Julián Álvarez will have his last performance at the Monumental. Photo: EFE / Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
River Plate will receive Vélez Sarsfield tonight with the obligation to overturn the defeat suffered in the first leg to advance to the quarter-finals of Copa Libertadores, in a match that will have as an extra seasoning the farewell of the “Millionaire” scorer Julián Álvarez, transferred at Manchester City.
The match of the round of 16 will be played starting at 21:30 at the Monumental stadium, in the Núñez neighborhood in Buenos Aires, will be refereed by the Chilean Roberto Tobar and broadcast on television by the ESPN signal. At the head of the VAR will be the Brazilian referee Rafael Traci.
In the first leg played last week at the José Amalfitani stadium, in Liniers, Velez won 1-0 with a goal from Lucas Janson, from a penalty, then, with a win or a draw, the Velez team will pass the stage .
If the River wins with a minimal difference, there will be definition through the penalty shots and if the River wins by a larger margin, it will advance to the quarter-finals.
The winner of this tie will play in the quarter-finals against the winner of the series between Talleres de Córdoba and Colón de Santa Fe, who drew 1-1 in the first leg played at the Mario Kempes stadium in Córdoba and who will play his rematch in 19: 15 the capital of Santa Fe.
The farewell of Álvarez, who will travel to the City of “Pep” Guardiola (he will present him next Sunday), will be the biggest emotional touch of the evening.
The departure of the notable 22-year-old scorer (he has 54 goals in 117 games) will be very difficult for River to hide.
+ Probable lineups +
River Plate: Franco Armani; Emanuel Mammana, Paulo Diaz, David Martínez and Milton Casco; Enzo Perez; Enzo Fernández, Nicolás De la Cruz and José Paradela or Agustín Palavecino; Julian Alvarez and Braian Romero.
DT: Marcelo Gallardo.
Velez Sarsfield: Lucas Hoyos; Leonardo Jara, Matías De Los Santos, Diego Gómez and Francisco Ortega; Nicolás Garayalde, Máximo Perrone and Luca Orellano; Lucas Pratto, Lucas Janson and Walter Bou.
DT: Alessandro Medina.
Referee: Roberto Tobar (Chile).
Court: River Plate.
Starting time: 9.30pm
TV: ESPN.
Source: Clarin
