River Plate hosts Internacional in round 6 of South American Copa Libertadores. The match will be played on Wednesday, May 8th at Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti (Buenos Aires)
Brazilian Internacional leads Group A of Copa Libertadores with 13 points (4–1–0). The Argentine stalwart River Plate, which is last year’s champion, ranks 2nd in the same group and has only 9 points (2-3-0). The Millionaires had also qualified for the playoff stage ahead of schedule. There will be no emotional electricity in Buenos Aires, but each team legitimately expects to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament. At that stage, there will a bonus in the form of the advantage of home field in the return match, so the teams won’t play half-heartedly. A greater number of points and better goal scoring are the criteria in the case of parity. River Plate did not become a competitor for Racing in Superliga, but managed to promote to the main cup of the continent for next year. Participation in Copa de la Superliga only maintains the tonus of the team that has finished the local championship, which is played according to the European schedule. It makes no sense to discuss the fact that the Millionaires keep a vacation in their mind. In the second stage of the local cup, the Argentines hammered a modest Aldosivi with a 6: 0 score at home, having a home streak of 3 clean sheets, which had started from 3: 0 victory over another opponent of the CL group, Alianza Lima.
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The Argentines are alert and alive, because they are to play in the final of Recopa Sudamericana with Athletico Paranaense. The only thing that spoils the mood of River Plate’s coach is the injuries of Casco (defender) and the attacking trio - playmaker Quintero and two forwards, Scocco and Matias Suarez. Obviously, without the main creators of the last year’s title, the total attacking conversion will decrease, but not to critical levels. River Plate is a flexible team, and Gallardo has two solutions: a 4-4-2 scheme and an aggressive 4-1-3-2. In a positional attack, as many as three players make up for the loss of Quintero. The shapes of Fernandez, De La Cruz and Perez are good, and Borre and Pratto will play in the attack. Having gained one hundred percent promotion to the playoff of CL, the coach of Inter did not start tearing between 2 fronts, because the team has champion’s ambitions in the local championship. In the previous round of Serie A, the reigning champion of Brazil hosted the players from Porto Allegri. The coach of the Red sent the main squad to Sao Paulo, but lost (2: 1). It turns out that he risks being left without a result in both tournaments. Taking into account the flight, the Brazilians will be less fresh.
Hellman should also note that the three key players of his team - Edenilson, Patrick and D’Alessandro - are hanging on yellow cards. Naturally, the Brazilian coach has to think about the next stage of the tournament, so we can expect the rotation in the names of Dourado and Rithely. This is a refreshment of the midfield. Then again, the away tactics of almost all South American teams is a reliable defense. In Brazil, the teams showed a real shoot-out (2: 2), but now I don’t believe in the development of such a scenario. Internacional successfully started in Copa Libertadores and looked better than the main favorite at the group stage, but could not beat River Plate in the home field. Now the Brazilians will play at the haughty Monumental, and for the first time in this competition, they will play not with empty stands. The disqualification is over, and the cult stadium would be full of fans. The hosts will have the 12th player, which is always in perfect shape. Given the losses of River Plate in the front third, as well as a good defensive line of the visitors, I predict the victory of the Argentine stalwart with not a great amount of goals.
Prediction for the match: River Plate to win + Under 3.5 goals scored
