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River and Boca to ‘give lives’ in quest for Libertadores glory
BUENOS AIRES, Nov 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The eyes of the world may be
focusing on leaders such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping at
the G20 summit in Argentina this weekend, but the heart of Buenos Aires will
be beating to a very different football drum.
River Plate and Boca Juniors, by far the two most popular football clubs
not just in the Argentine capital but also the whole country, will clash in
the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final in what has been branded a
“superclasico”.
Honors are even from the first leg two weeks after River twice hit back
from a goal down to draw 2-2 at Boca’s iconic Bombonera stadium.
And so it is to the Monumental, home of the “millionaires” for the deciding
tie, the first time two Argentine sides have faced off in the final of the
continent’s premier club competition: the equivalent of Europe’s Champions
League.
And there can be no downplaying the importance of this clash.
“We’re going to give our lives to win,” said Boca’s coach Guillermo Barros
Schelotto.
“For this jersey, we’re going to leave everything” on the field.
Passions run high in Argentina when it comes to football and more so than
ever when it relates to the local derby whose rivalry has been dubbed by many
top football magazines and newspapers as the fiercest in the world.
There won’t be any Boca fans at the Monumental — visiting supporters have
been barred from Argentine grounds since 2013 due to a sorry record of more
than 300 football-related deaths over the last 50 years, according to figures
from the Salvemos al Futbol (Let’s save football) charity.
– ‘I owe it to the fans’ –
River’s coach Marcelo Gallardo missed the first leg at the Bombonera due to
a four-game ban from South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL, but
he’s determined to make up for that on Saturday.
“I and the players owe it to the fans,” he said, although he is relying on
them to give the club a second-leg edge.
“We simply believe that our ground and our public will play in our favor in
the return leg,” said Gallardo.
On the pitch, the center of midfield is where the battle will reflect the
two clubs’ respective nicknames: the millionaires against the manure-
shovellers.
Racing’s elegant orchestrator Gonzalo Martinez has caught the eye of
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni recently and scored a goal on his
international debut in September’s 3-0 win over Guatemala.
But he will have Boca’s Colombian “Pitbull” Wilmar Barrios snapping at his
ankles on Saturday — a player of the same age and a national team regular
since 2016.
River will welcome back veteran captain Leonardo Ponzio, 36, who missed the
first leg with a muscle strain while Boca’s own golden oldie Pablo Perez, 33,
is back to full fitness having played two weeks ago despite suffering pain in
his ankle.
– Impressive records –
The battle of the bosses is almost as fascinating as that of the players as
each is a legend at his club.
In three separate stints as a player, Gallardo won six Argentine titles
with River and the Libertadores in 1996.
When he took over the coaching reins in 2014, he landed the Copa Sudamerica
in his first season in charge, the club’s first international trophy for 17
years, and the following season led them to a third Libertadores triumph.
Barros Schelotto’s record, though, is if anything even more impressive.
As a player he also won six Argentine titles but also four Libertadores and
the Copa Sudamerica twice.
He only took over the coaching reins at Boca two years ago but led them to
back-to-back Argentine titles.
With six Libertadores crowns, Boca’s record is bettered only by another
club from Buenos Aires, Independiente, with seven. But their last title was
more than a decade ago, whereas Racing’s was in 2015.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0940 hrs