River Plate lifts the Copa Libertadores in Madrid
The two-leg final of the Latin American “Copa Libertadores” was meant to be played in Buenos Aires, making it the first time in the 58 years of the competition where the two matches were to be played in the same city. Moreover, this year's final involved two local teams with one of the fiercest rivalries in the soccer world: River Plate and Boca Juniors, and so it caught the attention of the whole world.
Having two local teams in the final used to be deliberately impeded by the CONMEBOL, which arranged the fixtures in order to face them in semi-finals at most. However, the introduction of the random draw format in the Round of 16 in this year’s edition made the scenario possible. Unfortunately, Argentina was deprived of making history due to the violent confrontation of some of the teams’ supporters, and in the end only the first match was played in Buenos Aires.
After the violent events that took place minutes before the second and decisive match at “El Monumental” on November 25 (which included River Plate supporters throwing stones, bottles and similar objects to Boca Junior’s bus, injuring some of the players) the match was postponed, and negotiations started with CONMEBOL to resolve the situation.
CONMEBOL’s position was clear: the match would not be played unless we can ensure safety for both players and public. News from all over the world were covering the possible outcomes of this puzzle, as the organisers considered other possible venues to hold the match. To the surprise of both Argentinians and Spaniards, and the outrage of River supporters that complained about losing their home match, Florentino Pérez, (president of Real Madrid) presented the Santiago Bernabéu stadium as an alternative to hold the final of the CONMEBOL Libertadores.
The final was ultimately played in Madrid, on the 9th of December 2018. With the incidents in Argentina still echoing in the environment, by the time the date was approaching, Madrid was properly prepared. The date finally came and the police was ready to act against any act of possible violence between the supporters. Fortunately, most of the heads of the “barras bravas” (radical supporters) didn’t make it across the Atlantic, to the relief of the police.
Madrid was the capital of Argentinian football for a day, and with everything set, the match started. The first goal came in the minute 44, with Benedetto scoring for the Boca supporters bursting the euphoria between Boca fans. The equalizer arrived in minute 67, as a reward to a magnificent River that came out from half-time willing to give everything.
Neither team manage to score any goal throughout the rest of the match, and an extension was required to determine who would bring the trophy home. During the added-time, the superiority of River Plate was clear, and Juan Fernando Quintero scored to make the 2-1 for River. Finally, with a very discouraged and disorganized Boca, the last blow came from the feet of Gonzalo “Piti” Martinez, scoring the 3-1 through a counter-attack with no goalie
River Plate will rise with the triumph for the fourth time in its history. After a very controversial tournament marked by the incidents in Buenos Aires and the decision to move the final to Madrid, La Copa Libertadores came to an end with no incidents in the celebrations at the capital of Spain. However, we cannot say the same about the celebrations in Buenos Aires.
In any case… Congratulations River Plate!
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