River edge out Boca after extra time to win Libertadores Cup

MADRID: River Plate won the Libertadores Cup by beating their fiercest rivals Boca Juniors 3-1 after extra time, bringing an end to a final tainted by violence and moved more than six thousand miles away from Argentina.

Boca took the lead through Dario Benedetto but Lucas Pratto equalised before Juan Quintero and Gonzalo Martinez scored in extra time, aided by Wilmar Barrios being sent off, to win a fittingly dramatic contest for River.

It means River prevailed 5-3 on aggregate after the first leg finished 2-2 and reclaim the trophy they had last won in 2015, lifting it for the fourth time in their history.

“We have shown we are superior,” River’s Leonardo Ponzio said.

“After trying to stay quiet about everything that happened, we showed on the pitch we were better. The only thing I feel is sadness for not winning the cup and giving it to the people of Boca,” Boca coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto said.

Postponed on three occasions and then relocated from Buenos Aires to Madrid, the supporters of these two great clubs showed in the Bernabeu why this fixture had been billed as one of the greatest ever.

Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Diego Godin were among the 62,200 in attendance.

The game lacked quality but came alive one minute before halftime. Nahitan Nandez’s superb pass split two River defenders and Benedetto kept a cool head, guiding into the corner, before taunting the beaten Gonzalo Montiel.

River had been inferior but improved. Their first real attacking move was also a brilliant one as Leonardo Ponzio and Quintero exchanged passes before the latter pulled back for Pratto to sweep home.

The game meandered towards full-time and seemed destined for penalties until Barrios was shown a second yellow card for a tackle on Exequiel Palacios and soon after, Quintero struck.

It was a goal worthy of winning the tournament, as he collected 25 yards out, glanced up and whipped the ball in off the underside of the crossbar.

Leonard Jara almost snatched a late Boca goal but his shot nicked the outside of the post. Then, with Boca’s goalkeeper Esteban Andrada up for a corner, River added the final touch.

Martinez scored and River’s substitutes and staff were already pouring onto the pitch to begin the celebrations. — AFP