Leave behind the shock of last Friday. That is the goal of River for the next two games that will mark the pulse of the spirit of a team that suffered an unexpected blow. After 0-4 in the friendly with Independent Rivadavia that set off the alarms and modified the week’s work plans, the Millionaire will visit this Friday Hurricane to solidify at the top of Zone A of the Professional League Cup and then he will put his head on the big goal of the semester: the Copa Libertadores, which will offer him an uncomfortable debut in Venezuela next Tuesday.
The work week began hectic after the decision Martin Demichelis to cancel the weekend off after the blow in Mendoza, where an alternative team fell resoundingly. The change, which included a single day of rest on Monday and which forced some footballers to modify family plans, generated an unexpected media explosionthat even the technical secretary himself Leonardo Pontius chose to clarify. “Sometimes we have to make decisions to stay on track with what we want and The decision was to return to training after that game to get rid of what we had experienced. Sometimes, when they tell you as a soccer player that you had something and then you don’t have it, you get angry, but then you reflect and the reality is that I was going to be ashamed to have two days off after what had happened. It was the best decision. Afterwards the boys trained phenomenally“, clarified Ponzio, in Radio Continental.
The thing is that a new rumor about an internal conflict in the locker room after the game, as a result of alleged complaints from some footballers about the coach’s decision, once again generated an unexpected source of tension. As far as he could know THE NATIONboth at halftime and at the end of the game there was an intense and vehement talk from the coach due to the collective level of the team and, with the score 0-4, he announced the change of plans: even though it was planned that both Saturday and Sunday would be free days, Demichelis informed the players that they were going to train (the team had already had a rest Monday and Tuesday of that week and could not work on Wednesday due to the rain). The change generated some occasional discomfort among the players who already had organized rest days with their families, but the situation was not conflictive. The footballers understood that the performance did not even generate encouragement to enjoy those days, and On the weekend, two training sessions were held that, behind closed doors, ensure that they had the same positive dynamic as last time..
“Nobody expected that result, because the result moves you. But then you start talking to Martín and he draws his own conclusions from him. I spoke with the greatest so that we become aware that these games mark many. These friendlies give you the chance to get into an eleven. They mark you for better or worse,” said Ponzio. And he added: “It was a match in the middle of the tournament, you came from becoming champion, finishing first and winning at home, but after that match it seems that all that is of no use. Every game with this shirt has to be wonor things have to be done neatly, we return happy on the plane and, the next day, we start training.”
In this way, and to lower small external and internal tensions, River knows it needs a positive result to maintain their current official undefeated record of 17 matches and consolidate themselves among the four classified in the League Cup. For this, Demichelis recovered on Wednesday Claudio Echeverri y Pablo Solariwho returned from Mexico after playing two friendlies on the FIFA Date with the U-23, and both would be part of the squad, without rest prior to the cup debut. While, Franco Armani, Nicolas Fonseca y Paulo Diaz They will only join this Thursday, so only the goalkeeper of the Argentine team would start.
Of the eleven footballers who were in the game in the fall in Mendoza One week ago, Sebastian Boselli o David Martinez in the rear and Facundo Colidio Up front they could be part of the game, although the coach will also evaluate Solari to accompany Miguel Borja. In this way, River would enter the Ducó Palace with Armani; Herrera, Gonzalez Perez, Boselli or Martinez and Enzo Diaz; Aliendro and Villagra; Nacho Fernandez and Ship; Solari or Collidium and Borja. So much Ramiro Funes Mori (knee synovitis) such as Franco Mastantuono (strain in the rectus femoris of the right leg) cannot be taken into account.
Once the game is over Patricios ParkRiver’s head will be deposited directly into the Libertadores Cupsince on Saturday he will have his only training before the expedition to Venezuela. Due to the restrictions imposed by the government of Nicolas Maduro to planes with Argentine registration, which are prohibited from flying over Venezuelan airspace, the Millionaire will go by charter Sunday morning heading to CucutaColombia, and upon landing will travel by bus to San Cristóbalcity where they will play on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. against Deportivo Táchira at the Pueblo Nuevo Sports Center.
Cucuta It is located near the border with Venezuelaabout 50 kilometers from San Cristobal. From there, the delegation will take a bus that will cross a mountainous area in a trip of at least an hour and a half long. On Sunday night he will rest in Venezuela and on Monday he will train in a court located 40 kilometers from the city with a peculiarity: it is synthetic grass, since there is no natural grass. Although the Millonario is still focused on the League Cup classification, the Copa Libertadores, with all its condiments, is already starting to be played.