boca got back into with a free kick. Obviously, back then, Boca managed to tie it, while today they pulled with in one, but we were sweating the whole second half, only for River to win it late on with a golazo from a kid from the inferiores. That and the game seemed to go on forever. Time just wouldn't move fast enough that second half. I seriously needed to recover after watching the match it was so intense. I honestly don't think you can do much tactical analysis in a clasico like this, but like loco said, Alario and Driussi are just cracks, and Pity showed up when it mattered most. Ponzio and Maidana are the two emblems of the club. Battalla ********ed up then made two great saves, and Martinez Quarta saved to sure goals. Regardless of whether or not Boca wins the league or not, this win feels like a title. It will be the envión we need to win the rest of our games and then win the Copa. You know that even if the bosteros win this title, and thats very unlikely, they will hardly be able to celebrate it, considering this run of results. Hopefully Newell's can get a result next week, but they have completely fallen apart these last two games losing a combined 7-2 at home to Independiente and Rosario Central. VAMOS CARAJO
Rossi and Mora, two players who were expected to start on Thursday for the alternative team in Peru, are out due to injuries.. Shame for Mora, who deserves the minutes based on his sacrifices this season.... Rossi, I don't really care about... the kid seems medio pecho frio from what I've seen so far. Casco has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Good opportunity not just for the pibe Olivera, but also for Leandro Vega, who turned down a few offers in January to stay and fight for a spot despite being extremely relegated in the pecking order... maybe his persistence will end up paying off after all. Who says he doesn't end up keeping the LB position in the long run if he puts on a string of good performances? Zacarias Moran Correa is another one who could be getting a golden opportunity. With Rossi injured and Ponzio being given some rest, the pibe will be getting his first chance to travel with the first team. I assume he'll be a sub (although there is a chance he'll start), with Domingo and Arzura receiving priority within the eleven, but maybe he'll get some minutes and leap a few steps up.
Well, nevermind about Vega... just read this bit from Gallardo: "A Vega no lo voy a tener disponible porque no está para jugar. Esto nos genera, claramente, un problema. Sin Casco ni Olivera, ayer tuvimos que improvisar con Mayada, que lo hizo bastante bien. La idea es que siga en esa posición. No lo descargo, para que vaya tomando forma".
I am not a fan of Rossi either, but he is much better than Domingo who is IMO the worst player in the squad. He puts in worse performances each time he steps on the pitch, and the worst part is that tonight he will be the captain of River in a Libertadores match with the whole continent looking on... Still we only need a point to guarantee top spot in the group so hopefully we can get that point in the altitude tonight and then put out a completely rotated squad against DIM in the last group match. The next stage will be decided by a draw, like in the Champions League, and won't be seeded like in years past, so we don't need to worry about how many points we get, the only thing we need to make sure of his first place to avoid the strong team, who strangely enough include San Lorenzo who finished top in their group. I am not afraid of the cuervos, but a series against them would be physically and emotionally draining. Other than that, I think Mineiro is the strongest team, so finishing first is a must to avoid these two sides. The only 2nd place team who could be troublesome is Lanus. Anyway, heres our probable team tonight: 1-Augusto Batalla; 4-Jorge Moreira, 3-Arturo Mina, 6-Luciano Lollo, 18-Camilo Mayada; 17-Carlos Auzqui, 5-Nicolás Domingo (capitán), 14-Joaquín Arzura, 15-Tomás Andrade; 13-Lucas Alario y 9-Marcelo Larrondo I will be looking closely at Andrade tonight who if I'm not mistaken hasn't played since his epic miss against Belgrano. I wonder where the kid's confidence will be. I am also interested to see Larrondo who looked like a player last time out against Emelec, lets see if he can do anything and stay healthy.
I know it could take years for GK's to find their game and they tend to get better later but shesssh Batalla... It's like he's got a blunder in him for every game.
Seriously... Lux and Costanzo played for the first team when they were both still really young and wouldn't ******** up... Carrizo and Chichizola made their fair share of mistakes (certainly more than German... specially Carrizo), but they didn't occur as regularly as they do with Batalla. It's concerning.. The positive about Augusto lies in his mentality and leadership skills. You could tell the guy is very mature for his age, giving commands and organizing naturally as if he were a 30+ year old veteran. It's impressive, considering he's just starting out. Apparently he's been a leader in the locker room ever since his early youth days too... But on the technical side he has a lot of work to do. He doesn't necessarily have any standout traits (i.e. rushing out, reflexes, jumping reach, ball distribution, etc.), and his mistakes are far too recurring. We'll see how he continues developing, but I think people are expecting him to stop committing so many errors after receiving this one year "trial period".
