What are the sensations of River and Demichelis after the draw in the Copa Libertadores

In River They are aware that they had a tough group in the draw for the Libertadores Cup. Even so, the hope of being able to fill a good role is latent, due to the quality of the squad, the specific weight of the shirt and the latest background of Marcelo Gallardo’s hand.

Although now there is another coach, also the Libertadores It is one of the priorities of the Martín Demichelis cyclewho, dressed in an impeccable suit, was at the Luque draw, together with the president of the club, George Britothe vice-presidents Matías Patanian and Ignacio Villarroel and the sports director, Enzo Francescoli.

“It’s a challenging group”they admitted clarion from the entourage of the millionaire. But at the same time they believe it will be important to generate footage. That is to say, Núñez’s thoughts will be concentrated on the fact that, if River reaches the round of 16, they will be strengthened for one-on-one matches.

“The draw could have been better, but neither is it a group of death. In truth, there was no such group. When it started and we saw Flamengo and Racing, it looked like there would be, but no. It was pretty even.”Francescoli said. And then, speaking of Fluminense, a priori the most difficult rival that River will have, the Uruguayan remarked: “It is known that Brazilian football has a certain advantage, but we will try to fight them. You have to be strong at home”.

The River group, in any case, has some peculiarities that refer to coincidences that excite the fans. When he faced a Bolivian team and a Peruvian team in the same area, how will he be against now The strongest and sportiest Cristal, I left the sample. It happened in the 2015 edition, in which they faced San José de Oruro and José Aurich.

And the other is that when they entered group D, like now, they also lifted the most important continental trophy. It was 2018, in which, moreover, he had to face a Brazilian team and more precisely from Rio de Janeiro. On that occasion at Flamengo, now at Fluminense.

On the other hand, going to purely football, the four teams in this Group D are leaders in their local tournaments. After eight Professional Soccer League dates have been played, Martín Demichelis’ team is the sole leader. With 18 points he brought two to San Lorenzo after a good streak of three consecutive victories.

As for Fluminense, even if it must be said that Brasileirao hasn’t left yet, they are also living a present to look after themselves: they finished first in the carioca championship, ahead of Flamengo, their rival in the final. He added a world figure like Marcelo, the former Real Madrid, and has a top scorer in the Argentine Germán Cano. When they last met in the group stage (in 2021), River failed to win either match. Drawn in Brazil and lost to Núñez.

The Strongest is also a pointer to the start of the Bolivian championship. Directed by the Argentinian Claudio Biaggio, leading march undefeated in six dates played, with 16 units (5 wins and 1 draw), one more than Bolívar. And it benefits from the 3,600-metre-above-sea-level advantage of its location in La Paz, where River hasn’t won in 53 years. The last time was in 1970, with a 2-0 victory over Universitario.

Finally, Sporting Cristal is the leader of the Peruvian tournament after seven days, with 15 points, a position he shares with Universitario (he played one more game) and Alianza Lima. He arrives with a record of eliminating Huracán in the last preliminary phase of the Cup and Roberto Mosquera, an old acquaintance of River, is on the bench: he was Juan Aurich’s DT in the 2015 Libertadores and Jorge Wilstermann in the 2017 edition, rivals of the team Millionaire in those editions.