Chivas Look to Close out Their Series Against River in Guadalajara.

By: Mauro | November 6th, 2008

Club Deportivo Guadalajara (Chivas) vs. Club Atlético River Plate (Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico)

LIVE @ 5:30pm PST on Fox Sports Español. Gamecast here. Online TV here.

No other series at this stage of the competition pits two teams experiencing such different moments in their local leagues and form on the pitch. Chivas opens the doors to the Estadio Jalisco, looking to finish off the Argentine giants and book a spot in the Semi-finals.

River Plate are experiencing new lows on almost a daily basis. At least that’s what it feels like. Sitting dead last in their local league, River have been focusing all their resources on this competition since it seems it’s their only chance at silverware from here to December and the only way that Simeone will get to keep his job long enough to sign a new contract.

With only 9 points and sitting in last place in the Argentine Apertura, River sent their best players to Guadalajara, Mexico to begin training for tonight’s match ahead of last Saturday’s match with Lanús. Fielding an alternate side in their Apertura match on Saturday, River wound up losing again, this time 0-2, and set a new record for winless streaks in the Argentine Primera with eleven matches. Grim.

Still, with this international cup being the only thing left to play for, Simeone realizes that tonight’s match is an important one. And for this match, he’s happy to count on having midfielder Diego Buonanotte back (he suffered an injury the first day of training in Mexico) and keeper Juan Marcelo Ojeda (also back from injury but word is, he’s not 100%) back in his line up.

Also, with Sebastián Abreu in the line up, it strikes a little respect, if not fear, into the hearts of Chivas supporters since he can boast having scored nine goals on them in his various matches against them with different Mexican clubs, perhaps the one lone bright spot in this River side.

Chivas is coming off a 1-1 draw with Pumas of UNAM in the local Mexican league this past weekend. Shortly after that match, the players and coaching staff were completely focused on tonight’s match. The order of the day? Keeping the players focused on the fact that there are still 90 minutes to be played in this series and River is not a team to be underestimated.

Coach Efrain Flores is rumored to line up the same squad that beat River in Buenos Aires and even play the same strategy that was so effective for them two weeks ago. Using the counterattacking strategy, Chivas were able to knock in more goals than their rivals.

Unfortunately, all of Flores’ soldiers will not be available, defender Jonny Magallón will have to sit this one out due to a fracture in his right arm. But rumors of Nery Castillo coming to Chivas turned out to be true. But hold your horses, he’s only training with the squad. Having fallen out of favor at Manchester City, he is training with the club with the goal of being called up for the Mexican national team. Not unlike what Beckham did a year ago when he was training with Arsenal. Castillo will not play for Chivas in any official matches, including tonight’s match. (Phew!)

Bottom Line: It’s no secret, River are pure shit right now. They can’t play together much less be a threat to the team they are facing on the pitch. In fact, if River find a way to go through to the next round and then win their first international title in 13 years, it could go down as one of the biggest upsets in football history. Or at least, that’s what it would feel like. Chivas are the more solid of the two teams and look for them to complicate things for River’s back line all night long.

My Pick: (God strike me down) 2-0 to Chivas and River go home and wait out the Apertura until next February when I’ll see them debut with a new coach in the Copa Libertadores. Simeone? Good luck at Atlético Madrid. Chivas? They advance but should they face Boca, they are toast, and if they face Inter, they have a good chance at making the final.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about upcoming matches and for those of you in need of a bracket to get your heads around the competition, get an updated one here.