The first leg ended Vélez Sarsfield-River Plate 1-0. All is set for the decider in this Copa Libertadores Round of 16 fixture!
There's local pride at stake here, as these teams are practically neighbours. Expect lots of passion from both players and supporters.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
River Plate form and stats
Last season their Copa Libertadores adventure ended in the quarter-finals against Atletico Mineiro.No payout for River in their previous match, an away game at Huracan that ended in defeat 2-3. Midfield player Barco got a match rating of 7.2 in that game, the max score being 10. Barco hit one key pass and dribled past the opponent 8 of 8 times.
Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the Superliga game versus Godoy Cruz in only four days. This game is also played here at Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti.
It's been an intense period of training leading up to this game for River Plate, who have participated in two training matches. River Plate have won 1 of these, drawn 1 and were beaten in 0 games.
Vélez Sarsfield form and stats
Vélez Sarsfield's mission in Copa Libertadores last season failed in the 8th finals against Barcelona.Sarsfield failed to get anything from their last game, a home match vs Atletico Tucuman that ended with defeat 0-1. Cáseres got a match rating of 7.42 in that game, top player of the team. Cáseres dribled past the opponent 1 of 1 times and had 83 successful passes (of 88 total).
It's a day of discovery for Vélez Sarsfield as they finally learn what impact all the hours of pre-season training, along with the changes in personnel, have had on their performance in an official game. It's never easy knowing what to expect based on friendly games, of which Vélez Sarsfield have played one with the results W0-D1-L0 (win-draw-lost). In these games Vélez Sarsfield has scored 0 goals and conceded 0 times.
Head 2 Head
The previous head to head meeting ended Vélez Sarsfield - River Plate 1-0, played this season. Head to head totals (for the previous eight meetings): River Plate won four games, one match ended in a draw and Vélez Sarsfield managed three wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: three / five The matches between these clubs have had a tendency to be brutal, having seen 5 red cards from the last eight encounters.Top Goalscorers
  J. Álvarez 11 goals |  E. Fernández 8 goals |   L. Janson 8 goals |
River Plate missing players
Vélez Sarsfield missing players
| River Plate | Vélez Sarsfield | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 11 | 25 | ||
| 15 | 8 | Won | W | 2 | 9 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Drew | D | 6 | 9 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Lost | L | 3 | 7 | ||
| 56 | 33 | Scored | S | 10 | 34 | ||
| 20 | 9 | Conceded | C | 14 | 26 | ||
| 92% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 82% | 88% | ||
| 68% | 83% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 73% | 68% | ||
| 56% | 67% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 27% | 40% | ||
| 32% | 42% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 18% | 28% | ||
| 24% | 25% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 18% | 16% | ||
| 48% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 64% | 52% | ||
| 36% | 42% | Clean Sheets | C S | 18% | 32% | ||
| 24% | 17% | Failed to Score | F T | 36% | 28% | ||
| 5.6 | 6.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.9 | 5 | ||
| 3.3 | 2.6 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.4 | 4.3 | ||
| 1.5 | 1 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.4 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 2 | ||
| 15 | 17.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 12.1 | 12.4 | ||
| 6.6 | 8 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.8 | 4.6 | ||
| 34% | 34% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 19% | 29% | ||
| 7.4 | 6.3 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 11.1 | 10.1 | ||
| 3 | 2.6 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.5 | 3.8 | ||
