River Host Defensor With Dreams of the Quarter Finals Dancing in Their Heads.

By: Mauro | October 2nd, 2008

Club Atlético River Plate vs. Club Defensor Sporting (Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

LIVE @ 3pm PST on Fox Sports Español.Gamecast here. Online TV here.

So last week, River Plate coach Diego Simeone welcomed back Sebastián Abreu into the starting line up with open arms. And it seemed starting the big fella was exactly what the club needed. Defensor Sporting made a few mistakes on defense and Abreu made his prior club pay for them. But Defensor are not down and out, they are a talented side and will come to Buenos Aires looking for a win.

Defensor Sporting arrived in Argentina with the mantra “It will be difficult, but not impossible.” Coach Jorge Pollila Da Silva has said that the team needs to improve their finishing and control the ball a bit better and is confident that the club has the type of football and players necessary to turn the tables on the Argentine outfit.

Last week was not a good night for Defensor, they lost 1-2 to River at home. They were able to create chances to score but found it really difficult to get them into the back of the net. Look for Defensor goal-keeper and Uruguayan national team goal-keeper Martín Silva to be kept busy, it seems Abreu was really comfortable in his penalty area last week, scoring two goals, one off a rebound from Silva.

River Plate, on the other hand, have a whole lot going on. Riding some poor results at home – where they are winless in the last 6 Apertura matches – and coach Simeone has failed to find the starting XI that plays the style of football he likes, much less the style of football the fans like.

The poor results have left River almost completely out of the race for the Apertura and they are focusing all their resources on this competition. It would be disastrous for Simeone’s side to be eliminated knowing they have no chance in hell of winning anything for the rest of the year. It could mean his job.

Some numbers. River and Defensor have faced off on 7 occasions. River has won 3, Defensor 0. They’ve played to a draw on 4 occasions

So far this season, River have allowed 13 goals, the same number of goals they allowed in the entire last season and there are still 12 more matches to go in the Apertura. So to say that they have some defensive problems is an understatement. Also, Eduardo Tuzzio “El Tuzzinator” is out for this one. Abdominal muscle cramps. I would make fun of him but that dude played the final of this competition back in 2003 with a torn muscle and was a monster on defense.

Bottom Line: Both sides need to advance for different reasons but the slight edge goes to River. They have the away goals in their favor and the fact that they get to close this one out at home. Defensor have an uphill battle but like I’ve said in the past, the away match in Argentina is not really that big a deal.

My Pick: 1-0 to River. If it’s not 1-0 it will be a single goal that will give River the qualification into the next round. Still, nothing will be solved for the Millionarios and Simeone will survive to fight another day.

The winner here faces the long flight to Mexico in the next round where they’ll face Chivas de Guadalajara.

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 one here.