Confirmed: River lose Vera and Quintero for Superclásico v Boca | OneFootball

Last night’s pyrrhic victory over Carabobo left River with more problems than solutions. Beyond the urgently needed three points in the Copa Sudamericana, the team delivered an abysmal performance, raised doubts with its play and, to make matters worse, lost two players ahead of the Superclásico against Boca and what comes next: Fausto Vera suffered a sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, and Juan Fernando Quintero a Grade I tear in his left psoas. Both are out for what’s ahead.

Eduardo Coudet already knows he will not be able to count on them for this Sunday’s crucial match and will probably have to wait several weeks before having them available again. The positive side of the confirmed diagnosis for both is that the central midfielder will be able to avoid surgery, although his return is the one likely to take the longest.

The fear was a ligament tear, something they had practically ruled out in Núñez after the stability tests performed on Vera following the match against the Venezuelan side. Even so, the sprain of the medial collateral ligament will require no fewer than four weeks of recovery, and depending on his progress, he could be out for as long as two months. At this point, if he manages to return before the end of the Apertura Tournament and the Sudamericana group stage, it will be good news.

The 26-year-old player who came through Argentinos Juniors became an automatic starter as soon as he arrived at River. In fact, he has missed only one match due to suspension: he did not play against his former club after being sent off in the heavy defeat to Tigre. A starter in 15 of the team’s 16 matches this year, his absence leaves a gap that Coudet will have to fill creatively, since there is no other player with his characteristics in the squad.

As for Quintero, his injury came after his first start under Coudet. The Colombian still looked short of match rhythm after his previous muscle tear, from which he returned in record time for Chacho’s debut on the bench against Huracán.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.