By Samindra Kunti in Madrid
November 10 – River Plate won the Copa Libertadores for a fourth time by defeating arch rivals Boca Juniors 3-1 in extra-time on Sunday in the dramatic, rearranged final in Madrid. But even this finale was subject to a last gasp appeal to CAS by Boca to suspend the match.
After the mayhem, politicking and tension, the Spanish capital and the Santiago Bernabeu stadium hosted ‘the final to end all finals’ in what became a 120-minute decider for eternal glory in a desperate Buenos Aires sibling rivalry.
Before the second leg, the disorder in Buenos Aires had allowed River Plate fans ambush at the Boca Juniors’ bus. As players were injured, Conmebol and other stakeholders reluctantly postponed the game.
In Madrid, there was never a sign of trouble. Local authorities had laid out an extensive security operation to deal with the influx of fans and potential flash points. The Paseo de la Castellana became a pedestrian zone as more than 4,000 police officers and other security personnel lined the streets. Ten thousand fans had flown all the way from Argentina to attend the final.
In a physical and intense game, Boca Juniors opened the scoring through a fine strike from Dario Benedetto in the 44th minute, but River Plate took control of the match in the second and responded through a Lucas Pratto goal after neat build-up play. The capital rivals seemed content with a draw and the inevitability of a penalty-shout out. This was becoming an unending final. The first leg, a 2-2 draw, had been played on Remembrance Day, 28 days earlier.
As the final went into extra time the tension built to a crescendo with more twists and turns in store: Boca’s Colombian midfielder Wilmar Barrios was sent off in the third minute of the prolongations and his national team compatriot Juan Fernando Quintero struck at the other end. Gonzalo Martinez sealed the 3-1 River win when he ran the ball into an empty net with the last kick of the game as Esteban Andrada’s role as Boca’s sweeper-keeper, a measure of the madness the game’s waning minutes, was exposed.
It was the first time in the 58-year history of the South America’s flagship competition that the Buenos Aires rivals had faced each other in the final.
“I didn’t think about it,” said Quintero said of his goal. “Camilo (Mayada) passed it to me and I looked for space and then hit it. It was a lovely goal and you have to celebrate it.”
“We were the only team out there that tried to win,” said Martinez. “We played the whole match in their half of the field.”
The 3-1 win sends River Plate as South America’s representative to the Club World Cup that kicks off on December 12 in the United Arab Emirates.
CAS called into last minute action
Boca Juniors’ 11th-hour attempt to suspend the final against River Plate was turned down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) 24 hours earlier, clearing the way for the match to take place in Madrid.
Boca filed their appeal to sport’s highest court after Conmebol rejected their claim that River Plate should have been disqualified from the continent’s equivalent of Europe’s Champions League because of the disgraceful attack on the Boca team bus that led to the second leg of South America’s biggest club fixture being called off twice and eventually switched to the Spanish capital 6,000 miles away.
“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an urgent request for provisional measures filed yesterday by CA Boca Juniors in which it sought to suspend the second leg of the final of the Copa Libertadores,” CAS said in a statement.
The organisation said it would hear the merits of Boca’s case at an undisclosed later date but that will be scant consolation after River Plate won the second leg 3-1 to complete a 5-3 aggregate victory and lift the trophy. Boca may still push for River Plater to be disqualified from the Copa Libertadores in a final that just keeps on running.
Contact the writer of this story Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1734888256labto1734888256ofdlr1734888256owedi1734888256sni@o1734888256fni1734888256. Extra reporting by Andrew Warshaw