Draw of the Libertadores, the Argentines with mixed fortunes: Boca draw, River will travel a lot and Racing goes against a cuckoo

From the exciting tribute to world champions to the most seductive cup on this side of the Atlantic. The Libertadores has a special flavor, of course. For the fans, because the sporting glory of conquering America is a source of pride. For executives, because club coffers always need dollars in the midst of the economic crises that are shaking our country. And against this backdrop, five Argentine teams will fuel the illusion from Tuesday April 4, when the ball will start rolling across the continent.

River, Boca, Racing, Argentinos Juniors and the Board of Trustees already know their rivals. Each with its own complexity. Due to the competitiveness of the opponent, the distance they will have to cover or the geographical situation, everyone has a great challenge ahead of them.

And in this context, Boca should feel relieved because they are favorites in the draw held at the Conmebol headquarters. It is true that they have to travel to the north of Venezuela to face Monagas on the first date and also to the coffee region to play against Deportivo Pereira, but they are two minor rivals. Colo Colo, great Chilean, is not at his best. Today sail in the middle of the table. If he solves his own problems, the irregularity he dragged on to his home tournament, he is one of the favorites in group F.

The baptism of the butler will be before Monagas as a visitor. Then he will receive the Colombians (between 18 and 20 April) and will travel to Chile the first week of May. Between 23 and 25 May he will go to Colombia and will close with two matches at the Bombonera: the Cacique between 6 and 9 June and the Venezuelans between 27 and 29 of the same month.

Juan Roman Riquelme It was in Asuncion. She had planned to return to Buenos Aires at dawn today. Will he support Hugo Ibarra in his position or will he choose Gerardo Martino? Today there may be news in this regard. El Negro has already warned after qualifying for the next stage of the Copa Argentina that he does not intend to resign.

River will face a trip to La Paz (3,625 meters) to play The Strongest in their first game. The Bolivian team is the leader of the League. The bravest opponent, however, is Fluminense, finalists in the Rio de Janeiro tournament – on Saturday they will play no less than the final against Flamengo – and with an Argentinian scorer: Germán Cano, author of 11 goals in 14 games. Last year he entered the top 3 goalscorers in the world with 44 whoops, behind Kylian Mbappé (56) and Erling Haaland (46). The fourth member of group D is Sporting Cristal, leaders of the Peruvian tournament together with Universitario, even if they have one game less. It comes from stage 3 after eliminating Huracán.

“We have to go all the way, especially the issue of travel is complicated. Lima is a fairly simple point, but La Paz… I see it with some complications for the group. Fluminense is in a great moment in Brazil, but it’s not the group of death,” said Enzo Francescoli, River’s technical secretary who traveled to Paraguay with the president, Jorge Brito, and the coach, Martín Demichelis.

River, it is said, will debut outside the country. The second appointment will be at the Monumental against the Peruvians and the third, as a visitor to Rio de Janeiro. He will go to Peru at the end of May and will close the group stage in Núñez with the Brazilians and Bolivians in June.

Racing will also start as a guest in Group A. Ñublense is one of the surprises. Three years ago he was in the Second Division and in 2022 he fought for the title to the end. He finished second to Colo Colo. Today it is far from that level. Chillán, his hometown, is located 400 kilometers from Santiago.

The Academy It was the first Argentine team out of bolillero 2. And there was no luck: got Flamengo, the current champion of the Libertadores. Also, they will face Aucas, who won the Ecuadorian championship and is local to Quito. The coach is the Venezuelan César Farías. Height, of course, is a difficulty.

After the trip to Chile, he will be local against Aucas and Flamengo. Subsequently, they will play two away matches against Ecuadorians and Brazilians. It will end up in Avellaneda against the Trans-Andean team.

Young Argentines It has heavy rivals. He will make his debut against Independiente del Valle at La Paternal. The South American champion is also a guest in Quito, at 2,850 meters above sea level. The downside is that they have two short flights to Sao Paulo and Montevideo, but their second match won’t be easy against Corinthians. Later he will visit Liverpool. They will receive San Paolo and the Uruguayans at Diego Armando Maradona and everything will be played in Ecuador on the last day of Group G.

Council will need a miracle. To begin with, the situation is very different from the one that saw him champion of the Argentine Cup. Once the team was disassembled, the coach changed and in the First National team it didn’t start well at all: it is 14th in Zone A, which has 19 teams. Subsequently, they will have to play at home at the Colón stadium, 35 kilometers from Paraná, as the presbyter Bartolomé Grella has not passed the Conmebol review. And as if that weren’t enough, he had to dance with two American champions: Atlético Nacional and Olimpia. Naturally, the third rival will be Melgar, so Entre Ríos must travel to Arequipa, at an altitude of 2,335 metres.

The debut will be in Santa Fe against the Colombians. Later they will play in Asunción and receive the Peruvians. He will be local against the Paraguayans at the end of May and will have to travel to Colombia and Peru in June to define Group H.

The economic seasoning will have a plus of 21% compared to last year’s edition. While doing the Olympic tour on November 11 at the Maracana. priceless.