River Plate
, with a very good start to the year in the League Cup, will face
Excursionistas
, from Primera B, this Wednesday in a match valid for the 32nd round of the
Argentine Cup
to be played in Santa Fe. The eliminatory match It is played starting at 9:45 p.m. at the Brigadier General Estanislao López stadium, in Colón, refereed by Hernán Mastrángelo and televised by TyC Sports.
The "Millonario" team, three-time champion of the Argentine Cup, in the editions played in 2016, 2017 and 2019, is a big favorite to advance to the round and then face the winner of the series that Sarmiento de Junín and Temperley will settle, in date to be confirmed.
River started the new year with good results and great performance, so in the League Cup they tied with Argentinos Juniors (1-1) in their lowest production, then they beat Barracas Central (2-0) and finally beat Vélez ( 5-0) in his best production.
However, coach Martín Demichelis plans to start his campaign in the Argentine Cup with a rotation of his starting lineup, with the novelty that there will be two debutants: the Uruguayan full-back Agustín Sant'Anna and the Córdoba midfielder Rodrigo Villagra.
Sant'Anna, born in Montevideo 26 years ago, was acquired from Defensa y Justicia for a sum close to 3,000,000 dollars and signed - like Villagra - for four seasons until December 2027.
Villagra, born in Morteros 22 years ago, came to River from Talleres de Córdoba for a sum of 8 million dollars plus 25 percent of Federico Girotti's transfer that belonged to Núñez's team and is now from the "T".
In addition, the coach will recover Uruguayan defender Sebastián Boselli, who returned after having participated with the light blue team in the Venezuelan Olympic Qualifiers, in which he was eliminated in the group stage.
Other players who will have the opportunity to show themselves with the River shirt will be Agustín Palavecino, David Martínez, Ramiro Funes Mori, and also the youth players Agustín Ruberto and Franco Mastantuono.
Those who will not be available for Demichelis will be Matías Kranevitter and Manuel Lanzini, both injured.
In relation to these two players, the intention of the coaching staff is for them to train with greater intensity to be available for the fifth date of the League Cup, that is, for the match that River will play against Atlético Tucumán on Monday, February 19 .
Other River injuries are Santiago Simón (fracture in the hand) and Gonzalo "Pity" Martínez (torn ligaments), but their recovery will take much more time, while Pablo Solari and Claudio Echeverri will join next week, after finish Argentina's participation in the Under 23 Pre-Olympic that is played in Venezuela.
Their rival, Excursionistas, led by a history of promotion like Juan Carlos Kopriva, debuted last Friday night with Primera B with a home defeat in Bajo Belgrano against Comunicaciones (2-1).
However, the intention of the "Green" coach is not to make many changes because he prefers to consolidate a base, despite the fact that he will face one of the most powerful adversaries in Argentine football.
The match will depend - almost exclusively - on River, which should impose its highest hierarchy without any surprises, regardless of the surprises that the Argentine Cup offers year after year.
- Probable Formations -
River Plate
: Franco Armani;
Agustín Sant'Anna, Sebastián Boselli or Paulo Díaz, Ramiro Funes Mori and David Martínez;
Agustín Palavecino, Rodrigo Villagra, Ignacio "Nacho" Fernández and Franco Mastantuono;
Agustín Ruberto and Facundo Colidio or Miguel Borja.
DT: Martín Demichelis.
Hikers
: Nahuel Cajal;
Rodrigo Figueroa, Juan Manuel Piedra, Ulises Yegros and Santiago Monzón;
Gian Zoratti, César Peralta, Hugo Zarco and Joel Martínez;
Juan Cruz Villagra and Leonel Barrios.
DT: Juan Carlos Kopriva.
Referee
: Hernán Mastrángelo.
Court
: Colón de Santa Fe.
Start time
: 9:45 p.m.
TV
: TyC Sports.