River against Nacional: the chances of being first in their group and being very close to the Club Super World Cup

The party that Riverwill play against National team of Montevideo Thursday evening at the Monumental will not be just any meeting. In addition to being the first match in Núñez of the current edition of Copa Libertadores and to reprint an old cup duel, the team Martin Demichelis he will have an extra incentive: if he wins, he will be very close to sealing his ranking Club World Cup 2025a competition that will offer 2,000 million euros as a prize and whose winner will pocket 100 million European currency.

Total, There will be six South American representatives at the 2025 Club World Cup: the four champions of the Copa Libertadores between 2021 and 2024, plus two others who will access via a ranking based on their last four participations in that competition.

Therefore, River has two paths to get to the competition which will be held in the United States between June 15th and July 13th next year and whose prize for participation is not yet defined but it is known that the winner will collect 100 million euros . . One of them is whether he will become America’s champion. The other is through the FIFA ranking.

And thanks to that record he could soon seal his ranking. If they beat Nacional de Montevideo they would take a big step forward it will happen at Boca (who will not score points because they are playing in the Copa Sudamericana) in the standings and will have a big advantage over the Uruguayan team, one of those behind them in the standings.

River started 2024 with 64 points in the standings but already has 70, given that they added 3 points for taking part in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores and another 3 by beating Táchira on their debut in Venezuela. He has Boca ahead with 71, but Winning another match will go to Diego Martínez’s teamwhich, for now, is also the qualification for the Club World Cup.

But the most interesting thing for River is this If they beat Nacional, they would be 27 points ahead of the Uruguayan team, since the group directed by “Chino” Álvaro Recoba has 46 units. And behind them are Independiente del Valle (42), Barcelona de Guayaquil (41) and Cerro Porteño (40), who play in the Cup and have a chance of qualifying.

Anyway, If River surpassed 70 points, the math would leave them practically classified because for this not to happen later a catastrophe will have to happen: that Núñez’s team is excluded in the first round and that two of the four teams mentioned collect a good number of points in the group stage and reach at least the semi-final.

Palmeiras, Flamengo and Fluminense They have already confirmed their place in the Club World Cup thanks to the victory of the last three Libertadores, and To find out the fourth we will have to wait until November 30th when the final of this edition will be played. So in the meantime the focus is entirely on the ranking that defines the other two, with the only difference that she cannot be Brazilian because she has already filled her quota with the three champions.

If the champion is River, Boca will have more chances to qualify as two teams in the standings would have to surpass him. The same would happen if the champion was Palmeiras, Flamengo or Fluminense, which would allow one more place in said ranking. Paraguay’s Olimpia, who don’t even play the Libertadores, are behind the Argentines and would benefit from these alternatives.

If, however, the champion is Estudiantes, Talleres, Rosario Central or San Lorenzo, there will only be one Argentine to qualify per ranking (the limit is two representatives per nation, unless they have been champions), a situation which is particularly complicated for Xeneize since he currently leads River by just one point.

Meanwhile, Demichelis defines the team that will aim for a second victory in the Copa Libertadores to try to finish first in group H given that Nacional also won (2-0 against Libertad of Paraguay) in the first presentation.

The coach will reorganize the midfield. Will Rodrigo Villagra join the starting team to play as a central midfielder? It’s a possibility. There is also the possibility of Rodrigo Aliendro’s return. Surely Ignacio Fernández is in the starting eleven and if he plays with four midfielders, the doubt will be between Esequiel Barco and Diablito Echeverri. Or they could both play if we opt for the five midfielders and Miguel Borja as center forward.

In that case, Facundo Colidio wouldn’t play nor would Pablo Solari, who trains differently against Rosario Central due to muscle fatigue and doesn’t want to take risks.