River v Rosario Central, Apertura: kick-off, line-ups and live TV | OneFootball

River and Rosario Central will face off this Saturday from 7:30 p.m. at the Monumental Stadium, in the semifinals of the Liga Profesional Torneo Apertura. The Millonario qualified after beating Gimnasia with the smooth, well-oiled play their fans had been demanding, while El Canalla advanced after coming through a controversial match against Racing that went to extra time. Find out everything you need to know about the match, which will be refereed by Nicolás Ramírez and will determine the opponent of the winner between Argentinos Juniors and Belgrano.

After struggling to find the best version of the Millonario, Eduardo Coudet managed to get his team convincing again and secure the win thanks to goals from Sebastián Driussi and Lucas Martínez Quarta. La Banda now has the chance to show that the match against El Lobo was not just another isolated good result, but part of the improvement in performance that the fans had been asking for.

The other semifinal will be played the following day in La Paternal. Whoever wins, the grand final will be played in Córdoba, specifically at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium, next Sunday, May 24, at 3:30 p.m.

Although Chacho has not yet had time to test any lineup after the win, after two players who had been doubts due to muscle overload were included in the squad, Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuña will start against El Canalla. Both, along with Lucas Martínez Quarta and Lautaro Rivero, will make up the back four in front of Santiago Beltrán. In midfield, as has become customary, Fausto Vera, Aníbal Moreno and Tomás Galván will line up, with the surprise inclusion of Maximiliano Meza in place of Santiago Lencina and, up front, Facundo Colidio and Sebastián Driussi.

Meanwhile, the team managed by Jorge Almirón has won seven of its last eight matches, drawing the other one. They first eliminated Independiente and then Racing, and now they are looking to take down their third traditional powerhouse in a row. In the quarterfinal clash, their opponent was reduced to nine men after an early second yellow for Maravilla Martínez and then the same punishment for Marcos Di Cesare in extra time, which sparked fury from Gustavo Costas’s bench and his son Gonzalo. Both decisions were unclear and caused anger in the Avellaneda side, even leading to explosive statements from club president Diego Milito.

The last time these two teams met was in January this year, in this same Torneo Apertura. On that occasion, it ended 0-0 on Matchday 3, in a tight match whose biggest moment was a Driussi goal ruled out by VAR.

River’s lineup vs. Rosario Central, for the Torneo Apertura

Santiago Beltrán; Gonzalo Montiel; Lucas Martínez Quarta, Lautaro Rivero, Marcos Acuña; Aníbal Moreno, Fausto Vera, Tomás Galván, Maximiliano Meza; Facundo Colidio and Sebastián Driussi. Coach: Eduardo Coudet.

Rosario Central’s possible XI vs. River, for the Torneo Apertura

Jeremías Ledesma; Emanuel Coronel, Ignacio Ovando, Gastón Ávila, Agustín Sández; Franco Ibarra, Vicente Pizarro; Enzo Giménez, Ángel Di María; Enzo Copetti and Alejo Véliz. Coach: Jorge Almirón.

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