It was a night of peace and quiet at Monumental. Martín Demichelis, who blew the whistle in the last game, was applauded this time. And then river got a well deserved victory in the cup against Freedom which helped him jump to the round of 16 of Liberators and to be the first Argentine to be classified in that super Club World Cup next year giving away several million dollars in prize money.
If River is smiling now to a large extent it is because of Miguel Borja’s forcefulness. The Colombian does not go outside the area because Demichelis asks him to. The coach wants him in the hottest rectangle. And he seems to be right. The scorer never stops celebrating goals
This time, Borja celebrated by controlling a cross with class, turning and scoring the first goal. Then, on the second, he hung in and from the door of the place, he put it in a corner. The Colombian’s 2024 was incredible: 16 goals in 19 games!
Demichelis put together a logical team, with the Rodrigos (Villagra and Aliendro) balancing the midfield, with the experienced Nacho Fernández to think, with the early talent of Diablito Echeverri to dribble and up top with Facundo Colidio and Miguel Borja to hurt. And that construction worked. River deserved to lead long before achieving it.
Libertad, played, knowing he had to overcome the result to keep dreaming of moving to the second round, looked for more in the second half. But his intention, with the passage of minutes, was lost. And River is in control of everything again. Until Borja sealed the result in the second.
It’s true that sometimes his game seems unstable. It’s true that it seems unreliable. But River in lean Argentine soccer continues to make differences. And on the continental field, although it remains to be seen how far he can go, so far he has been doing the right thing in Group H of the Libertadores, taking first place and jumping to the round of 16. Along with that, he earned a ticket in the 2025 Club Super World Cup The whistles for Demichelis on Saturday were exaggerated, said. And last night the millionaire fans hit themselves with applause. And it is good.
DATA SHEET
2 – River Plate: Franco Armani Agustín Sant’Anna, Leandro González Pirez, Paulo Díaz, Milton Casco; Rodrigo Villagra (m.85, Matías Kranevitter), Rodrigo Aliendro (m.80, Nicolás Fonseca), Ignacio Fernández (m.69, Pablo Solari), Claudio Echeverri (m.69, Esequiel Barco), Facundo Colidio (m.80 , Franco Mastantuono); and Miguel Borja
0 – Freedom: Rodrigo Morinigo; Iván Ramírez, Luis Cardozo, Diego Viera, Néstor Giménez; Hernesto Caballero (m.80, Álvaro Campuzano), Lucas Sanabria, Bautista Merlini (m.80, Gustavo Aguilar), Iván Franco (m.70, Antonio Bareiro); Matías Espinoza (m.58, Lorenzo Melgarejo) and Roque Santa Cruz (m.70, Óscar Cardozo)
The objectives: 1-0, Miguel Borja (m. 41); 2-0, Miguel Borja (m. 84)
Referee: Chilean Piero Maza advised Paulo Díaz, Hernesto Caballero and Antonio Bareiro
Incidents: The match is valid for the fifth day of Group H of the Copa Libertadores, played at the Antonio Vespucio Liberti Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
