volley on the swivel after a corner had
been half cleared, and he soon had
another from the penalty spot. Then the
centre-backs got into the act, with Mari
and Rodrigo Caio both glancing home
from set-pieces.
In truth, there were basic defensive
errors in all of the goals, with Gremio
captain Pedro Geromel enduring a very
unhappy evening at centre back. But
the mistakes were forced by an attacking
machine operating at the top if its game- one that highly rated River Plate coach
Marcelo Gallardo must now work out how
to stop.
River’s 2-1 aggregate win over Boca
Juniors was nowhere near as emphatic
as Flamengo’s triumph, but there was
no doubt that the better side prevailed- and thankfully there was no repeat of
last year’s off-field problems.
Gallardo’s task in the home first leg
was to break down a disciplined Boca
defence that had held on in relative
comfort for a goalless draw in a recent
league game. River concentrated on
width, trying to
get outside and
behind the Boca
back four, and
were quickly
rewarded when,
with the aid of
VAR, they
won a penalty,
converted by
Rafael Santos
Borre. The
second goal was
a thing of beauty,
a collective move
down the right
ending in a close
range finish
from Nacho
Fernandez.
Boca had
shown depressingly little. Coach Gustavo
Alfaro has a wealth of experience, but
almost all of it has been acquired with
relatively small clubs, and his cautious
approach had not served him well in
the first leg. Back in the Bombonera
he would have to try something more
expansive. Perhaps bowing to crowd
pressure he opted to start with Carlos
Tevez, who combined well but offered
little threat to the goal. Mauro Zarate,
Boca’s top scorer in the competition,
would surely have offered more. Boca
tried hard and managed to stifle River’s
fluid attacking game, but their only hope
appeared to come from set-pieces hit
into the penalty area. River struggled to
deal with the threat and there was late
drama when one such free-kick ended
up with burly Venezuelan substitute
striker Jan Hurtado forcing the ball
over the line. But Boca never looked
to possess the attacking repertoire to
retrieve a two goal deficit.
Flamengo, of course, offer a very
different challenge. Their high line means
that they are often attacking with eight
players: full-backs Rafinha and Filipe Luis
constructing from deep, Willian Arao and
Gerson offering lung power and versatile
quality in midfield, and then that front
four – Everton Ribeiro and De Arrascaeta
provide the playmaking subtleties, with
the strike duo of Gabriel and Bruno
Henrique moving across the line and
attacking pockets of space.
The gameplan of the Brazilians, then,
would seem obvious and they will look
to take control. Less clear is Gallardo’s
response. In his long spell with River he
has developed the capacity to work with
a number of different formations. In the
first leg of last year’s Final, for example,
he sprung a surprise by lining up with
three centre-backs.
He will clearly examine his options, but
one things is a given: Gallardo will surely
expect Santos Borre to run in behind the
Flamengo defence. And if they can hold
the Brazilians at bay and wait for the
intensity of the press to diminish, space
could open up for Colombian playmaker
Juan Fernando Quintero, back from
injury, who could come off the bench to
take advantage.
It is not easy to see how River can
defend against Flamengo. But the
defending champions will hope that big
match experience and a canny coach
might tip things their way.BRAZIL
Semi-final...Pablo Mari (left) heads home as Gremio struggle to hold Flamengo (above)Holders...River Plate
will defend their
trophy in Chile