River Plate established himself as Copa Libertadores champion after winning a dramatic victory over Boca Juniors 3-1 in the final match held at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid on Sunday (9/12) local time. The intensity of the match was fierce because the two teams previously drew 2-2 in the first leg which was held at the Boca Juniors headquarters, Buenos Aries.
It was a postponed match because a number of Boca Juniors players were injured after the bus of their team was attacked by River Plate fans on their way to the stadium ahead of the second leg. After Boca refused to play at El Monumental, Conmebol as the South American football federation finally moved the second leg to the Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain.
In a drive out in Madrid, Boca started this game with a little more aggressiveness than River. However, a number of opportunities included Pablo Perez’s half-volley still unable to produce a goal.
Boca Juniors managed to take the lead thanks to a goal from Dario Benedetto with a quick counter-attack at the end of the first half. Clever bait from Nahitan Nandez was well completed by Benedetto. He first tricked Jonathan Maidana before sending the ball into the bottom right corner which was unable to reach goalkeeper Franco Armani. The 1-0 advantage of the team nicknamed Xeneizes lasted until halftime.
River Plate, who tried to appear more aggressive in the second half, successfully equalized to 1-1 through Lucas Pratto in the 68th minute. The match was heated again because the aggregate returned to a draw. 1-1 score ended until normal time was over and the match was continued to an additional round of 2×15 minutes. The drama came after Boca Juniors, Barriors, were sent off after receiving a second yellow card.
River Plate was able to capitalize on the superiority of the number of players by scoring goals through Juan Quintero. Juan Quintero who entered in the second half became the hero of River through his beautiful goal in the 109th minute. River now turns to lead 2-1.
Boca tried to equalize by playing Carlos Tevez’s aging bomber. But the results are not encouraging.
It was precisely River that was able to add advantage in the final seconds of the match. Gonzalo Martinez ran alone towards the empty Boca goal left by Andrada. 3-1 score for River Plate’s victory is the final result of this fight. The Copa Libertadores title finally belonged to River Plate after beating Boca Juniors 3-1.
Player composition:
River Plate (4-1-4-1): Franco Armani; Gonzalo Montiel, Jonathan Maidana, Javier Pinola, Milton Casco; Leonardo Ponzio; Ignacio Fernandez, Enzo Perez, Exequiel Palacios, Gonzalo Martinez; Lucas Pratto.
Boca Juniors (4-3-3): Esteban Andrada; Julio Buffarini, Carlos Izquierdoz, Lisandro Magallan, Lucas Olaza; Nahitan Nandez, Wilmar Barrios, Pablo Perez; Sebastian Villa, Cristian Pavon, Dario Benedetto.
