Oscar barnade
12/17/2020 11:15 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 12/17/2020 11:15 PM
Marcelo Gallardo's River continues to write the great history of the Copa Libertadores.
Not only did they win two and reach three finals, they are also
the first team to reach four consecutive semi-finals since they have been played heads-up
.
All the previous ones were in the stage in which the semifinal groups were played.
El
Muñeco
came to River in July 2014, that year he won the Sudamericana and the following year the Libertadores.
In 2016 he was eliminated in the round of 16 with
Independiente del Valle
de Ecuador.
But since 2017 he has always been among the four best of the Libertadores.
That year he was eliminated by Lanús in an incredible recovery of the
Garnet
group
.
Because River had won the first leg 1-0 and was 2-1 at the end of the first stage.
Lanús turned it around, won 4-2 and got into the final.
In the two previous editions, River surpassed the semifinal instances.
In 2018, he beat Gremio in a miraculous definition.
Because he lost 1-0 in the first leg, he lost in Porto Alegre and in the final, through VAR, he had a penalty that allowed him to win 2-1 and qualify as a finalist.
Then, he celebrated against Boca in Madrid.
Last year, in the semifinals, he precisely eliminated Boca.
He won the first leg 2-0 at the Monumental, lost 1-0 at the Bombonera and it was enough to be a finalist again.
Now, after beating Nacional de Montevideo in the quarterfinals, they will play their fourth consecutive semifinal.
Until now, only four teams had achieved it in the history of the Libertadores, which began in 1960. The first was Peñarol, who played six consecutive semifinals from 1965 to 1970. He was only champion in 1966, in a final remembered precisely against River.
The other team that achieved a consecutive sequence was Independiente, in times when it achieved the nickname of King of Cups.
He did so from 1972 to 1976, winning four consecutive tournaments.
It is also important to clarify that then the champion entered directly into the semifinal groups.
That happened with Red from 1973 to 1976.
Students de La Plata was also semifinalist four times in a row.
The first, in 1968, from the group stage to the title.
Then as champion until 1970. The only team that played four semifinals in a row and was never champion was América de Cali, which lost three finals in a row: 1985, 86 and 87. And in 1988 it failed to pass.
