River has started the journey to reach Venezuela: why can’t he make the full journey by plane to make his debut in the Libertadores

It will be a real journey. The debut of River In the Copa Libertadores scheduled for next Tuesday first Deportivo Tachira it’s uncomfortable. And it’s not about the fact that he arrives at the most delicate sporting moment of the season (he has just lost two games in a row and leaves his unbeaten record in the League Cup against Huracán), but rather about the logistics of the trip. to Venezuela, which began this Sunday morning.

The group led by Martin Demichelis will make its debut in the top continental club tournament on Tuesday at 9.30pm at the Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo stadium in San Cristóbal, capital of the state of Táchira, in the south-west of Venezuela. It will be the first match of group H, which also includes Freedom of Asunción AND National team of Montevideo (they will face each other on Wednesday in the Uruguayan capital).

It’s known, The transfer of the millionaire’s delegation to San Cristóbal cannot be done entirely by plane and this represents a complication. Why? Venezuela keeps its airspace closed to any aircraft coming from or going to Argentina following the decision of the government chaired by Javier Milei to deliver to the United States a Boeing 747 of the Aerocargo del Sur Transport Company (Emtrasur), a state-run Venezuelan company, which has been held in Ezeiza since June 2022.

Last February, federal judge Federico Villena authorized the seizure of the Boeing and the Ministry of Justice gave the go-ahead for its transfer to the United States (where it was scrapped), although the appeal was still pending. For this reason, the Venezuelan government prevents Argentine planes from flying over until the national state compensates for the damages caused by what it called “a blatant theft”.

For this reason, River had to plan an alternative journey that would allow him to reach his destination and which included a first stop in Colombian territory. The team will travel Sunday night to Cúcuta, on the Colombian-Venezuelan border, and from there will travel by bus the 50 kilometers of road that separates that city from San Cristóbal. The return will be on Wednesday morning and the route will be identical and in reverse.

This will be, by far, the longest trip that Demichelis’ team will have to make in the first phase of the Libertadores. The next away match will be on April 24th in Asunción, where they will face Libertad, while on May 7th they will face Nacional in the Great Central Park of Montevideo.

The absence in the River squad for the debut with the Libertadores was sensational

Demichelis defined a bona fide roster with more than 45 players. From there came the chosen ones for this first trip away from Núñez for the team’s maximum sporting objective, with the addition that the Libertadores final will be played in Buenos Aires and, probably, the Monumental stadium will be the venue for the decisive match .

But there was an absence in Táchira’s away squad that caught the attention of Millonario fans. It’s about young people Agostino Ruberto, who was once again excluded from the roster, as happened in the duel against Huracán last Friday. The 18-year-old striker will thus miss the fourth consecutive match and the Colombian Miguel Borja will be the only natural center forward that the River coach will have at his disposal.

I’m also out Ramiro Funes Mori AND Franco Mastantuonoalthough in these cases the defender has synovitis in his knee and the talented midfielder has suffered a slight strain in the rectus femoris of his left leg.