River – Platense
River Plate suffered a major setback in the quarterfinals of the Torneo Apertura, falling to Platense on penalties after a 1-1 draw at home. In addition, their domestic campaign has not yet secured them a spot in the next Copa Libertadores (though in the current edition, they advanced to the round of 16 as group winners). Los Millonarios are unbeaten in their last nine league matches in regular time (five wins and four draws) and have gone six without defeat at home in the competition (three wins and three draws). River took part in the Club World Cup during the winter break, where they were eliminated in the group stage after collecting four points from three matches. Franco Mastantuono was sold to Real Madrid CF, while Maximiliano Salas arrived from Racing Club. Sebastián Driussi is sidelined with an ankle injury. Platense experienced the happiest day in their 120-year history this past June, when they defeated Huracán 1-0 to claim their first-ever league title. The historic achievement came on the back of a four-match unbeaten run in the knockout stages (three wins and one draw in regular time, all away from home). Coaches Favio Orsi and Sergio Gómez left the club after the triumph and were replaced by Cristian González, with no major moves in the transfer market. His debut came in a penalty shootout loss to Independiente Rivadavia (2-2 in regular time) in the second round of the Copa Argentina. Augusto Lotti will miss Sunday’s match due to injury, while Vicente Taborda is doubtful. I would be surprised if Platense can continue with what they did in the playoffs of the last tournament. They had to change coach after winning the championship, they will have a couple of missings in this first round, and considering they were pretty average during the regular season I think they should go back to their irregular form. River has invested a lot on new players and anything but a win at home would be a major disappointment.