Argentina’s biggest rivalry doesn’t necessarily look like a crucial one with a quick glance at the standings, but the table is severely bunched up in the Primera. Boca Juniors currently sit 12th in the league while River Plate are 7th, but both sides are a three or four-game winning streak away from a title challenge. They’ll both hope that Sunday’s Superclásico is a jumping off point for a run up the table.
Boca Juniors vs. River Plate: Preview and TV schedule
The Superclásico could serve as a title eliminator for one of Boca Juniors or River Plate.
Richard Heathcote
Given that neither team has the Copa Libertadores to balance, Boca and River will certainly be disappointed with their league position just over halfway through the Clausura. They were both disappointing in the Apertura too, with Boca finishing 7th and River closing the season all the way down in 17th place.
Argentinian football has changed a bit in recent years, so there won’t be tons of wonderkids and old favorites like this rivalry used to have. Juan Roman Riquelme is still chugging along for Boca, though, and they added both Juan Forlin and Fernando Gago last year. Central defender Eder Alvarez Balanta is probably the River man with the best future European prospects, while 19-year-old attacker Luciano Acosta will be one to watch if he gets into the game for Boca.
River are coming off an impressive home win over Lanus last week, but they’ve been awful away from home over the last two tournaments. They’re yet to record an away win during this tournament and have failed to win in their last nine at home going back to the last tournament. Boca, meanwhile, have seven points from their last three home games.
Both teams will be missing players due to suspensions from red cards a couple of matches ago. Federico Bravo misses out for Boca while Leonel Vangioni will be unavailable for River. Each side has received a bit of a fitness boost, with Pablo Ledesma likely returning to the Boca 18 after missing three games, while Teo Gutierrez will be fit to start for River after sitting out last week’s match. However, River might not have Teo’s strike partner Fernando Cavenaghi, who has a toe injury.
Match date/time: Sunday, 5 p.m. ET
Venue: La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina
TV: GolTV (U.S.), Sportsnet World (Canada), FOX Sports (Argentina)
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