Copa Libertadores: River v Palmeiras in quarter-final first leg | OneFootball

River will host Palmeiras from Brazil this Wednesday for the first leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals, in what could be a true early final.

The match is scheduled for 21:30 at the Monumental stadium, and can be watched on Telefe, Fox Sports, and Disney+. The referee will be Venezuelan Jesús Valenzuela, while his compatriot Juan Soto will be in charge of VAR.

River comes into this crucial clash in good form, currently leading Zone B of the Torneo Clausura with 18 points, three ahead of their closest rival Deportivo Riestra, and in the last round they defeated Estudiantes de La Plata 2-1 away.

Marcelo Gallardo’s team reached the quarterfinals after dominating Group B, finishing first with 12 points. In the round of 16, they struggled to eliminate Libertad from Paraguay, a series that was decided by penalties where goalkeeper Franco Armani became the hero to secure qualification.

As for the starting eleven, Gallardo has two doubts: one in defense, with the contest between Lucas Martínez Quarta and Lautaro Rivero; and another in midfield, where it will be decided whether the playmaker will be Colombian Juan Fernando Quintero or Juan Portillo.

Palmeiras, meanwhile, was dominant in Group G and finished with 18 points, being the best team of the group stage of the Copa.

The Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira’s team, which is also competing in the Brasileirao, had no trouble in the round of 16, eliminating Universitario from Peru with an aggregate score of 4-0.

These are the probable lineups and other details of the match

River: Franco Armani; Gonzalo Montiel, Paulo Díaz, Lucas Martínez Quarta or Lautaro Rivero, Marcos Acuña; Kevin Castaño, Enzo Pérez, Ignacio Fernández; Juan Fernando Quintero or Juan Portillo; Maximiliano Salas and Sebastián Driussi. Coach: Marcelo Gallardo.

Palmeiras: Weverton; Agustín Giay, Gustavo Gómez, Murilo Cerqueira, Joaquín Piquerez; Mauricio or Facundo Torres, Lucas Evangelista or Andreas Pereira, Aníbal Moreno, Felipe Anderson; José Manuel López and Vitor Roque. Coach: Abel Ferreira.

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