Man I am excited. Only got to see the match in snippets (I missed a lot of Batalla's saves apparently) but what I saw was great to watch, and I'm excited by the chance to win it from under Boca's noses.
Well, we really blew the chance to take complete control Sunday against Rosario Central, now we need to hope that the bosteros lose this weekend... That being said, can you imagine the scenes if Gigliotti scores a 93rd minute winner in La Bombonera to sink their title hopes? Regardless of what happens, we've cut an 11 point gap down to 1 point, which is an amazing achievement. If we don't win the title we only have ourselves to blame, particularly for the first part of the season (Defensa y Justicia, Arsenal, SM de San Juan...), because as I've said, this Boca team is really horrible, I don't think theres one player on their team who could play for us.
Que manera de desperdiciar oportunidades de sacarle el titulo a boca... Si salen campeones, seran el peor campeon del futbol argentino en muuuucho tiempo, pero la culpa es nuestra por regalarles el titulo
I missed the game, but the main critiques seems to be going to Batalla, Casco, and Auzqui..... Opinions @RiverGaucho @balazsriver10 @megamac20817 @DaDroopDogg ?? In general, Casco has never seemed up to River standard, while Batalla -while decent in general-has cost us several points with his errors. If Barovero was still with us, River would be first today with those lost points added to our tally. Auzqui just got here, but he has already missed indispensable chances vs Boca, Lanus, and now San Lorenzo. He has an interesting flair, but seems to lack finishing for a forward. On another note, I would have let Alario serve his suspension midweek vs Atletico Tucuman instead of today. It was my opinion prior to the two results, and In the end it seems to have been a big mistake to not have done so
My feelings on Casco are pretty evident. The guy has always sucked ass. Reminds me of Arano on just how useless he is. I'd give Batalla the benefit of the doubt. He is young, and we were immensely spoiled by Barovero.
Man, great photo, its always great to see proof that players are River fans long before they make the first team. I know Driussi and Battalla (ugh) are both River fanatics as well. On another note, Wednesday is the sorteo for the copa libertadores, as there is no seeded/bracket system this year. I'm not sure as to the rules for the draw... I am looking on LPM and Ole and even check out wikipedia, but am seeing nothing. I think we won't be able to draw Emelec, since they were in our group, and I also think Godoy Cruz is off limits as they are argentine... But as I said, I'm not 100% sure. If Godoy Cruz is an option, I'd take them right away. Its the shortest travel and its a very, very accessible opponent. Normally, I prefer to avoid Argentine clubs, but I'd take Godoy Cruz any day of the week. They may know us well, but they don't have half the quality, not even a quarter, that we have. Amongst the other teams, its tough to say. None of them are that strong, but I would definitely say Nacional is the team to avoid. A historic club that knows the Libertadores, and while they are an inferior squad on paper, they won't be intimidated by River or El Monumental as the majority of the other teams would. Paranaense would offer an interesting return of Lucho, they seem like a decent side, but nothing to fear. River, regardless of who we get, will be the clear favorite.
I'm actually worried about drawing Guarani. Paraguayan clubs have always been a pain in the ass for us because of their bunker tactics.
We might have beat Emelec in the Ecuadorian altitude earlier this year, but I prefer to skip any team in the altitude -- half of the teams in Pot 2 have that going for them (Barcelona, Emelec, Jorge Wilstermann, and the Strongest). Just in general those games are tough, and Gallardo's teams have struggled in the past when visiting Independiente del Valle (2016), San Jose (2015), and The Strongest (2016)... even when we beat Emelec this time around, we didn't exactly put on a great performance. I agree that Godoy Cruz would probably be the easiest opponent of the bunch. After that, probably Nacional, despite their history... in this year's group stage they tied with Zulia (!!) in Venezuela, and even lost to them at home. They also tied vs a Chapecoense that is being completely rebuilt. However, there's no denying that Uruguayan teams have garra, so past results won't matter much if facing them. Other than that, there's Guarani, who I wouldn't mind. It's true that they'd probably bunker against us, but so would all the other possible opponents except Nacional probably. We beat the Paraguayns and their defensive tactics in 2015, we can do it again. Damn, I dont't want to wait 2-3 months for this tournament to continue
Loco- Barcelona and Emelec are at sea level in guayaquil. No worries about altitude Btw, does anyone know anything about teams from our group or from the same country? Thats the thing that could change the draw. As I said, if its allowed, I'd love to get Godoy Cruz
@RiverGaucho -- confirmed: no rule banning teams from the same country or same group from facing each other in Round of 16