River Plate did not make a foothold at the height and lost today against The Strongest 3-1, at the Hernando Siles stadium in La Paz, within the framework of the first date of group D of the new edition of the Copa Libertadores.
The cast led by Martín Demichelis started the match better planted and dominated it during the first 20 minutes, although it lacked forcefulness in the last meters.
A header from Chilean Paulo Díaz, a minute into the game, was masterfully deflected by goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra. On the next play, Viscarra deflected Rodrigo Aliendro’s shot to the corner.
The Strongest gradually came out of the pressure and capitalized on the failures of the Demichelis team with Enrique Triverio as their most unbalancing player.
In fact, the former Racing player received a controversial offense from goalkeeper Franco Armani in the area and the referee decided to charge a penalty. The same footballer transformed the shot from 12 steps into the 1 to 0 for the Bolivian team.
A few minutes later, after a great counterattack, Michael Ortega let it pass for Triverio, who defined first to establish the partial 2-0.
The goals made a dent in a River that lost its composure and felt the rigor of The Strongest with two more arrivals that were deflected by Armani against Luciano Ursino and the youthful Jeyson Chura.
River went for the discount at the start of the second half, but Viscarra showed off again after a minute before a shot from Agustín Palavecino.
The Strongest’s response was not long in coming with Gonzalo Castillo’s header after Arrascaita’s pass that revealed problems in the “millionaire” brand.
At the Millionaire’s worst moment, Carlos Roca knocked down Lucas Beltrán in the area, the referee took the penalty and the striker was in charge of discounting.
While River recovered clarity in the game with Nacho Fernández in the lead, The Strongest was about to extend the lead with the definition of Triverio that Andrés Herrera took on the line.
Finally, the cast of Núñez fell 3-1 and has not won at the height of La Paz since 1970 (2-0 vs. Universitario) and has accumulated four defeats and two draws since then.
River will seek to recover on April 19 when it receives Sporting Cristal from Peru for the second date of the complex zone that it also shares with Fluminense from Brazil.
