Copa Libertadores 2020

River is very capable of scoring 3 or 4 goals. But I doubt that they can keep a talented team like Palmeiras from scoring themselves. River likes to hold the ball and move their defense up, and attack with lots of people and they create lots of chances, but their defensive midfield is porous, and Palmeiras should be able to take advantage of it. I don't see a superclasico final.

 

I will feel fairly secure once we get 1 home goal.

 

Our defense is too damn bad... we never properly replaced Martinez Quarta and it’s showing. Pinola is 37 or 38 and can’t keep up at the pace of the youngings, and Rojas is a promising centerback but has proven to be extremely green in the last two games vs Boca and Palmeiras.

Then there’s the losses of Exequiel Palacios, Quintero, Scocco, and Pratto — all players of extreme quality and NT experience that were with us at the beginning of the year but didn’t make it to December. They all left, but like MQ were never actually replaced with anyone and you can see it with how weak our bench is when we need alternatives like last night.

It’s hard to imagine River flipping the score with such a weak defense. Yeah, maybe we score 3 or 4, but they score 2 or 3. It’s a near impossible mission, but Gallardo taught us to have hope: when Wilstermann beat us 3-0 in the first leg everyone thought we were out, yet we put on a masterclass in the second leg and advanced. When Cruzeiro beat us 1-0 in el Monumental everyone thought we were toast, yet we went to Belo Horizonte and won 3-0. In the 2018 Libertadores final, Boca were up 3 times (!!), yet River lifted the title.

I’m not getting my hopes up and obviously expect Palmeiras to go through, but this book isn’t over and you never know what the final chapter has in store

 

Thanks for the comments.

I'm not going to speak for all fans, but based on my experience, in Argentina basically there are those who hate Boca (River fans), those who hate River (Boca fans) and those who hate both (fans of all other clubs), although in the provinces there are fans of some small provincial clubs who in addition support either Boca or River and hate the other.

The difference between Argentina and Brasil is that Buenos Aires is much more dominant when compared to any other region. In Brasil I see more parity between regions.

For the most part fans of a team from Rosario, La Plata or Cordoba will hate their regional rival first, but also will hate the big teams from Buenos Aires. Fans from Buenos Aires usually hate the other big clubs from Buenos Aires, but as far as the bigger clubs from the provinces, we are mostly dismissive rather than hate them. A fan from Boca, River, Independiente for example would never admit that a Newell's or Rosario Central can belong anywhere near our level, although the Rosario fans will make reasonable arguments based on tradition and merits to say that their clubs do belong among the big clubs.

Personally, for the most part I want to see the big clubs from Buenos Aires (other than my club, Boca) lose, but I do tend to get behind the smaller clubs from Buenos Aires and behind all the clubs from the other regions if they play against a foreign club.

And, I should add that by hate I mean in a sporting sense, wanting to see them lose. Not real hate, although unfortunately there are many idiot fans who don't know the difference. I do appreciate great players and great teams, even if in a sporting sense I enjoy watching them lose.

 

Only wanted to end the half at 0 x 0. Disastrous so far.

 

I had no idea what the ref was calling . I guess it's the right call.

You guys are deserving this @locoxriver

 

Wooooow and now that bs red... absolutely disgraceful performance from the ref

 

Lmao just put on a green jersey at this point... my god

 

VAR is ruining the sport.

 

Thought the 2nd yellow was bad. Our player went down easy.

The PK though looked like the right call to me.

But you guys deserve to go through. Shameful performance by my team.

 

IN-********ING-CREDIBLE ... highway robbery

 

Hard to celebrate this. Didn't deserve to go through.I will be happy when the final comes. Hopefully better display.

Tough break @locoxriver

 

The general consensus seems to be that VAR was properly applied in the controversial decisions against River. However, there was a play at the end of the match due to illegal contact from Weverton to Paulo Diaz that should have been a penalty and both the ref and VAR missed.

And that's the problem with VAR. I understand that no system is perfect, but when applied inconsistently, it creates more questions than it answers. As they say in Argentina, "they catch an ant and miss an elephant".

At any rate, I am sorry that we don't have a superclasico final, but I tip off my hat to River, they went to Brazil ready to play, and they played well, both in terms of strategy and execution. They did what they needed to do to reverse the disaster of the first game, and it's only circumstantial that they did not advance.

 

That stomp deserves more than a regular suspension IMO.

 

I think former FIFA international ref Castrilli hit the nail on the head with his analysis after the match:

“Lo que más duele es que River no queda afuera por Palmeiras. River queda eliminado por el VAR. No hay otra lectura. Hay elementos objetivos para decir que hubo una clara predisposición manifiesta para encontrar la aguja en el pajar y todos los elementos que no beneficiaran a River“
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Like I mentioned repeatedly, we also sunk our own ship in the first leg with very grave, evitable errors committed by Carrascal, Armani, and Rojas, no doubt about that. However, you can't help but feel a sense of rage seeing how clear as day it was how they kept on trying to find any little thing to avoid us passing. We were playing against much more than 11 players last night, that's for sure.

Alas, cheers to the brazucas and may the best team win in the final... hopefully whoever the winner is takes down Bayern at the CWC in February. They've kind of been on a decline lately, losing to Borussia Monchengladbach over the weekend in the Bundesliga and now being eliminated by a second division team in the German Cup today. Of course they still have the strength of an incredible, world-class squad, but they don't seem to be the unstoppable force they were not long ago any more.

 

I don't know... maybe they're trying to play like Felipe Melo.