River Plate can win their group at the Copa Libertadores for a second time in their last three appearances when they host Deportivo Tachira on Thursday at Estadio Monumental.
Thanks to a comfortable 2-0 victory versus Club Libertad on Group H matchday five, La Banda are guaranteed to make the knockout stage of this tournament, while the Venezuelans will exit this competition at the group stage following a 1-0 defeat versus Nacional.
Match preview
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An impressive opening five matches at the Libertadores has assured River Plate of a place in the last 16 for a 10th successive campaign.
Claiming first place for the first time since 2022 seems likely as only a defeat on their final matchday combined with a five-goal victory by Nacional would prevent them from achieving that feat.
The former four-time winners of this event have won eight successive Libertadores group fixtures at Estadio Monumental since suffering a 3-1 defeat at home to Fluminense on their final matchday in May 2021.
They have won their last three home matches in all competitions without conceding while posting five successive clean sheets at Estadio Monumental in the group portion of this tournament.
With a win or draw on Thursday, Martin Demichelis's men will end the group phase unbeaten for the second time in the past three editions of this tournament (2022).
Los Millonarios have only suffered one defeat at home versus a Venezuelan opponent in this competition, losing 1-0 to Caracas in the 2007 group stage.
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For the eighth successive campaign, no Venezuelan side will reach the knockout stage of this tournament, as Tachira gave up an early second-half strike on matchday five and failed to recover.
If Aurinegro fail to claim maximum points in this fixture, they will end the group stage of this competition without a victory for the first time since 2015.
The San Cristobal-based side have lost their last three away matches in the group stage of this competition, with their previous victory as the visiting team occurring in April 2022 (2-1 over Independiente Petrolero).
Eduardo Sarago's men are on a four-match winless run in all competitions while losing four successive competitive games as the visitors.
Deportivo have yet to find the back of the net in the second half of a Libertadores fixture this year, while five of their nine goals conceded in this competition have occurred after the interval.
Tachira have never won a Copa Libertadores encounter on Argentine soil, but they collected a single point in their previous visit to Estadio Monumental in the 2004 group phase (2-2).
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Team News
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On Thursday, River Plate are likely to be without Ramiro Funes Mori due to an illness, Manuel Lanzini has a sore foot and Ignacio Fernandez is dealing with a back injury; neither of the latter two are expected to return until early June.
A brace courtesy of Miguel Borja enabled Los Millonarios to defeat Libertad on matchday five, while captain Franco Armani only had to make one stop to collect his third clean sheet in the Libertadores this year.
Tachira will not have Yanniel Hernandez at their disposal after the Venezuelan midfielder was given a straight red card in the second half versus Nacional.
From matchday four to five, their starting 11 included two new faces, Jefre Vargas and Carlos Calzadilla, who replaced Nelson Hernandez and Carlos Robles.
River Plate possible starting lineup:
Armani; Sant'Anna, Gonzalez Pirez, Diaz, Casco; Fernandez, Fonseca, Aliendro; Echeverri; Borja, Solari
Deportivo Tachira possible starting lineup:
Camargo; Vivas, Gutierrez, N. Hernandez; Vargas, Chacon, Cova, Saggiomo; Uribe, Mendoza; J. Hernandez
We say: River Plate 2-0 Deportivo Tachira
First place is virtually a lock for River Plate, so they may be a little cagey in this encounter, but they have more than enough depth to find a way through Tachira, who do not have any solid chance creators on their side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
