The
Superclásico
at the
Monumental
was a draw.
But there are always winners and losers even if the points have been distributed.
In the previous, a good deal for both;
In the development of the match, both have reasons to celebrate and to regret.
It was 1-1 with goals from Pablo Solari and Cristian Medina, both in the second half.
The local started at the top and was able to deliver the knockout blow, but got a puncture.
The visit had everything to take the three points, but they paid too dearly for their mistakes.
And the coach,
Diego Martínez
, will have to explain a lot , who
decided to take out the best player on the field
, the one who had given him football and the tying goal, when he was ready to turn the game around.
Martín Demichelis' streak in the classics against Boca is over
.
He was going for the third in a row, but he left a worrying image: the feeling is that his River is in decline.
Martínez's debut in this type of duel, on the other hand, was somewhat more encouraging, which is why it is so difficult to find a convincing reason to explain the changes he made.
In the end, the tie was fair.
The game was played to the rhythm of the wind.
It was changeable, fast and unpredictable.
He blew in favor of River during the first quarter of an hour.
The coach's bet of playing with Rodrigo Villagra as the only central midfielder and then adding attacking players (Barco, Echeverri, Solari and Nacho Fernández) to supply Facundo Colidio ignited the match.
They played first class, they knocked down walls and at times
it seemed that they were going to reach the bottom of Chiquito Romero's goal
.
But he lacked a little in the final meters to break his rival and gain the advantage.
The early yellow for Figal conditioned a defense that needed to resort to fouls to stop a River determined to leave its mark on the game.
At 22 minutes,
Colidio made the Monumental shake
with a hat on Advíncula and a slap shot that left Romero immobile.
It would have been a great goal, but he lacked chalk and the ball hit the post.
STICK!
Colidio lowered it, controlled and defined but the post denied the River forward the goal ❌⚽#LPFxTNTSports pic.twitter.com/qbsEM6iBnE
— TNT Sports Argentina (@TNTSportsAR) February 25, 2024
But immediately the wind diminished and so did River's power.
He began to blow - gently, it is true - in the other direction.
Equi Fernández and Medina
had a lot to do
with putting the ball under the sole and giving the team confidence.
The idea was clear: handle the ball calmly and clearly.
He even seemed capricious when starting from the small area: Lema passed it to Chiquito Romero and from there, from the goalkeeper's feet, Boca tried to string passes together to reach Armani (the day he achieves it it will be a great goal), but it cost him .
Almost always slow and predictable in the first half, the visiting team did little in the first half (a couple of runs on the left that found no receivers in the area, a left-footed shot by Jabes Saralegui that went wide).
However, there was a clear intention to defend with (the good treatment of) the ball.
Boca is missing up top and Gigoló knows it
:
he will have to rethink what Edinson Cavani plays, the star reinforcement who does not score goals or kick on goal
.
That he has quality cannot be denied (just like his numbers and his career), but he is never in a goal position.
His best virtues are his solidarity in going down and recovering the ball, and his precision in unloading and setting up the attack.
Furthermore, he seems very annoying with his colleagues and is constantly reproaching and gesticulating.
The best of the game happened in the second half.
Boca came out with a different look: to stand in the rival field and impose its refined game of control and passing.
But a lack of attention in the background cost him the victory.
There were 3 minutes when Enzo Díaz threw a ball behind Lema and Figal so that
Pablo Solari
could sneak in and be left alone with the ball and 40 meters ahead to face Romero.
He scored and
the goalkeeper blocked the shot
, but the rebound went back to the forward who reacted quickly and finished off with his right foot.
Little, disjointed, this time he couldn't stop the ball
, which hit his feet and went into the goal.
The public half-celebrated it, because all eyes fell on the lineman Facundo Rodríguez, who kept his flag low.
The people are already trained by the VAR and waited for the confirmation that would arrive moments later from the TV to be able to celebrate.
River went ahead 1-0 almost without breaking a sweat.
RIVER'S FIRST ARRIVED ⚪🔴⚪
Pablo Solari was hand in hand and on the rebound he scored 1-0 over Boca in the Superclásico #LPFxTNTSports pic.twitter.com/GRhr7EFc89
— TNT Sports Argentina (@TNTSportsAR) February 25, 2024
Three minutes later, Zenón threw it long to the left and Herrera brought him down.
