Gallardo’s men to look for a victory in front of fans to clinch trophy
MONTERREY, Mexico — In a hard-fought match, River Plate took a 0-0 draw against Tigres in the first leg game of the Libertadores Cup final at the Universitario de Nueva León stadium in Monterrey, Mexico.
Marcelo Gallardo’s players put pressure on their opponents, showed a solid defence again and tried to attack with long passes from the midfielders to attackers Rodrigo Mora and Lucas Alario.
However, Tigres almost broke that defence in the 17th minute, when Arévalo Ríos crossed the ball and hit the crossbar after deflecting off River’s Leonel Vangioni.
Three minutes later, goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero saved the visitors as he blocked a header from Rafael Sobis. Once again, Tigres attacked from the left side and Sobis headed to score after Jurgen Damm’s cross. But Barovero was focused and caught the ball without allowing a rebound.
The Millonarios also had its chance in the first half. Carlos Sánchez assisted Alario with a long pass, the former Colón striker controlled it, but Tigres’ Argentine goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán rushed out quickly to hold the ball before Alario could leave him behind with his skills.
In the last minutes of the first half, River right-back Gabriel Mercado was booked and will miss the return leg for accumulating of yellow cards.
For the second half, coach Gallardo had to make two substitutions as Mora and Tabaré Viudez suffered injuries. Gonzalo Martínez and Nicolás Bertolo took their places.
They gave more speed to the visitors, but the match continued as even as the first half.
River had to make the last substitution due to another injury. Leonardo Ponzio had to be replaced and Luis González took his spot.
The best chance of the second half came in the 77th and was for the hosts. Juninho took charge of a long-range free kick and Barovero blocked the fierce shot to send the ball to the corner.
At the end, River kept its goal in zero and will play in front of its fans at the Monumental looking for a victory to win the title.
The South American soccer Confederation’s (CONMEBOL’s) rules say that away goals do not count as double in case of a draw. If the average result finishes in a draw after both matches, the teams will play two extra times of 15 minutes each after the return leg, and if the result does not change, they will play a penalty shoot-out.
Tigres fielded: Guzmán; Israel Giménez, José Rivas, Juninho, José Torres; Damm, Guido Pizarro, Ríos, Damián Álvarez; Sobis and André Gignac.
River played with: Barovero; Mercado, Jonatan Maidana, Ramiro Funes Mori, Vangioni; Sánchez, Matías Kranevitter, Leonardo Ponzio, Tabaré Viudez; Mora and Alario.
River, winner of the competition in 1986 and 1996, and Tigres shared Group Six. The Mexican team had the chance to eliminate the Millonarios, as it was winning 2-0 against them in the fifth round of the group stage. However, Gallardo’s men equalized with goals scored by Colombian Teófilo Gutiérrez, now in Sporting Lisbon of Portugal, and Uruguayan Rodrigo Mora.
In the next and final group game, Tigres helped River to qualify for the knock-out stage as the Mexicans beat Juan Aurich of Peru 5-4 and the Millonarios defeated San José of Bolivia 3-0 to clinch its first victory in the competition.
In the last-16 round, River eliminated arch rival Boca Juniors after the remembered “Black Thursday,” in which River players were attacked by a pepper spray by Boca hooligans while they were entering the field for the second half at La Bombonera. The match was suspended and CONMEBOL decided to eliminate the Xeneizes from the championship.
The quarterfinal series against Cruzeiro did not start as River was expecting, as it lost 1-0 at home in the first leg game. However, the Millonarios made the surprise by clinching a 3-0 away victory at the Mineirão stadium in Brazil to advance to the semis.
Guaraní of Paraguay was next, and with a 3-1 average win (2-0 at home and 1-1 in Asunción), the Millonarios reached their fifth Libertadores Cup final.
Meanwhile, Tigres beat Universitario of Bolivia, Emelec of Ecuador and Internacional of Brazil to reach the title decider.
There will be one last match between River and Tigres to decide the new champion on Wednesday when the Millonarios host the Mexicans at the Monumental stadium at 10pm.
No matter the final result, River is already qualified for the Club World Cup in Japan.
Herald staff with DyN
Source: Buenos Aires Herald