On Tuesday, River Plate will start the first leg of the Copa Libertadores semifinals with a challenging match in Brazil against Atlético Mineiro, at the Arena MRV stadium in Belo Horizonte at 21:30. The match will be officiated by Jesús Valenzuela from Venezuela and can be watched live on Fox Sports and Telefe.
River Plate was the best team in the Group Stage, leading Group H with 16 points. After Martín Demichelis stepped down as head coach, Marcelo Gallardo took over and led the team to eliminate Talleres de Córdoba and Colo Colo in previous rounds. Currently undefeated in the Copa Libertadores, River Plate aims for a strong performance in the continental tournament.
On the other hand, Atlético Mineiro positioned itself as the second-best team in the group stage with 15 points, surpassing San Lorenzo and the current champion Fluminense in earlier rounds. Guided by Gabriel Milito, the Brazilian team has several Argentine players in its squad and is considered one of the favorites to win the title.
In the history of encounters between both clubs, Atlético Mineiro has the advantage with a 4-0 victory on aggregate in their last matchup in the quarter-finals of the 2021 Copa Libertadores. For the match, River Plate will have Marcos Acuña and Fabricio Bustos, who have recovered from their injuries and are available for the game.
The probable lineups for the match would be as follows: - Atlético Mineiro: Éverson; Lyanco, Rodrigo Battaglia, Junior Alonso; Gustavo Scarpa, Alan Franco, Fausto Vera, Guilherme Arana; Hulk, Deyverson, Paulinho. Coach: Gabriel Milito. - River Plate: Franco Armani; Fabricio Bustos, Leandro González Pirez, Germán Pezzella, Paulo Díaz, Marcos Acuña; Santiago Simón, Matías Kranevitter, Ignacio Fernández; Facundo Colidio and Miguel Borja. Coach: Marcelo Gallardo.
