River, after the Libertadores draw: the big gamble to get to the final and the complications of going to the debut in Venezuela

In River There was satisfaction after the draw for the Copa Libertadores. This was expressed by the faces of the entourage of the ‘millionaires’ before boarding a private flight early Tuesday morning for the return from Asunción to Buenos Aires. Jorge Brito, Matías Patanian, Ignacio Villarroel, Enzo Francescoli AND Leonardo Pontius They returned from Paraguay with good feelings. He felt the same thing too Martin Demicheliswho remained in the country.

Among the factors that they analyze as positive regarding the group that was River’s turn, they believe that it was It was important that no Brazilian team touched him, there is no difference in altitude and the distances to travel are not that long since you will only have to make one long trip. The millionaire team will 5,900 kilometers (and 11,800 kilometers in total counting the laps) to reach the goals of the teams he will have to face.

That is, a shorter distance than the one traveled in last year’s edition when he travelled 7,400 kilometers (14,800 km total) to go to La Paz, Rio de Janeiro and Lima, where he will face The strongest, Fluminense AND Sports crystalrespectively.

The longest journey they will have to travel is to the Venezuelan city of San Cristóbal to face Deportivo Táchira. It will debut in the first week of April. Then, in the third match they will go to Asunción to play against Libertad and in the fourth to Montevideo, to face Nacional.

Without underestimating anyone, given that the matches must be played, River believes that today Demichelis’ team is better at a footballing level than its Group H rivals. history is favorable to him. Although there is a peculiarity. The only one he failed to beat is Táchira, who he only faced twice. It happened in the group stage of the 2004 Libertadores and there were two draws: 0-0 in Venezuela and 2-2 at Monumental.

River has already played 12 matches against the Paraguayans, with 7 wins, one draw and four defeats, 20 goals for and 12 against. The last time was in the round of 16 of the 2014 South American Championship, with two Millionaire victories: 3-1 in Paraguay and 2-0 in Argentina. Of the 12 matches, 8 were Libertadores’, the last in 2006, in the group stage and quarterfinals, in which Libertad eliminated River.

The historic Uruguayan club is the one that Núñez’s team has faced the most: 14 matches, with 9 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats, with 31 goals for and 19 against. The last time, in the 2020 Libertadores, in the quarterfinals, River won both matches: 2-0 at Independiente, where they played at home and beating them 6-2 in Montevideo.

In River this edition of the Libertadores is also highlighted. There is a high probability that the final will be at the Monumental, given that the chosen city is Buenos Aires. The bet, therefore, is to come out of group H first and get as many points as possible to be defined at home. And if he were to advance to the round of 16, the management’s idea is to lead three best players at mid-year Let them put on their shirts and play.

And again: there are also prospects for the new super Club World Cup which will take place in the United States in mid-2025. If River wins the 2024 edition of the Libertadores, they will get their place. But if you don’t, you can still qualify via FIFA ranking. Today it occupies sixth place, but since Brazilian clubs do not compete for one of these places, only Boca is above. And, as we know, the eternal rival is not playing in the top continental tournament this year, but he is there South American.

River therefore has 64 points and Boca 71. Today both would be qualifiers, but since the team led by Diego Martínez will not face Libertadores, Millonario will overcome them with only eight points in the group stage.

The smiles of the crew members of the Millionaire delegation on the return flight (which they were also on Oscar Ruggeri) from Paraguay said it all. They weren’t happy just with the tribute to Enzo Francescoli. Also because it was a good draw for River. Now Demichelis’ team will have to confirm it on the field.

Complications for traveling to Venezuela

When it comes to starting to put together the logistics for the debut against Deportivo Táchira, there is a complication for River due to a diplomatic conflict between the government of Javier Milei and that of Nicolás Maduro, who ordered the closure of your country’s airspace to airplanes with Argentine registration.

The message published by Chancellor Yván Gil, Minister of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs, leaves no doubt: “Venezuela exercises full sovereignty over its airspace, and reiterates that no plane, coming from or heading towards Argentina, will be able to fly over ours territory. .”. The reason? It would be retaliation for the delivery of Emtrasur Cargo’s Boeing – it was seized in June 2022 – to the United States, where it was said to be subject to the regime of sanctions and embargoes against Venezuela and Iran.

Given this situation, River is evaluating its options. If the conflict is not resolved in the next few hours, one possibility is to charter a plane not registered in Argentina or ask Conmebol to intervene with a diplomatic effort to have an exception and for Venezuela to allow all charters from the Confederation. can land at its airports.

The third option is to enter Venezuela by land. In that case, the delegation of millionaires would travel to Colombia. Since San Cristóbal, the city where the Táchira stadium is located, is located near the border with the coffee-growing country, the solution could be to fly to Cúcuta, a nearby Colombian city, and from there reach the Venezuelan lands . The trip from Cúcuta to San Cristóbal takes about an hour and a half.