River Plate midfielder Jose Paradela R) competes for the ball with Huracan midfielder Diego Mercado during the Argentine Professional Football League match at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires on August 1, 2021. (Photo by ALEJANDRO PAGNI / AFP)
River Plate, rocked by a disappointing performance in the first leg of the Copa Libertadores round of 16, will look to catch up on Sunday when they visit Huracán for the sixth round of the Professional League.
Marcelo Gallardo’s team will present themselves with substitutes at the Tomás Adolfo Ducó stadium, starting at 21:00, with arbitration by Fernando Rapallini and broadcast by TNT Sports.
The holders of the “Millionaire” will be reserved for Wednesday’s rematch against Vélez Sarsfield at Monumental, where River will have to overcome a 0-1 run to stay alive in the top continental club tournament.
“We can’t play worse than that. If we find our identity, we can overturn the series”, said the “Muñeco” after the defeat at Liniers, difficult to digest for the performance rather than the result.
In search of the necessary reaction, River will present himself with an almost completely different formation from the one he had in Amalfitani. He should just repeat goalkeeper Franco Armani.
Some players have not even been called up to give him respite: the Chilean Paulo Díaz, the Uruguayan Nicolás De la Cruz, Enzo Pérez and Milton Casco.
River and Huracán share a position in the LPF with 8 points, the product of 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss over 5 dates.
The international calendar winks at the “Globo” for the second consecutive weekend, which comes after beating Colón’s substitutes in Santa Fe. Diego Dabove’s team amass four games unbeaten after losing their debut against Racing.
His coach plans to make only one change with the entry of Rodrigo Cabral or Gabriel Gudiño in place of Uruguayan Jhonatan Candia, linked as a possible reinforcement to Carlos Tevez’s Rosario Central.
In the first division and during the professional era, Huracán and River have played 157 times with an overwhelming advantage for Núñez: 78 wins, 50 draws and 29 losses.
= Probable formations =
Hurricane: Lucas Chaves; Guillermo Soto, Jonathan Galván, Lucas Merolla and Walter Pérez; Santiago Hezze and Federico Fattori; Benjamin Garré, Franco Cristaldo and Rodrigo Cabral or Gabriel Gudiño; Matia Coccaro. DT: Diego Dabove.
River Plate: Franco Armani; Andrés Herrera, Jonatan Maidana, Leandro González Pirez and Elías Gómez; Franco Zuculini; Matías Palavecino, Juan Fernando Quintero, Tomás Pochettino and Santiago Simón; Luca Beltran. DT: Marcelo Gallardo.
Referee: Fernando Rapallini.
Stadium: hurricane.
Starting time: 21:00.
TV: TNT Sport.
Source: Clarin
