River welcomed Aldosivi on the 16th jornada of the Torneo Apertura at the Estadio Mas Monumental on Sunday with the pressure of a derby loss still fresh and the comfort of a playoff place already secured. Nicolás Ramírez was the referee as Eduardo Coudet’s side tried to put the 1-0 defeat to Boca behind it and keep its grip on third place in Zona B.
Before kickoff, River had 26 points and sat third in Zona B, one point behind Rosario Central, which had played one more match, and four behind Independiente Rivadavia ahead of its classic against Gimnasia de Mendoza on Sunday. Aldosivi arrived after drawing 1-1 with Racing in Mar del Plata, still without a win in the Apertura and stuck on seven points from seven draws and seven defeats.
The lineups showed the contrast in form and ambition. River started Santiago Beltrán, Gonzalo Montiel, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Lautaro Rivero, Marcos Acuña, Aníbal Moreno, Giuliano Galoppo, Tomás Galván, Ian Subiabre, Facundo Colidio and Maximiliano Salas. Aldosivi, coached by Israel Damonte, lined up Axel Werner, Rodrigo González, Néstor Breitenbruch, Santiago Moya, Nicolás Zalazar, Lucas Rodríguez, Martin Garcia, Esteban Rolón, Felipe Anso, Agustín Palavecino and Nicolás Cordero.
Coudet had been clear all week that he did not buy the idea of a match being written off before it starts. “No me gusta esa palabra de ‘partido perdible’. Pensando así, lo vas a perder siempre. En algún momento, River ha perdido partidos en su cancha. Se puede ganar,” he said, rejecting the suggestion that a busy schedule should force him into caution. He also said River would not rotate its starting eleven despite the trip to face Red Bull Bragantino on Thursday in San Pablo.
The numbers at the Monumental explain why Aldosivi’s visit carried a familiar weight. Its best result there was a 1-1 draw in 2015. Since then, it had lost 0-6 there in the Copa de la Superliga in 2019 and 1-4 in the Copa de la Liga in 2021. That history matched the broader picture on the table: Aldosivi was anteúltimo in Zona B, the averages table and the annual standings, leaving Damonte’s team with little margin in a match River needed more for recovery than survival. River had already qualified for the playoffs, but after the Superclásico loss, another slip would have complicated the mood around a side trying to steady itself before Thursday.