The “challenge of champions” friendly between River Plate and Independiente Rivadavia ended in an unexpected 4-0 loss for River Plate at the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium in Mendoza.
Twenty-one minutes into the first half, Fabrizio Sartori Prieto caught off guard after a brilliant pass from Juan Manuel Vázquez. He went one-on-one with Ezequiel Centurión and established the quality between the legs of the opposition goalie. When the bottom of the first stage was badly stopped, Sartori reached it and threw a low cross for Vázquez to push it for the second.
Diego Tonetto scored an incredible goal in the second half, with 67 minutes remaining, by taking a left-footed shot from a distance and evading Centurión’s attempt to slap her with his swing. Less than ten minutes later, the Millonario suffered yet another setback. This time, Federico Moreno—who had replaced Vázquez just minutes earlier—seemed to push the defense into the attack.
Demichelis used this game as an opportunity to rest a number of players, to the point where Agustín Ruberto, Daniel Zabala, Esequiel Barco, Rodrigo Villagra, Ian Subiabre, Tobías Leiva, Ignacio Fernández, and Rodrigo Aliendro came off the bench in the second half.
It is important to remember that the Millonario’s main goal is to advance quickly to the League Cup finals, where it leads Zone A with 21 points, ahead of both Vélez and Argentinos Juniors, who have the same number of points but a worse goal differential. While Barracas Central (19), Independiente (18), and Instituto de Córdoba (17) are also in the fray, Talleres de Córdoba (19) would also fall into that category.
The final three games of the Núñez tour are scheduled for Friday, March 29 at 8:30 p.m. at Parque Patricios against Huracán, Sunday, April 7 at 9 p.m. at Rosario Central at the Mas Monumental Stadium, and Saturday, April 29 at 8:30 p.m. at La Gloria in Córdoba.
The Copa Libertadores began at the same time that River completed its goal in the national tournament. River is in Group H with Libertad of Paraguay, Deportivo Táchira of Venezuela, and Nacional of Uruguay. The first showing is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2, in Venezuela. On Thursday, April 11, at the Monumental, there will be a rematch with the Charrúas.
Lepra de Mendoza belongs to the same group, but its primary goal is to maintain the classification. They have seven points today, which puts them in second to last place, but they are 26th out of 28 teams in the Annual Table and bottom of the Averages table, meaning they will be demoted to the Primera B Nacional.
PERFORMANCE
River Plate: Matías Kranevitter, Agustín Palavecino, Manuel Lanzini, Franco Mastantuono, Facundo Colidio, Agustín Sant’Anna, David Martínez, Milton Casco, Santiago Simón, and Ezequiel Centurión. DT: Demichelis Martín.
Ignacio Fernandez, Lucas Lavagnino, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Daniel Zabala, Marcelo Herrera, Enzo Diaz, Rodrigo Villagra, Rodrigo Aliendro, Tobias Leiva, Ezequiel Barco, Ian Subiabre, Miguel Borja, and Augustin Ruberto are the substitutes.
Emmanuel Mas, John Manuel Vazquez, Francisco Maidana, Joaquin Arzura, Diego Tonetto, Fabrizio Sartori, Emiliano Saliadarre, Mariano Monllor, Rufinus Lucero, Alvaro Dionysius, Thomas Palaces, and Emmanuel Mas are the independent Rivadavia. CIT: Martin Cicotello.
Federico Castro, Francisco Petrasso, Luciano Abecasis, Matthias Ruiz Diaz, Augustin Lastra, Juan Sebastian Zeballos, Mauro Maidana, Juan Ignacio Cavallaro, Matthew Ortale, Tobias Ostchega, Antonio Napolitano, and Federico Castro are the substitutes.
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