Yael Falcón showed him the yellow card and that play - inconsequential - made some pieces move that ended up resolving the game.
Because before the 15,
Demichelis sent Sant'Anna onto the field
to cover the right side and also Aliendro for Diablito Echeverri.
River now did not have the vertigo to attack and its coach was betting on a somewhat more conservative scheme to take care of the advantage.
Immediately, the one who moved the bench was Martínez:
Langoni came in for Cavani and the stadium erupted
: whistles and insults for the Uruguayan.
But he also took out Saralegui so that Blondel could enter.
First strange change for the Boca coach because the young midfielder had played a good game, the ninth in First Division in a career that promises a lot.
It took a couple of minutes for Boca to settle in after the changes.
The wind changed direction again.
And
he achieved the tie with what had been his most dangerous weapon in the first half
: Blanco's rise from the left.
The former Elche received from Zenón on his lift and faced Sant'Anna, who remained hand in hand.
Blanco threw it long, passed him and when he got into the area he became untouchable.
He sent the center back, Merentiel went too far and Medina arrived in the heart of the area to define without finishing, but instead he gave a pass to the goal and the ball reached the net.
It was a great goal.
What had been rehearsed and what the technician had conceived came out.
THE BOCA TIE ARRIVED 🔵🟡
Lautaro Blanco overflowed, center back and Cristian Medina scored for 1-1 against River in the Superclásico #LPFxTNTSports pic.twitter.com/PBZJUW3OPu
— TNT Sports Argentina (@TNTSportsAR) February 25, 2024
Now the one who was against the ropes was River.
And the visitor eager to get the advantage and turn the result around.
Boca reversed a score for the last time on August 28, 2022
, when
Langoni
scored a double against Atlético Tucumán and
Hugo Ibarra
's team righted the ship towards the title.
Since that moment, 21 games have passed (including this Sunday) in which Boca started down on the scoreboard and barely managed to equalize four times.
Today was the one that was celebrated the most, it is clear.
The rest were 17 defeats.
With everything in favor of Boca, the one that almost came out on top again was River.
A header from Miguel Borja generated Romero's best save of the game, which also deflected Sant'Anna's shot, who had captured the rebound.
Demichelis will also have to explain why he included Borja in the party
.
The Colombian showed difficulty moving.
He barely recovered from a torn adductor and beyond the header that could have been a goal, it was clear that he was not ready to play.
It is true: Agustín Ruberto - the other variant - did not seem to be an option for a duel of this magnitude.
The people of River reacted worse when the illuminated sign indicated the exit of Villagra (only the middle one was benched) for the Uruguayan Fonseca to enter.
And the other one who entered was Franco Mastantuono instead of Nacho Fernández.
The 16-year-old boy showed that the responsibility of playing in the Primera del Millonario does not weigh on him: he asked for the ball at the entrance and almost won the game with a right-footed shot at the end that went over the crossbar.
But all the style manuals were set on fire at 33 minutes
, when Diego Martínez decided to take out Medina so that Nicolás Valentini could enter and form a line of five defenders.
Medina gestured and shrugged when he saw the number 36 on the badge.
Medina, the best player of the match, the one who led Boca to the tie (he even scored the goal) sat on the bench when there were still more than 15 minutes left.
A sin.
Boca had everything to win.
And yet he almost succeeded.
Colidio tried a change of front and left Zenón with the ball and a free field ahead.
The left-hander traveled a few meters and adjusted his aim: he placed a precise cross at Merentiel, but the Uruguayan failed to connect and the ball was lost in the background.
With it went Boca's last concrete chance to keep the three points.
Towards the end, Benedetto and Fabra entered, but the team no longer attacked.
And it was River, with more will - and obligation - than football that tried to tip the balance in its favor regarding the closure.
Colidio had it after a cross from the right, but he defined poorly and off target.
And then Mastantuono, with that right hand that went over the top.
There was no time for more and the tie won the Superclásico.
The coaches will give their reasons later, but the words will also be carried away by the wind.