River Plate defeats Aldosivi in the Argentine Tournament
River Plate narrowly defeated Aldosivi in the 29th round of the Argentine Tournament. With Boca Juniors already crowned champions, the 'millonarios' are now focused on another objective: securing their place in the 2018 Copa Libertadores.
Lucas Martínez Quarta scored River's goal in the 69th minute, after collecting a rebound from goalkeeper Matías Vega following a free kick by Gonzalo Martínez.
"These matches are tough for us, we had some negative results but today we managed to win and secure a spot in next year's Copa Libertadores. Now we have to continue because we can't stay with just this," said River's captain, Leonardo Ponzio.
"Now the next goal is Guaraní (from Paraguay)," he added referring to the opponent in the round of 16 of the current Libertadores.
Line-ups:
River Plate: Batalla; Moreira, Maidana, Martínez, Casco; Ponzio, Rojas, Fernández; Martínez, Driussi, Alario.
Aldosivi: Vega; Quílez, Alegre, Galván, Arias; Brum, Sosa, Yeri, Lugüercio; Bandiera, Medina.
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| COUNTRY | TIME |
| Mexico | 07:30 p.m. |
| Peru | 07:30 p.m. |
| Ecuador | 07:30 p.m. |
| Colombia | 07:30 p.m. |
| Chile | 08:30 p.m. |
| Argentina | 09:30 p.m. |
In order to secure their place in the Copa Libertadores 2018, River Plate will have to defeat Aldosivi. However, it won't be easy since the 'Tiburón de Mar del Plata' is fighting to avoid relegation and needs to earn all the remaining points in the tournament.
Marcelo Gallardo has already stated that he will not hold back, and if there are no physical setbacks, the Millonario will field the same eleven players who lost against La Academia, with the team that has become a standard, including Augusto Batalla, who has been highly criticized for repeated errors.
Let's remember that River came very close to taking the title from Boca when, with four rounds to go, they were only one point behind. However, when they were against the ropes, the auriazul team reacted with two resounding victories over Independiente (3-0) and Aldosivi (4-0), while the 'millonarios' floundered in the derbies against San Lorenzo (1-2) and Racing (2-3).
River Plate vs. Aldosivi: probable line-ups:
River Plate: Augusto Batalla; Jorge Moreira, Jonatan Maidana, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Milton Casco; Gonzalo Martínez, Leonardo Ponzio, Ignacio Fernández, Ariel Rojas; Sebastián Driussi and Lucas Alario
Aldosivi: Matías Vega; Ismael Quilez, Alan Alegre, Jonatan Galván, Franco Canever; Nahuel Yeri, Roberto Brum, Pablo Lugüercio, Leandro Sosa; Nicolás Miracco and Antonio Medina